Core descriptions and sedimentologic data from vibracores and sand augers collected in 2021 and 2022 from Fire Island, New York

Vibracore acquisition- Vibracores (core sites C1-C4) 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 centimeter [cm]) concrete vibrator head. The vibrator was attached to a 7.6-cm (3-inch) diameter aluminum core barrel using a 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 the amount of compaction, 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 SPCMSC sediment laboratory for processing and analysis. Position and elevation data at each vibracore site were recorded using a Trimble R10 DGPS receiver and geodetic antenna receiving RTK corrections from the NYSNet (New York State Spatial Reference Network) real-time network.

Sand auger acquisition- Sand augers (core sites C5-C9) were collected using an AMS sand/loose sediment soil probe, which can accommodate a 2.54-cm (1 inch) diameter by approximately 96 cm (3 feet) plastic or stainless sleeve. At each core site, multiple core sections were collected: an initial core section was collected from the ground surface; then, a trench was dug to just above the depth of sediment recovery. Two additional core sections were collected from the bottom of this trench, with one core section collected using a stainless-steel core sleeve to prevent exposure to light for optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. At core site C5, a fourth core section was collected from the trench to achieve deeper penetration than the original attempt; at core sites C7 and C9, no trench was dug and the OSL section was collected from the ground surface. After extraction, each core was capped, sealed, and labeled with the core number, depth interval, and orientation. All cores were transported to the SPCMSC sediment laboratory for processing and analysis. Position and elevation data at each sand auger site were recorded using a Spectra Precision SP80 DGPS receiver and geodetic antenna. Raw data were recorded for a minimum of 30 minutes and were subsequently processed through OPUS.

Vibracore processing- At the SPCMSC sediment laboratory, each vibracore was split lengthwise, photographed, described macroscopically using standard sediment-logging methods, and subsampled for grain-size analysis and age control. Because samples were collected for OSL dating, care was taken not to expose the sediment to light, and core splitting and sampling was conducted in the dark with only a photographer's red lamp and the sample half of each core was wrapped in lightproof material for storage. The split vibracores were photographed in approximately 20- to 25-cm, overlapping segments with a Nikon D80 digital camera with a 70 mm zoom lens using consistent (manually programmed) settings with autofocus from a fixed height. The raw images were white-balanced using GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) version 2.10 software, cropped to the same extent (to remove areas outside of the core barrel), and "stitched" together using The Panorama Factory version 4.5 software, providing seamless high-resolution whole-core images. Textural descriptions for the core logs are based on macroscopic observations. 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/). Descriptive core logs were compiled using Rockware LogPlot 8 2021.6.2 software and exported as Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPG) images. Grain-size and age-control samples consisted of 2-cm sections sampled at varying intervals down-core depending on the number and thickness of the observed sedimentologic units. Samples collected for OSL dating were placed in lightproof film canisters, labeled, and sent to the USGS Luminescence Dating Laboratory (Denver, Colorado) for analysis. Samples collected for radiocarbon dating were sealed, labeled, and stored in a refrigerator prior to shipping to Beta Analytic, Inc. (Miami, Florida) for analysis.

Sand auger processing- At the SPCMSC sediment laboratory, each sand auger section in a plastic sleeve was split lengthwise, photographed, x-rayed, described macroscopically using standard sediment-logging methods, and subsampled for grain-size analysis and age control. The split sand augers were photographed in approximately 15- to 20-cm, overlapping segments with a Nikon D80 digital camera with a 70 mm zoom lens using consistent (manually programmed) settings with autofocus from a fixed height. The raw images were white-balanced using GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) version 2.10 software, cropped to the same extent (to remove areas outside of the core barrel), and "stitched" together using The Panorama Factory version 4.5 software, providing seamless high-resolution whole-core images. Core x-rays were acquired using an Ecotron EPX-2800 x-ray unit at 90 kilovolts for 20 milliampere-seconds from a height of 79 cm. The x-radiograph was captured on an 11 × 14-inch phosphor cassette, which was scanned on an iCRco, Inc., iCR3600+ scanner at 254 pixels per inch and exported as a 16-bit Tagged Image File Format (TIF) image. The raw x-radiographs show a slight anode heel effect, which is a variation in x-ray intensity along the anode-cathode axis that results in non-uniform pixel intensity across the image. This effect was corrected by subtracting a background pixel intensity template from each raw image. The images were cropped (to the same extent and to remove areas outside of the cassette), background image subtracted, and grayscale color inversion was applied using ImageJ version 1.53k. Because the sand augers did not fit onto the phosphor cassette, the core sections were x-rayed in "top" and "bottom" segments and then merged in Adobe Illustrator 2022 version 26. Textural descriptions for the core logs are based on macroscopic observations. 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/). Descriptive core logs were compiled using Rockware LogPlot 8 2021.6.2 software. Samples consisted of 4- to 5-cm sections sampled at varying intervals down-core depending on the number and thickness of the observed sedimentologic units. Sediment for OSL dating was sectioned from the stainless core sleeves using a pipe cutter. Sampling was conducted in the dark with only a photographer's red lamp to not to expose the sediment to light. Samples collected for OSL dating were sealed in the sectioned core sleeves, labeled, and sent to the USGS Luminescence Dating Laboratory for analysis. Samples collected for radiocarbon dating were sealed, labeled, and stored in a refrigerator prior to shipping to Beta Analytic, Inc. for analysis.

