Prospective regions for marine minerals on the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Prospective regions for marine minerals on the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf
Abstract:
This shapefile is of prospective regional outlines of where marine minerals may occur on the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Polygons were hand digitized based on a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data review that considers the state of knowledge regarding marine mineral occurrences within the Alaska OCS. This data release is a companion to the USGS Professional Paper, Gartman and others, 2022.
Supplemental_Information:
Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
Although this Federal Geographic Data Committee-compliant metadata file is intended to document the dataset in nonproprietary form, as well as in Esri format, this metadata file may include some Esri-specific terminology.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Fregoso, Theresa A., Au, Manda V., Mizell, Kira, and Gartman, Amy, 20240129, Prospective regions for marine minerals on the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf: data release DOI:10.5066/P1KXSYGD, U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, CA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Suggested Citation: Fregoso, T.A., Au, M.V., Mizell, K., and Gartman, A., 2024, Prospective regions for marine minerals on the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P1KXSYGD.
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -180.000000
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: 180.000000
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 81.189545
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 51.120417
  3. What does it look like?
    https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/file/get/659d9364d34e3265ab163257?name=Alaska_OCS_Prospective_Regions.png&allowOpen=true (PNG)
    Map showing the locations of prospective regions of marine minerals on the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf.
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Calendar_Date: 02-Jun-2022
    Currentness_Reference:
    publication date of accompanying Professional Paper
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?
      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • GT-polygon composed of chains (64)
    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 0.000000001. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.000000001. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees. The horizontal datum used is D_WGS_1984.
      The ellipsoid used is WGS_1984.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.0.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257223563.
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    Alaska_OCS_Prospective_Regions
    Regions of potential marine minerals in marine areas surrounding Alaska (Source: Producer defined)
    FID
    Internal feature number (Source: Esri) Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
    Shape
    Feature geometry (Source: Esri) Coordinates defining the features.
    Id
    Polygon ID of region (Source: producer defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:1
    Maximum:64
    Units:Sequential numbers that will serve as the identification number for each region.
    Resolution:1
    Marine_Are
    Undersea marine area where prospective region occurs. (Source: User defined)
    ValueDefinition
    Geographic names of undersea locations.Gulf of Alaska seamounts, Chukchi Borderland, Canada Basin, Aleutian Arc
    Shape_Leng
    Length of feature in internal units. (Source: ESRI)
    Range of values
    Minimum:0.37
    Maximum:6,373.49
    Units:Perimeter length in Km
    Resolution:1
    Shape_Area
    Area of feature in internal units squared. (Source: ESRI)
    Range of values
    Minimum:0.0058
    Maximum:208,837.33
    Units:Area in Km2
    Resolution:1
    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    Polygon shapefile showing potential areas of Marine Minerals on the Outer continental shelf of Alaska, labeled by polygon number and grouped by undersea geographic location.
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    The entity and attribute information were generated by the individual and/or agency identified as the originator of the data set. Please review the rest of the metadata record for additional details and information.

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • Theresa A. Fregoso
    • Manda V. Au
    • Kira Mizell
    • Amy Gartman
  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?

This work was funded by the USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources program through the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, and in part by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management through Interagency Agreement M19PG00021 with the USGS. These polygons are of prospective regions for the potential occurrence of ferromanganese crusts, manganese nodules, and hydrothermal minerals for the marine areas surrounding Alaska, specifically the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). In this study we review areas, prospective for deep-ocean minerals in the Alaska OCS to identify regions, where "prospective" indicates that a region is consistent with the geologic and oceanographic criteria required to potentially host marine minerals. This does not mean that a region hosts marine minerals, and it does not indicate that the marine minerals occurring in that region will be economically viable. Regions not meeting the criteria for prospective designation are not included here. These regional outlines are intended to provide baseline information regarding where marine minerals may occur, for use by scientists, resource managers, and the general public. The data can be used with geographic information systems (GIS) software for research purposes.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
    IMLGS (source 1 of 16)
    Curators of Marine and Lacustrine Geological Samples Consortium, 1977, Index to Marine and Lacustrine Geological Samples (IMLGS): National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA], National Centers for Environmental Information, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: digital resource
    Source_Contribution: Sample data used to identify locations of marine minerals.
    AGDB3 (source 2 of 16)
    Granitto, M., Wang, B., Shew, N.B, Karl, S.M., Labay, K.A., Werdon, M.B., Seitz, S.S., and Hoppe, J.E., 2019, Alaska geochemical database version 3.0 (AGDB3)-Including best-value data compilations for rock, sediment, soil, mineral, and concentrate sample media: U.S. Geological Survey, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: relational database
    Source_Contribution: Sample data used to identify locations of marine minerals.
    ODP (source 3 of 16)
    Program, Ocean Drilling, 2003, Ocean Drilling Program: Consortium for Ocean Leadership, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Digital Resource
    Source_Contribution: Sample data used to identify locations of marine minerals.
