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Contaminated Sediments Database for Long Island Sound and the New York Bight, USGS Open-File Report 03-241

Content Overview

Database Structure

The Contaminated Sediments Database is contained in one Microsoft Excel 2000 workbook made up of six datasheets of sample information and analyses. The six datasheets are: Station, Inorganics, Organics (3), and Texture. The data and parameters contained in each sheet are defined in the Data Dictionary. The references used in the construction and population of the database are contained in the Data Sources files. The specific data in each of the separate data sheets are linked using the unique sample identification number (Unique ID#). These identification numbers were assigned to aid in the arrangement of data sources as data were compiled, validated and edited. After validation, the Unique ID numbers were not always sequential.

The database was designed in a flat-file format (spreadsheet) which does not have the automatic linking capabilities of database management software. Consequently, every Unique ID# appears in each file in order to provide a consistent horizontal links across data tables. This allows the data to be universally accessible and also easily transferred to specialized data management software.

This database is structured similarly to the database published as:
Buchholtz ten Brink, M.R., Manheim, F.T., Mecray, E.L. , Hastings, M.E., and Currence, J.M., along with Farrington, J.W., Fredette, T.J., Jones, S.H., Liebman, M.L., Larsen, P.F., Smith Leo, W., Tripp, B.W., Wallace, Jr., G.T., and Ward, L.G., 2002, Contaminated sediments database for the Gulf of Maine, U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report No. 02-403, Online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2002/of02-403/.

That publication may be consulted for more detail regarding the structure used for both of these databases.

Terminology

The database tables are further supported by both a data dictionary and a glossary which can be found in the Database Files and Displays section. These files contain explanations and definitions for abbreviations, methods, devices used, and other parameters in the database.

Data Sources

Source documents of the compiled data have short-name citations for each sample under the field name "Source of Information or Reference" which appears in each data table. Full bibliographic citations for each of these are listed in the Database Bibliography.

A variety of references and data sources were reviewed for relevant data content, but all were not included in the final compilation. Documents that were not included were those that contained: measurements of related parameters but had no contaminant data; measurements of contaminants in biota, waters, or fractionated sediments; samples outside the study area; and synthesized data that was previously reported elsewhere. Full bibliographic citations for each of these are listed in Reviewed References.

Both of these lists can be found in the Database Files and Displays section under Supporting Files.

FGDC-compliant Metadata

Metadata describe the content, quality, condition, and other characteristics of data. Metadata for the Long Island Sound and New York Bight Contaminated Sediments database are presented as Questions and Answers, Parseable Text and in FGDC Outline format.

In all instances within this database a quantified value represents a positive concentration. A blank cell indicates that there were no data available for that sample. (Users should be aware that some computer applications - e.g. database and GIS - will replace blank cells with zeros.) The value 0.0001 was inserted where a concentration was below the detection limit of the analysis,

To view files in PDF format, download free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader.

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