First posted August 17, 2015 For additional information, contact: Director, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center U.S. Geological Survey 384 Woods Hole Road Quissett Campus Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598 WHSC_science_director@usgs.gov 508-548-8700 or 508-457-2200 Or visit our Web site at: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/ The U.S. Geological Survey Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center has created a Data Library to organize, preserve, and make available the field, laboratory, and modeling data collected and processed by Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center staff. This Data Library supports current research efforts by providing unique, historic datasets with accompanying metadata. The Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center’s Data Library has custody of historic data and records that are still useful for research, and assists with preservation and distribution of marine science records and data in the course of scientific investigation and experimentation by researchers and staff at the science center. The data accession and retention policies employed by the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Data Library are based on scientific need and the National Archives and Records Administration standards for Federal records retention. Criteria for inclusion of data and records into the Data Library, the scope of the Data Library holdings, and operating procedures for the management and running of the library are designed to support the research operations of the U.S. Geological Survey. This report explains the roles and detailed responsibilities of library and scientific staff, and provides step-by-step instructions for managing the collections of the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Data Library.
First posted May 21, 2020 For additional information, contact: Director, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science CenterU.S. Geological Survey384 Woods Hole RoadQuissett CampusWoods Hole, MA 02543–1598 Since the second half of the 20th century, there has been an increase in scientific interest, research effort, and information gathered on the geologic sedimentary character of the continental margins of the United States. Data and information from thousands of sources have increased our scientific understanding of the character of the margin surface, but rarely have those data been combined and integrated. Initially, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado Boulder, created the usSEABED database to provide surficial sea-floor-characterization data for USGS assessments of marine-based aggregates and for studies of sea-floor habitat. Since then, the USGS has continued to build up the database as a nationwide resource for many uses and applications.Previously published data derived from the usSEABED database have been released as three USGS data series publications containing data covering the U.S. Atlantic margin, the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean regions, and the Pacific coast. An updated USGS data release unifies the three publications, incorporates additional data and sources including data from Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. overseas territories, and provides revised output files that fix known errors and add known or inferred sampling dates. This report accompanies the data release and contains information on the methodology and products of the usSEABED database.
The Louisiana coastal zone, comprising the Mississippi River delta plain stretching nearly 400 km from Sabine Pass at the Texas border east to the Chandeleur Islands at the Mississippi border, represents one of North America’s most important coastal ecosystems in terms of natural resources, human infrastructure, and cultural heritage. At the same time, this region has the highest rates of coastal erosion and wetland loss in the Nation due to a complex combination of natural processes and anthropogenic actions over the past century. Comparison of historical maps dating back to 1855 and recent aerial photography show the Louisiana coast undergoing net erosion at highly variable rates. Rates have increased significantly during the past several decades. Earlier published statewide average shoreline erosion rates were >6 m/yr; rates have increased recently to >10 m/yr. The increase is attributable to collective action of storms, rapid subsidence, and pervasive man-made alterations of the rivers and the coast. In response to the dramatic landloss, regional-scale restoration plans are being developed by a partnership of federal and state agencies for the delta plain that have the objectives of maintaining the barrier islands, reducing wetland loss, and enhancing the natural sediment delivery processes. There is growing awareness that the sustainability of coastal Louisiana's natural resources and human infrastructure depends on the successful restoration of natural geologic processes. Critical to the long term success of restoration is scientific understanding of the geologic history and processes of the coastal zone region, including interactions between the rivers, wetlands, coast, and inner shelf. A variety of geophysical studies and mapping of Late Quaternary sedimentary framework and coastal processes by U.S. Geological Survey and other scientists during the past 50 years document that the Louisiana delta plain is the product of a complex history of cyclic delta switching by the Mississippi River and its distributaries over the past ~10,000 years that resulted in laterally overlapping deltaic depocenters. The interactions among riverine, coastal, and inner shelf processes have been superimposed on the Holocene transgression resulting in distinctive landforms and sedimentary sequences. Four Holocene shelf-phase delta complexes have been identified using seismic reflection data and vibracores. Each delta complex is bounded by transgressive surfaces. Following each cycle of deposition and abandonment, the delta lobes undergo regional subsidence and marine reworking that forms transgressive coastal systems and barrier islands. Ultimately, the distal end of each of the abandoned delta lobes is marked by submerged marine sand bodies representing drowned barriers. These sand bodies (e.g. Ship Shoal, Outer Shoal, Trinity Shoal, Tiger Shoal, St. Bernard Shoal) offer the largest volumes and highest quality sand for beach nourishment and shoreline and wetlands restoration. These four large sand shoals on inner continental shelf, representing the reworked remnants of former prograded deltaic headlands that existed on the continental shelf at lower sea level, were generated in the retreat path of the Mississippi River delta plain during the Holocene transgression. Penland and others (1989) have shown these sand bodies represent former shoreline positions associated with lower still stands in sea level. Short periods of rapid relative sea-level rise led to the transgressive submergence of the shorelines which today can be recognized at the -10 m to -20 m isobaths on the Louisiana continental shelf. Trinity Shoal and Ship Shoal represent the -10 m middle-to-late Holocene shoreline trend, whereas Outer Shoal and the St. Bernard Shoals define the -20 m early Holocene shoreline trend (Penland and others, 1989). Collectively, these sand shoals constitute a large volume of high quality sandy sediment potentially suitable for barrier island nourishment and coastal restoration. The USGS has actively supported coastal and wetlands geologic research for the past two decades in partnership with universities (e.g., Louisiana State University, University of New Orleans), state agencies (e.g. Louisiana Geological Survey, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources), and private organizations (Williams and others, 1992a,b; Williams and Cichon, 1993; List and others, 1994). These studies have focused on regional-scale mapping of coastal and wetland change and developing a better understanding of the processes that cause coastal erosion and wetlands loss, particularly the rapid deterioration of Louisiana's barrier islands, estuaries, and wetlands environments. With a better understanding of these processes, the ability to model and predict erosion and wetlands loss will improve. More accurate predictions will, in turn, allow for proper management of coastal resources. Improved predictions will also allow for better assessments of the utility of different restoration alternatives.
