Archive of Sediment Data from Vibracores Collected in 2016 from Fire Island, New York

USGS scientists collected 14 vibracores on April 10 and 11, 2016 (USGS FAN 2016-322-FA) along 6 transects at Fire Island, New York that extend from the upper to lower subaerial shoreface. Core sites were selected where analysis of previously-surveyed beach-profile data (https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/fire-island/research/sandy/beach-profiles.html) indicated recovery of sediments from below the post-Hurricane Sandy surface was possible. The coring transects correspond to the locations of beach profiles 10, 11, 22, 25, 26, and 29. Vibracores were collected using an 8-horsepower Briggs and Stratton motor connected via an 8.5-meter-long (27.9-foot-long) shaft to a Dreyer 2 1/8-inch (5.4 cm) concrete vibrator head. The vibrator was attached to a 7.6-cm (3-inch) diameter aluminum core barrel using a quick-release clamp, and the core barrel was vibrated into the subsurface until refusal. Measurements were taken on the inside and outside of the core barrel prior to extraction to determine compaction or core shortening values, which is the difference between the recovered core length and the total depth the core barrel penetrated below the sediment surface. After extraction, each core was capped, sealed, and labeled with the core number and orientation. All cores were transported to the SPCMC sediment laboratory for processing and analysis.

All vibracore locations were recorded at the time of collection using a Garmin GPSMAP 76S handheld GPS receiver. Position and elevation data were also recorded with an Ashtech Z-Xtreme DGPS receiver and geodetic antenna, which recorded the 12-channel full-carrier-phase satellite positioning signals (L1/L2) and provided more accurate horizontal and vertical control than handheld GPS units. A stop-and-go rapid-static survey technique was used, with a static occupation duration of 5 minutes at each sample site. DGPS data were recorded concurrently throughout the survey using a similar instrument combination (Ashtech receiver and Thales choke ring antenna) at a base station set up on the NPS REST benchmark.

Base station data were post-processed through OPUS, and the time-weighted position calculated from all base-xstation occupations did not differ significantly from the NPS REST control coordinates; therefore, the control coordinates were used for post-processing. The base-station coordinates were imported into GrafNav, version 8.5 (NovAtel Waypoint Product Group), and the data from the rover GPS (the GPS unit used to collect data at each vibracore site) were post-processed to the concurrent base-station session data; baseline distances for all core sites were 21 km or less. The GPS data were acquired and processed in the World Geodetic System of 1984 (WGS84) (G1150) geodetic datum.

Using the NGS transformation software packages Horizontal Time-Dependent Positioning (HTDP, https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/TOOLS/Htdp/Htdp.shtml), version 3.2.5 and VDatum, version 3.4 (https://vdatum.noaa.gov/), the sample locations were transformed from the GPS processing datum (WGS84) to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83), Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Zone 18 North (18N) reference frame and the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88) orthometric elevation using the NGS geoid model of 2012(A) (GEOID12A).

At the SPCMSC sediment laboratory, each vibracore was split lengthwise, photographed with a Canon Powershot SX20 IS digital camera, described macroscopically using standard sediment-logging methods, and subsampled for grain-size analysis. Grain-size samples consisted of 2-cm sections sampled at varying intervals down-core depending on the number and thickness of the observed sedimentologic units. Textural descriptions for the core logs are based on macroscopic observations; the quantitative grain-size data are represented by down-core plots on the core logs. Sediment color is based on the Munsell soil color system (https://munsell.com/color-products/color-communications-products/environmental-color-communication/munsell-soil-color-charts/).

Grain-size analyses were performed using a Coulter LS 13 320 particle-size analyzer, which uses laser diffraction to measure the size distribution of sediments ranging in size from 0.4 microns (µm) to 2 millimeters (mm) (clay to very coarse-grained sand). A total of 315 samples were analyzed from 14 vibracores. Prior to analysis, each sample was dried at 40 degrees Celsius (°C) for 24 hours. Two subsamples (sets) from each sample were processed (4 runs per set) through the LS 13 320 particle-size analyzer, which measures the particle-size distribution of each sample by passing sediment suspended in solution between two narrow panes of glass in front of a laser. Light is scattered by the particles into characteristic refraction patterns measured by an array of photodetectors as intensity per unit area and recorded as relative volume for 92 size-related channels (bins). In order to prevent shell fragments and coarse material from damaging the LS 13 320, particles greater than 2 mm in diameter were separated from each subsample prior to analysis using a number 10 (2,000 µm, 2 mm) U.S. standard sieve, which meets the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) E11 standard specifications for determining particle size using woven-wire test sieves, and the fraction of sediment greater than 2 mm was recorded as a percentage of the subsample dry weight.

