The data in this set are part of the "Ocean Pulse" benthic studies that were conducted on the U.S. northeast shelf by the National Marine Fisheries Service. This data set represents only those data collected as part of this program during 1981-1982 and off New England. Those stations occupied in the New York Bight are not included. Although chemical analyses (organic carbon and total Kjeldahl nitrogen) were also conducted, only textural descriptions are included here.

Boston Harbor (and its approaches) is a glacially carved, tidally dominated estuary in western Massachusetts Bay. Characterized by low river discharge and significant human impact, the harbor is typical of many bays and estuaries along the New England coast. The sands and gravels that floor Massachusetts Bay and the Harbor approaches are relict glacial sediments. However, fine-grained sediments are accumulating in areas of lower energy.

The reconnaissance maps upon which this data set is based show the areal distribution of the major bottom sediment types covering the sea floor off eastern New England between Cape Ann and Casco Bay. The maps were intended as a guide to the future mapping of gravel, sand, silt, and clay, and because these sediments reflect the hydraulic conditions, they are also helpful for deducing the important sediment transport mechanisms.

These data were collected as part of a survey of the bottom sediments of Georges Bank. The purpose of the survey was to provide basic data for use in studying the relationships between substrate composition and the occurrence of benthic animals, especially those which are common foods of fishes. Particle size composition was the principal sediment character that was studied.

Submarine canyons occur at the edge of the continental shelf and cut across the slope and rise along the U.S. east coast. Three of these canyons (Oceanographer, Lydonia, and Gilbert) are situated south of Georges Bank. Gravity cores and grab samples were collected as part of a study of the active processes and sediment distributions within these features. The results of the textural analyses are contained in this data layer.

This is a part of the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Seafloor Surficial Sediment (Deck 41) Data File. Deck 41 is an original data file created by the Marine Geology and Geophysics Group of NGDC from 1970-1975, abstracted from unpublished material contributed to NGDC by multiple groups of individuals. No updates of Deck 41 have been added since 1975. The data that comprise this portion of Deck 41 were generated by R.L. Wigley during 1965 aboard ALBATROSS IV cruises 65-2, 65-13, and 65-14.

The Contaminated Sediments Database for the Gulf of Maine provides a compilation and synthesis of existing data to help establish the environmental status of our coastal sediments and the transport paths and fate of contaminants in this region. This information, in turn, forms one of the essential bases for developing successful remediation and resource management policies. The Contaminated Sediments Database for the Gulf of Maine provides a compilation and synthesis of existing data to help establish the ...

This data set contains lithologic information on bottom sediments from the Continental Margin Program. The program was a joint collaboration between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution during the 1960s to conduct a geological reconnaissance investigation of the continental shelf and slope off the Atlantic coast of the United States. Only those records without complete size analyses and only those stations from the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and southeastern New England ...

These data, which comprise part of the Smithsonian Institution Master Sediment data file, were abstracted by the staff of the Smithsonian Institution from materials submitted for archival by various groups and individuals. Most of the data in this set were collected by the National Ocean Service (NOS, formerly the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey) for the purpose of charting the coastal waters and navigable waterways of the United States. Prior to 1985, the NOS data were released as part of the National ...

Surficial geologic maps play and important role in understanding the present sea floor and the processes that shape it. Between 1984 and 1991, over 1,700 bottom sample stations were occupied in the northwestern Gulf of Maine. Although the data were originally collected for a variety of research projects, contracts, and graduate student theses, they were eventually compiled as part of a Maine Geological Survey and University of Maine program to map the inner continental shelf of this region.

The samples in this dataset were collected and analyzed under the direction of the Massachusetts Water Resources Administration. The data were generated to study the effects of the Boston sewage outflow. Data were previously incorporated into the USGS's Gulf of Maine Contaminated Sediments Database.

These data were collected by the National Ocean Service (NOS, formerly the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey) for the purpose of charting the coastal waters and navigable waterways of the United States. Data collected prior to 1965 were digitized from the final survey plots. All other data were digitized in the field during the surveys. These data were supplied by the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC). This data set contains fields that are only a subset of those fields available in the NOS ...

The coastal dunes, beaches, and inner neritic zone of the Merrimack Embayment constitute a petrologic province. In addition to heavy mineral analyses, grain size statistics were generated on most of the samples. Neritic and beach sediments can be differentiated using scatter plots of statistics, but statistical parameters are ineffective in differentiating between river and neritic sediments.

