Information on sediment cores collected offshore Cascadia, during field activity 2022-653-FA

Frequently anticipated questions:

• What does this data set describe?
  1. How might this data set be cited?
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
• Who produced the data set?
  1. Who are the originators of the data set?
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
• Why was the data set created?
• How was the data set created?
  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
• How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?
  1. How well have the observations been checked?
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the data, including topology?
• How can someone get a copy of the data set?
  1. Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
  2. Who distributes the data?
  3. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?
  4. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
  5. How can I download or order the data?
• Who wrote the metadata?

What does this data set describe?

1. How might this data set be cited?
   Hill, Jenna C., SeanPaul M. La Selle, Watt, Janet T., Nieminski, Nora M., Balster-Gee, Alicia F., Ferro, Peter Dal, Padgett, Jason S., Powers, Daniel C., Marcuson, Rachel K., and Snyder, George R., 20250326, Information on sediment cores collected offshore Cascadia, during field activity 2022-653-FA: data release DOI:10.5066/P1VQIJ2Q, U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, California.

   Online Links:

   • https://doi.org/10.5066/P1VQIJ2Q

   This is part of the following larger work.
   Hill, Jenna C., SeanPaul M. La Selle, Watt, Janet T., Nieminski, Nora M., Balster-Gee, Alicia F., Ferro, Peter Dal, Padgett, Jason S., Powers, Daniel C., Marcuson, Rachel K., and Snyder, George R., 2025, Sediment core data from offshore Cascadia - USGS field activity 2022-653-FA: data release DOI:10.5066/P1VQIJ2Q, U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, CA.

   Online Links:

   • https://doi.org/10.5066/P1VQIJ2Q

   Other_Citation_Details:

   Suggested Citation: Hill, J.C., La Selle, S.M., Watt, J.W., Nieminski, N.M., Balster-Gee, A.F., Dal Ferro, P., Padgett, J.S., Powers, D.C., Marcuson, R.K., and Snyder, G.R., 2025, Sediment core data from offshore Cascadia during field activity 2022-653-FA: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P1VQIJ2Q.

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -125.215927
   East_Bounding_Coordinate: -124.723058
   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.711749
   South_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.374695
   

3. What does it look like?
4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

   Beginning_Date: 18-Sep-2022

   Ending_Date: 04-May-2023

   Currentness_Reference:

   Ground conditions at the time data were collected

5. What is the general form of this data set?

   Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: CSV format tabular data
   

6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
   1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?
      This is a Point data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • Point (20)
   2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?
      Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest 0.000001. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.000001. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees. The horizontal datum used is WGS 1984.
      The ellipsoid used is WGS 84.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.0.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257224.
      

      Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:

      Depth_System_Definition:

      Depth_Datum_Name: Local surface for water depth
      Depth_Resolution: 1.0
      Depth_Distance_Units: meters
      Depth_Encoding_Method: Attribute values
      

7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

   2022-653-FA_cores.csv

   Comma separated value (.csv) text file with name, location, and length/depth information for each core section, is provided, along with an inventory of CT, MSCL, and line scan files associated with 2022-653-FA. (Source: Producer defined)

   core_id

   The unique identifier for a core site. (Source: Producer Defined) Identifier for the type of core (for example, JPC- for jumbo piston core, TC- for trigger core) followed by a unique number for the core site.

   section_number

   Section number of core. (Source: Producer Defined)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	1
   Maximum:	6
   Units:	sections

   section_length_cm

   Length of an individual core section. (Source: Producer Defined)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	43
   Maximum:	153
   Units:	cm

   section_top_cm

   Depth at top of core section in centimeters. If blank, core was not used for analyses or not recovered. (Source: Producer Defined)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	0
   Maximum:	638
   Units:	cm

   section_bottom_cm

   Depth at bottom of core section in centimeters. If blank, core was not used for analyses or not recovered. (Source: Producer Defined)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	43
   Maximum:	791
   Units:	cm

   total_core_length_cm

   Sum of all section lengths in a core. If blank, core was not used for analyses or not recovered. (Source: Producer defined)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	80
   Maximum:	791
   Units:	cm

   latitude

   Latitude of sample in decimal degrees, North (Source: Onboard Hemisphere V110 GPS)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	41.374695
   Maximum:	41.711749
   Units:	decimal degrees

   longitude

   Longitude of sample in decimal degrees, East (Source: Onboard Hemisphere V110 GPS)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	-125.215927
   Maximum:	-124.723058
   Units:	decimal degrees

   water_depth_m

   Depth of seafloor at core location (Source: Estimated from position on bathymetry datasets (see vertical positional accuracy report).)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	1145
   Maximum:	3116
   Units:	meters

   date_collected

   Date of core collection in mm/dd/yyyy format. (Source: Producer defined)

   Range of values
   Minimum:	09/20/2022
   Maximum:	09/21/2022
   Units:	date

   ct_file_xz

   Filename of associated Tag Image File Format (TIFF) file of coronal (XZ) CT image of core section. (Source: Producer defined) Filenames start with the field activity (FA) number (2022_653_FA) followed by the core id, section number, 'XZView' and end with .tif file extension.

   ct_file_yz

   Filename of associated TIFF file of saggital (YZ) CT image of core section. (Source: Producer defined) Filenames start with the FA number (2022_653_FA) followed by the core id, section number, and 'YZView' and end with .tif file extension.

   photo_file

   Filename of associated TIFF file of core section photograph. (Source: Producer defined) Filenames start with the FA number (2022_653_FA) followed by the core id and section number and end with .tif file extension.

   mscl_file

   Filename of associated CSV file containing MSCL data. (Source: Producer defined) Filenames start with the FA number (2022_653_FA) followed by the core id and end with .csv file extension.