The USGS Woods Hole Science Center has been an active member of the Woods Hole research community for over 35 years. In that time there have been many sediment collection projects conducted by USGS scientists and technicians for the research and study of seabed environments and processes. These samples are collected at sea or near shore and then brought back to the Woods Hole Science Center (WHSC) for study. While at the Center, samples are stored in ambient temperature, cold or freezing conditions, depending on the best mode of preparation for the study being conducted or the duration of storage planned for the samples. Recently, storage methods and available storage space have become a major concern at the WHSC. The shapefile sed_archive.shp, gives a geographical view of the samples in the WHSC's collections, and where they were collected along with images and hyperlinks to useful resources.
Over the past 50 years there has been an explosion in scientific interest, research effort and information gathered on the geologic sedimentary character of the United States continental margin. Data and information from thousands of publications have greatly increased our scientific understanding of the geologic origins of the shelf surface but rarely have those data been combined and integrated. This publication is the first release of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean (Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands) coastal and offshore data from the usSEABED database. The report contains a compilation of published and previously unpublished sediment texture and other geologic data about the sea floor from diverse sources. usSEABED is an innovative database system developed to bring assorted data together in a unified database. The dbSEABED system is used to process the data. Examples of maps displaying attributes such as grain size and sediment color are included. This database contains information that is a scientific foundation for the USGS Marine Aggregate Resources and Processes Assessment and Benthic Habitats projects, and will be useful to the marine science community for other studies of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean continental margins. This publication is divided into ten sections: Home, Introduction, Content, usSEABED (data), dbSEABED (processing), Data Catalog, References, Contacts, Acknowledgments and Frequently Asked Questions. Use the navigation bar on the left to navigate to specific sections of this report. Underlined topics throughout the publication are links to more information. Links to specific and detailed information on processing and those to pages outside this report will open in a new browser window.
In recent years, detailed geological characterization of the seafloor and shallow sub-surface on the northern U.S. Atlantic margin have been an important component of multi-disciplinary ocean acoustics and environmental sensing projects to support experiment planning and inform geoacoustic models of sound propagation. Comprehensive surficial sediment and core sampling across shallow continental shelf, shelf-edge, and upper continental slope sites offshore southern New England provide the opportunity to evaluate the importance of many sediment characteristics that impact sound propagation through the seabed. Beginning in the mid-shelf New England Mud Patch and continuing into deeper water, we have begun to develop a detailed understanding of the composition and physical properties of the shallow sediment column record using a combination of surficial and sub-surface sediment sampling tools, coupled with an extensive suite of discrete laboratory analyses. Quantitative data on sediment density, porosity, mineral and biogenic composition, and grain size distribution provides both valuable input parameters for geoacoustic models and helps establish a framework for interpreting independently derived measurements and modeling results. The physical, biological, and other environmental sediment characteristics can be integrated with existing geological assessments of the region and used to investigate ocean and sub-surface acoustic propagation. [Work supported by the Office of Naval Research.]
The Woods Hole Science Center of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been an active member of the Woods Hole research community, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, for over 40 years. In that time there have been many projects that involved the collection of sediment samples conducted by USGS scientists and technicians for the research and study of seabed environments and processes. These samples were collected at sea or near shore and then brought back to the Woods Hole Science Center (WHSC) for analysis. While at the center, samples are stored in ambient temperature, refrigerated and freezing conditions ranging from +2º Celsius to -18º Celsius, depending on the best mode of preparation for the study being conducted or the duration of storage planned for the samples. Recently, storage methods and available storage space have become a major concern at the WHSC. The core and sediment archive program described herein has been initiated to set standards for the management, methods, and duration of sample storage. A need has arisen to maintain organizational consistency and define storage protocol. This handbook serves as a reference and guide to all parties interested in using and accessing the WHSC's sample archive and also defines all the steps necessary to construct and maintain an organized collection of geological samples. It answers many questions as to the way in which the archive functions.