This is an original data file created by the Marine Geology and Geophysics group of NODC from 1970-1975, abstracted from published and unpublished material contributed to NODC in 1975, after which no updates were added.

A reconnaissance survey of that part of the Scotian Shelf extending from Halifax to Digby Nook was conducted during October, 1961, in order to determine the nature, distribution, and source areas of the bottom sediments. In general, the fine grained deposits of silt and clay (pelite) are found in the basins on the shelf as well as in the deeper water at the upper edge of the continental slope. Coarse grained deposits characterize topologically high areas and along the shelf margin.

This study was undertaken to provide information on the characteristics and distribution of surficial sediments off the eastern United States. Accordingly, long traverses were run across the continental shelf and in most case carrying over the shelf break. This data set includes data from those 9 traverses which were conducted north of Virginia. These data constitute the first systematic sampling of the U.S. Atlantic margin to show the effects of environmental factors (e.g. increasing distance from shore, ...

Submarine canyons cut into the edge of the continental shelf and the continental slope along much of the U.S. Atlantic coast. Three canyons along the southern edge of Georges Bank (Lydonia, Oceanographer, Gilbert) were dredged and cored to study their modern sediments and the lithologies and ages of the rocks exposed on the canyon walls. As part of this study eleven cores were taken and the results of the textural analyses on the surficial sediments are contained in this data set.

The data in this layer were generated as part of an environmental impact statement evaluating the construction of a proposed 250,000 barrel per day oil refinery and marine terminal. Permits for this facility, which would serve the Eastport, Maine area, were requested by the Pittston Company of New York.

The sediment data presented in this data layer were from a geochemical study sited in Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire. The analog data were originally converted into digital form for inclusion in a Gulf of Maine Contaminated Sediments Database.

The sediment data contained in this set were produced as part of the site description and monitoring phases of an aquaculture demonstration project. The site is located off the coast of New Hampshire in the Gulf of Maine.

Short cores were collected on the continental rise off Georges Bank. The character of the sediments and measured bottom currents show that the Western Boundary Undercurrent is a significant factor in sediment transport and deposition along the east coast continental rise. Size data for the sand and mud fractions were estimated by the compilers by subtracting the percent carbonate (composed largely of sand-sized planktonic foraminifera) from the coarse fraction. Silt and clay were not differentiated; the ...

The data in this layer are from an unpublished report produced by the Bigelow Laboratory. The source project was conducted primarily to examine contaminant distributions, but also produced sediment textural data. The data presented in this layer were not part of the Gulf of Maine Contaminated Sediments Database.

Presented in this dataset are data determined from sediments collected by different means during a variety of cruises to the northwest Atlantic Ocean. These data have been collected in an attempt to gain knowledge of the interrelationships between early diagenesis and remineralization of organic matter, bioturbation, and dissolved ion exchange between sediments and the overlying water. All data are from surficial sediments (0-3 cm below the sediment-water interface).

A total of 84 surficial sediments samples were collected aboard two cruises from Block Island Sound as part of a Master's Thesis completed at the University of Rhode Island. Sampling was performed with a pipe dredge for most of the samples; a van veen grab was used for the remaining smaples. The data presented in this source show the sediments distribution and elucidate the sedimentary environments and processes on this portion of the continental shelf.

A study was made of the composition, grain-size distribution, and organic content of grab samples collected from Boston Harbor. In general, the coarsest mean sizes occur in the channels scoured by dredging or tidal action, and the finest in areas where no dredging has occurred and where tidal velocities are at a minimum.

A study of bottom sediment samples from Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, provides a basis for establishing their major depositional facies and their relationships to the environmental framework. Texturally the sands tend to occur in shoaling areas of greater tidal-current activity, while the argillaceous sediments are deposited in deeper bathymetric entrapments.

The modern sediments of Buzzards Bay are described principally by the use of quantitative data from mechanical analyses. The environment of the sediment and its source and mode of deposition are discussed in the original publication. Although Hough (1940) is available as part of the NGDC Deck41 database, additional data from the original report were manually entered and, therefore, this file is unique.

Cape Cod Bay, lying on the Massachusetts coast partly enclosed by Cape Cod, is in a glaciated region of low relief. Coarse sediments generally occur in areas exposed to wave and current action as in shallow water near shore or on shoals, and in the deep channel north of the tip of Cape Cod, which is swept by tidal currents. Fine sediments are restricted to the deeper water in the central portion of the Bay, and to the small well-protected embayments of the shore. Although Hough (1942) is available as part ...