   Entity_and_Attribute_Overview: The first line of the CSV file is a header line.
   Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: Producer defined
   

Who produced the data set?

1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
   • Jenna C. Hill
   • SeanPaul M. La Selle
   • Janet T. Watt
   • Nora M. Nieminski
   • Alicia F. Balster-Gee
   • Peter Dal Ferro
   • Jason S. Padgett
   • Daniel C. Powers
   • Rachel K. Marcuson
   • George R. Snyder
2. Who also contributed to the data set?
3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
   U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

   Attn: PCMSC Science Data Coordinator

   2885 Mission Street

   Santa Cruz, CA
   

   831-427-4747 (voice)

   pcmsc_data@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

How was the data set created?

1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

   Date: 2022 (process 1 of 3)

   Cores were collected aboard MV Bold Horizon using a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) jumbo piston corer (JPC) on cruise 2022-653-FA. The JPC system consisted of a 2500-lb head weight, 8.71-centimeter diameter barrel, and polybutyrate liner. The JPC trigger arm was set up to collect a trigger core (TC) associated with each JPC (if successful). Gravity cores (GC) were collected using the same JPC system (minus trigger and TC) in two localities. JPCs and GCs were extruded and sectioned at sea. The cores were then transported back to the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center.

   Date: 2022 (process 2 of 3)

   Cores were scanned, split, and sampled at the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center core lab in Santa Cruz, CA. Information about the cores were combined into a comma-delimited text value document (2022-653-FA_cores.csv).

   Date: 2025 (process 3 of 3)

   CT TIFF images, line scan photo TIFF images, and MSCL CSV files were renamed for consistency with other datasets in this data release (Hill and others (2025)).

3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
   Dartnell, P., Conrad, J.E., Watt, J.T., and Hill, J.C., 2021, Composite multibeam bathymetry surface and data sources of the southern Cascadia Margin offshore Oregon and northern California.

   Online Links:

   • https://doi.org/10.5066/P9C5DBMR

   Other_Citation_Details:

   Dartnell, P., Conrad, J.E., Watt, J.T., and Hill, J.C., 2021, Composite multibeam bathymetry surface and data sources of the southern Cascadia Margin offshore Oregon and northern California: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9C5DBMR

   Dartnell, P., Watt, J.T., Hill, J.C., and Conrad, J.E., 2023, Composite multibeam bathymetry surface and data sources of the southern Cascadia Margin offshore Oregon and northern California.

   Online Links:

   • https://doi.org/10.5066/P9PERGFK

   Other_Citation_Details:

   Dartnell, P., Watt, J.T., Hill, J.C., and Conrad, J.E., 2023, Composite multibeam bathymetry surface and data sources of the central Cascadia Margin offshore Oregon: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9PERGFK

   Ryan, W.B.F., Carbotte, S.M., Coplan, J.O., O’Hara, A.M., Melkonian, A., Arko, R., Weissel, R.A., Goodwillie, A., Nitsche, F., Bonczkowski, J., and Zemsky, R., 2009, Global Multi-Resolution Topography Synthesis.

   Online Links:

   • https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GC002332

   Other_Citation_Details:

   Originator: Ryan, W.B.F., Carbotte, S.M., Coplan, J.O., O’Hara, A.M., Melkonian, A., Arko, R., Weissel, R.A., Goodwillie, A., Nitsche, F., Bonczkowski, J., Zemsky, R., 2009, Global Multi-Resolution Topography synthesis: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, v. 10, n. 3, p. 9, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GC002332

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

1. How well have the observations been checked?
   No formal attribute accuracy tests were conducted.
2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
   A Hemisphere V110 GPS system was used to obtain latitude and longitude point locations during the field activity, with a stated accuracy of 0.6 meters (95 percent confidence).
3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
   Water depth values at core locations were estimated from multibeam bathymetric data (Dartnell and others (2021), or Dartnell and others (2023), or Ryan and others (2009)). No formal vertical accuracy tests were conducted.
4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
   Dataset is considered complete for the information presented, as described in the abstract. Users are advised to carefully read the rest of the metadata record for additional details. Some cells are intentionally left blank if there was no recovery of the core or other issues with core quality. These issues are noted in the ‘notes’ column.
5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
   No formal logical consistency tests were conducted.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
   
   U.S. Geological Survey - CMGDS

   2885 Mission Street

   Santa Cruz, CA
   

   1-831-427-4747 (voice)

   pcmsc_data@usgs.gov
2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? Core information is provided in a comma separated value (CSV) text file (2022-653-FA_cores.csv) accompanied by CSDGM FGDC-compliant metadata.
3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
   Unless otherwise stated, all data, metadata and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. Although these data and associated metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty.
4. How can I download or order the data?
   • Availability in digital form:

     Data format:	Comma separated value (csv) text file of core information. in format comma delimited text
     Network links:	https://doi.org/10.5066/P1VQIJ2Q

   • Cost to order the data: None.

5. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?
   CSV files can be viewed with any standard table editing software (for example, excel, numbers).

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:

Last modified: 26-Mar-2025

Metadata author:

U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Attn: PCMSC Science Data Coordinator

2885 Mission Street

Santa Cruz, CA

831-427-4747 (voice)

pcmsc_data@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:

Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)