The raw grain-size data were run through GRADISTAT, version 8 (Blott and Pye, 2001), which calculates the geometric (in metric units) and logarithmic (in phi units, Φ) mean, sorting, skewness, and kurtosis of each sample using the Folk and Ward method as well as the cumulative particle-size distribution. GRADISTAT also calculates the fraction of sediment from each sample by size category (for example, clay, coarse silt, fine sand) based on a modified Wentworth size scale. A macro developed by the USGS was applied to calculate the average and standard deviation of each sample (four runs per set, eight runs per sample) and highlight runs that varied from the set or sample average by more than plus or minus (±) 1.5 standard deviations. Excessive deviations from the mean are likely the result of equipment error or extraneous material in the sample and, therefore, are not considered representative of the sample. Those runs were removed from the results and the sample average was recalculated using the remaining runs. The individual run statistics are available at https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/data-release/doi-F7FN15GX/data/2016-322-FA_GrainSize_RunStats.zip. The averaged results for all samples, including the number of runs used, the standard deviation of the averaged results, and graphical representations of the data, are summarized in Microsoft Excel workbooks with each core on its own tab and are available at https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/data-release/doi-F7FN15GX/data/2016-322-FA_GrainSize_SumStats.zip.

Using Exchangeable image file format (Exif) data, the GPS date, time and coordinates recorded during sediment core collection were embedded in the core photograph's image metadata. The Exif headers were initially populated by the camera’s imaging software but were subsequently updated by USGS staff to include core-related supplemental information. A Python version 2.7.3 script (UpdatePhotoEXIFv2.py) was run to incorporate location information and auxiliary details into the appropriate locations within the Exif header of each full-resolution JPEG image. The Python script used ExifTool version 10.25 to write the information to the image headers. The following tags were populated in the JPEG image headers. Information is duplicated in some tags. This was done because different software packages access different tags.
GPS tags: The values populated are unique for each image and based on the post-processed DGPS position information.

GPSLatitudeRef
GPSLatitude
GPSLongitudeRef
GPSLongitude
GPSTimeStamp
GSPDateStamp

JPEG tags: The tag is listed along with the information used to populate it - which is the same for every image taken with a particular camera. The following information is based on the Canon PowerShot SX20 IS camera.

comment: Photo of vibracore collected in April 2016 from Fire Island, New York during field activity number 2016-322-FA (https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2016-322-FA). Published as USGS data release DOI:10.5066/F7FN15GX.

EXIF tags: The tag is listed along with the information used to populate it - which is the same for every image.

ImageDescription: Photograph of sediment core collected from Fire Island, NY during 2016-322-FA.

Artist: J. Bernier
Copyright: Public Domain - please credit U.S. Geological Survey

IPTC tags: The tag is listed along with the information used to populate it - which is the same for every image.

Credit: U.S. Geological Survey
Contact: gs-g-spcmsc_data_inquiries@usgs.gov
Keywords: Fire Island National Seashore, New York, Fire Island, 2016-322-FA, Hurricane Sandy, sediment sample, vibracore, USGS
CopyrightNotice: Public Domain - please credit U.S. Geological Survey
Caption-Abstract: Photograph of sediment core collected from Fire Island, NY during 2016-322-FA.

XMP tags: The tag is listed along with the information used to populate it - which is the same for every image.

Caption: Photograph of sediment core collected from Fire Island, NY during 2016-322-FA.

To extract the information from the image headers using ExifTool, the following command can be used (tested with ExifTool version 10.25):

exiftool.exe -csv -f -filename -GPSTimeStamp -GPSLongitude -GPSLatitude -n -Artist -Credit -comment -keywords -Caption -Copyright -CopyrightNotice -Caption-Abstract -ImageDescription photos/*.jpg > out.csv

The -csv flag writes the information out in a comma-delimited format. The -n option formats the latitude and longitude as signed decimal degrees.

Added keywords section with USGS persistent identifier as theme keyword.