The reconnaissance maps upon which this data set is based show the areal distribution of the major bottom sediment types covering the sea floor off Massachusetts between Cape Ann and Cape Cod. The maps were intended as a guide to the future mapping of gravel, sand, silt, and clay, and, because these sediments reflect the hydraulic conditions, they are also helpful for deducing the important sediment transport mechanisms.

Gravel, sand, silt, and clay contents were determined for samples from Narragansett Bay and the adjacent Rhode Island Shelf. In the Narragansett Bay system, clayey silt and sand-silt-clay are the most abundant sediments. Sand is abundant locally and on the inner shelf. In general, toward the lower passages of the Bay the sediments show a progressive change to coarser textures.

A seismic reflection survey with concurrent bottom sampling was conducted in western Massachusetts Bay to obtain information on bottom topography and sediments, subbottom structure and composition, and the location of sand deposits potentially usable for restoration and nourishment of nearby beaches. Primary sediment data was derived from 43 cores. The predominant sediments of the surface and shallow subsurface deposits in the study area are fine sand, sand and gravel, and clayey silt. Sand suitable for ...

The sediments and geomorphology of a portion of the northeastern continental shelf between Hudson Canyon and Georges Bank have been investigated. Wave-cut terraces at 13, 45, 65, and 80 fathoms indicate four former low sea levels, while concentrations of beach ridges around 35 fathoms reveal a fifth. The pre-Holocene drainage pattern, still exposed over part of the area, shows that Block Channel was the main stream system which drained most of southern New England. The surface sediments on the western part ...

An unusual accumulation ofi ncohesive fine-grained sediment (silt and clay) occurs in the midst of the sand-covered continental shelf south of Martha's Vineyard. This 4000 square mile deposit of soft material is assumed to overlie relict Pleistocene sands. The objective of this study was to determine the distribution, thickness, and engineering properties of this fine-grained deposit.

The results of the sediment size analysis performed by the U.S.Naval Oceanographic Office Geological Laboratory for six Phleger gravity cores are presented in this data layer. Some of the data in this set were originally released as part of the Deck 41 Database available from the National Geophysical Data Center. The attribute for sediment classification was added by the compilers to make these size data more useful for mapping the regional surficial sediment distribution.

Grab samples and cores were collected as part of a study of the fluvial-marine interaction in the system comprised by the Kennebec River, Androscoggin River, Merrymeeting Bay, and Kennebec Rver Estuary. Processes controlling the Holocene evolution of the popham Barrier were also examined.

The data in this layer are from a study that evaluated and documented the historic and projected future dredging and dredged material disposal needs of the coastal rivers and harbors of the states of Maine and New Hampshire. Documentation of historic dredging and disposal activities was accomplished through the collection of data primarily from the files of the ACOE, New England Division, in Waltham, Massachusetts, supplemented by information from the states of Maine and New Hampshire and previously ...

This bathymetric shapefile contains 10 m contours for the continental shelf and 100 m beyond the 200 m shelf edge. The contours have been derived from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), Coastal Relief Models volume 1 and 2.

The sediment data presented in this data layer were from an ecological study sited near the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine. The analog data were originally converted into digital form for inclusion in a Gulf of Maine Contaminated Sediments Database.

The data in this layer are from a number of published and unpublished sets produced by the Bigelow Laboratory. The source projects were conducted primarily to examine contaminant (e.g. trace metals, PAHs) distributions, but also produced sediment textural data. The data were originally converted into digital format for inclusion in the Gulf of Maine Contaminated Sediments Database.

The detailed nature of relict sediments resulting from and related to the Holocene transgression is revealed through this sedimentological study of a densely sampled corridor across the southern New England continental shelf. These shelf sediments can be divided into an inner and middle clean sand facies and an outer shelf muddy sand facies. Sediment data supports the view that the outer muddy sediment is relict; the sharp "mud line" at about 35 fathoms results not from modern deposition, but from the ...

This data set contains sediment grain size and textural information from the Continental Margin Program. The program was a joint collaboration between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution during the 1960s to conduct a geological reconnaissance investigation of the continental shelf and slope off the Atlantic coast of the United States. Only those records with complete size analyses are included in this data set. Other stations where only lithologic descriptions are ...

The sediment data presented in this data layer were from a geochemical study sited in Great Bay estuarine system of New Hampshire. Textural data were used to support interpretations of trace metal distributions. The analog data were originally converted into digital form for inclusion in a Gulf of Maine Contaminated Sediments Database.