    IODP (source 4 of 16)
    International Ocean Discovery Program, 2024, Integrated Ocean Drilling Program: Science Support Office at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Digital Resource
    Source_Contribution: Sample data used to identify locations of marine minerals.
    DSDP (source 5 of 16)
    Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Foundation, National Science, 1984, Deep Sea Drilling Project: Texas A&M University Digital Library, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: scanned paper resources
    Source_Contribution: Sample data used to identify locations of marine minerals.
    Koski (source 6 of 16)
    Koski, R.A., 1988, Ferromanganese deposits from the Gulf of Alaska Seamount Province-mineralogy, chemistry, and origin: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Digital Resource
    Source_Contribution: Sample data used to identify locations of marine minerals.
    Hein (source 7 of 16)
    Hein, J.R., Konstantinova, N., Mikesell, M., Mizell, K., Fitzsimmons, J.N., Lam, P.J., Jensen, L.T., Xiang, Y., Gartman, A., Cherkashov, G., Hutchinson, D.R., and Till, C.P, 2017, Arctic deepwater ferromanganese-oxide deposits reflect the unique characteristics of the Arctic Ocean: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: digital resource
    Source_Contribution: Sample data used to identify locations of marine minerals.
    Wei (source 8 of 16)
    Wei, Z., Chen, H., Lei, R., Yu, X., Zhang, T., Lin, L., Tian, Z., Zhuang, T., Li, T., and Yuan, Z., 2019, Overview of the 9th Chinese national arctic research expedition: Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Digital Resource
    Source_Contribution: Sample data used to identify locations of marine minerals.
    Cui (source 9 of 16)
    Cui, Y., Liu, X., Liu, C., Gao, J., Fang, X., Liu, Y., Wang, W., and Li, Y., 2020, Mineralogy and geochemistry of ferromanganese oxide deposits from the Chukchi Sea in the Arctic Ocean: Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Digital Resource
    Source_Contribution: Sample data used to identify locations of marine minerals.
    Yogodzinski (source 10 of 16)
    Yogodzinski, G.M.,, Brown, S.T., Kelemen, P.B., Vervoort, J.D., Portnyagin, M., Sims, K.W.W., Hoernle, K., Jicha, B.R., and Werner, R., 2015, The role of subducted basalt in the source of island arc magmas—Evidence from seafloor lavas of the western Aleutians: Journal of Petrology, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Digital Resource
    Source_Contribution: Sample data used to identify locations of marine minerals.
    GEBCO (source 11 of 16)
    General Bathymetric Compilation Group, 2020, General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) 2020 grid - continuous terrain model of the global oceans and land: British Oceanographic Data Centre, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Digital Resources
    Source_Contribution:
    Used in conjunction with other data to determine possible locations of marine minerals.
    Chloro (source 12 of 16)
    NASA Ocean Biology (OB.DAAC), 2014, Mean annual sea surface chlorophyll-a concentration for the period 2009-2013 (composite dataset created by UNEP-WCMC). Data obtained from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aqua Ocean Colour website (NASA OB.DAAC, Greenbelt, MD, USA). Accessed 28/11/2014.: Cambridge (UK UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Digital Resources
    Source_Contribution:
    Used in conjunction with other data to determine possible locations of marine minerals.
    Seafloor seds (source 13 of 16)
    Dutkiewicz, Adriana, Muller, R. Dietmar, Callaghan, Simon O’, and Jonasson, Hjortur, 2015, Census of seafloor sediments in the world’s ocean: Geology, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Digital Resources
    Source_Contribution:
    Used in conjunction with other data to determine possible locations of marine minerals.
    Summit (source 14 of 16)
    Geist, Eric L., Childs, Jonathan R., and Scholl, David W., 1988, The origin of summit basins of the Aleutian Ridge -Implications for block rotation of an arc massif: American Geophysical Union, Tectonics, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: paper
    Source_Contribution:
    Used in conjunction with other data to determine possible locations of marine minerals.
    sed thick (source 15 of 16)
    Straume, E. O., Gaina, C., Medvedev, S., Hochmuth, K., Gohl, K., J. M. Whittaker, Fattah, R. Abdul, Doornenbal, J. C., and Hopper, J. R., 2019, GlobSed: Updated Total Sediment Thickness in the World's Oceans: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Digital Resources
    Source_Contribution:
    Used in conjunction with other data to determine possible locations of marine minerals.
    MEDUSA (source 16 of 16)
    Yool, A., Popova, E. E., and Anderson, T. R., 2013, MEDUSA-2.0: an intermediate complexity biogeochemical model of the marine carbon cycle for climate change and ocean acidification studies: Geosci. Model Dev, online.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Digital Resources
    Source_Contribution:
    Used in conjunction with other data to determine possible locations of marine minerals.
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: 2022 (process 1 of 3)
    Global and regional oceanographic and geologic spatial datasets were compiled and visually overlaid to determine regions meeting all the known criteria for ferromanganese crust formation (hard rock substrate on seamounts, low sedimentation rate), and abyssal manganese nodule formation (flat and sediment-covered basins, low sedimentation rate, low to moderate primary productivity, depths below the carbonate compensation depth, seafloor lithology), and hydrothermal minerals (along active arc, including extensional regions). Data sources used in this process:
    • GEBCO
    • Chloro
    • Seafloor seds
    • Summit
    • sed thick
    • MEDUSA
    Data sources produced in this process:
    • Surface
    Date: 2022 (process 2 of 3)
    Marine geologic samples were compiled within the following four deep ocean areas of interest surrounding Alaska: Gulf of Alaska Seamounts, Aleutian Arc, Canada Basin, and Chukchi Borderland. Data sources used in this process:
    • IMLGS
    • AGDB3
    • ODP
    • IODP
    • DSDP
    • Koski
    • Hein
    • Wei
    • Cui
    • Yogodzinski
    Data sources produced in this process:
    • Samples
    Date: 2022 (process 3 of 3)
    Areas were outlined to create a set of prospective regions for the marine mineral type predicted to occur in each of the Alaska deep ocean regions: ferromanganese crusts in the Gulf of Alaska Seamounts and Chukchi Borderland, manganese nodules in Canada Basin, and hydrothermal minerals in the Aleutian Arc. Areas were outlined that met all the formation criteria for each mineral type and were refined based on where samples were collected that confirmed the presence of marine minerals as well as specific criteria in each region as follows: 1) in the Gulf of Alaska Seamounts, areas prospective for ferromanganese crusts are at water depths shallower than 3,000 meters (m) (or 2,850 m where the abyssal plain doesn't reach 3,000 m); below 3,000 m, thick ferromanganese crusts are less likely to occur due to higher sedimentation rates and distance from oxygen minimum zones (OMZ) that are a reservoir of dissolved manganese; 2) for Chukchi Borderland, regions prospective for ferromanganese crusts are between water depths of 300 and 2,800 meters (m), except on the eastern flank of the Northwind Ridge where prospective depths extend down to 3,800 m, owing to steep slopes that prevent sediment accumulation; 3) for manganese nodules in the Gulf of Alaska, areas prospective for manganese nodules are at water depths of 3,800 m or deeper, where the Canada Basin Abyssal Plain is deepest, flattest, and undergoes the lowest sedimentation rates; 4) for the Aleutian Arc, the arc is prospective for hydrothermal minerals, specifically potential extensional regions. Prospective regions were converted to shapefiles in ArcGIS software for each mineral type for use in GIS applications such as maps, modeling, or other. Data sources used in this process:
    • Surface
    • Samples
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
    Gartman, Amy, Mizell, Kira, and Kreiner, Douglas C., 2022, Marine Minerals in Alaska - A Review of Coastal and Deep-Ocean Regions.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Gartman, A., Mizell, K., and Kreiner, D.C., 2022, Marine minerals in Alaska - A review of coastal and deep-ocean regions: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1870, 46 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1870.

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 formal accuracy assessment of the horizontal positional information in the data set has not been conducted. Locations are based on best guesses on where a prospective region may occur, hand drawn on maps of varying resolution.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    Data set is considered complete for the information presented, as described in the abstract. Users are advised to read the rest of the metadata record carefully for additional details. "Prospective" indicates that a region is consistent with the geologic and oceanographic criteria required to potentially host marine minerals. This does not mean that a region hosts marine minerals, and it does not indicate that the marine minerals occurring in that region will be economically viable. Regions not meeting the criteria for prospective designation are not included here. These regional outlines are intended to provide baseline information regarding where marine minerals may occur.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    No additional checks for consistency were performed on this data.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
Access_Constraints None
Use_Constraints USGS-authored or produced data and information are in the public domain from the U.S. Government and are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize and acknowledge the U.S. Geological Survey as the originator(s) of the dataset and in products derived from these data. This information is not intended for navigation purposes.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase
    Denver Federal Center, Building 810, Mail Stop 302
    Denver, CO

    1-888-275-8747 (voice)
    sciencebase@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? These data are available in shapefile format (Alaska_OCS_Prospective_Regions.shp and associated files) contained in a single zip file (Alaska_OCS_Prospective_Regions.zip) accompanied by CSDGM FGDC-compliant metadata and browse graphic.
  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?
  5. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?
    data can be viewed with most GIS software packages.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 29-Jan-2024
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)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/pcmsc/DataReleases/ScienceBase/DR_P1KXSYGD/Alaska_OCS_Prospective_Regions_metadata.faq.html>
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