Grain-size PSA analysis- At the SPCMSC sediment laboratory, grain-size analyses were performed using a Coulter LS13 320 (https://www.beckmancoulter.com/) PSA. The LS13 320 uses laser diffraction to measure the size distribution of sediments from 0.4 µm to 2 mm, encompassing clay to very coarse-grained sand. To prevent large shell fragments from damaging the instrument, particles greater than 1 mm in diameter (coarse sand) were separated from all samples prior to analysis using a number 18 (1 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. Two subsamples from each sample were processed through the instrument a minimum of four runs each. Once introduced into the LS13 320, the sediment in the sample well was sonicated with a sonicator wand for 30 seconds to separate any aggregates before starting the first run for both subsamples. The LS13 320 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).

Grain-size processing- The raw grain-size data was run through the free software GRADISTAT version 9, (Blott and Pye, 2001; kpal.co.uk/gradistat), which calculates the mean, sorting, skewness and kurtosis of each sample geometrically, in metric units, and logarithmically, in phi (Φ) units (Krumbein, 1934), using the Folk and Ward (1957) scale. The raw (run) LS13 320 output files for all samples were compiled by GRADISTAT during import; those raw data are included in this data release for advanced users in the file 2021-312-FA_GrainSizeData.zip. GRADISTAT also reports the descriptive sediment texture after Folk (1954) and calculates the fraction of sediment from each sample by size category (for example, clay, coarse silt, fine sand) based on a modified Wentworth (1922) size scale. A macro function in Microsoft Excel, developed by the USGS SPCMSC, was applied to the data to calculate average and standard deviation for each sample set (8 runs per sample), and highlight runs that varied from the set average by more than ±1.5 standard deviations. Excessive deviations from the mean are likely the result of equipment error or extraneous organic material in the sample and are not considered representative of the sample. The highlighted runs were removed from the results and the sample average was recalculated using the remaining runs. The averaged results for all samples for the number of averaged runs are included in an Excel workbook (XLSX) and a comma-separated values (CSV) data file (2021-312-FA_GrainSize_RunData). The results for the sum statistics are included in a CSV file, 2021-312-FA_GrainSize_SumStats.csv. The results for both the sum and sieve statistics are also included in an Excel workbook (2021-312-FA_GrainSizeStats.xlsx), separated by tabs.

Grain-size sieve analysis- To evaluate the contribution of particles larger than 1 mm in diameter (coarse sand), a subsample of each sediment sample was also analyzed by sieving. The sediment was passed through a stack of sieves with progressively smaller openings using the assistance of a mechanical sieve shaker to determine grain-size distribution. U.S. standard sieves numbers 230 (63 µm), 120 (125 µm), 60 (250 µm), 35 (500 µm), 18 (1 mm), and 10 (2 mm) were used, which meet the ASTM E11 standard specifications for determining particle size using woven-wire test sieves. All dry sieve data was reported as a percent fraction of the total bulk dry weight of each sample subset. The results for all samples are included in a CSV data file (2021-312-FA_GrainSize_SieveStats.csv). The results for both the sum and sieve statistics are also included in an Excel workbook (2021-312-FA_GrainSizeStats.xlsx), separated by tabs.

Grain-size plots- The results of the sieve analyses (very coarse sand and gravel classes) were merged with the LS13 320 averaged results (coarse sand, medium sand, fine sand, very fine sand, and mud classes) for each sample in Microsoft Excel and re-normalized to 100%. The down-core grain-size distributions were plotted in Matlab version R2021A and exported as a JPG image.

Radiocarbon dating- Both the organic sediment fraction and plant material from selected organic-rich or peat sediment samples were analyzed using accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon (14C) dating at Beta Analytic, Inc. (Miami, Florida). For each sample, the conventional 14C radiocarbon age as well as calibrated age ranges are reported. Calibrated ages are based on terrestrial calibration curves from INTCAL20 (Reimer and others, 2020) using the High Probability Density (HPD) Range Method (Bronk Ramsey, 2009). For additional information on understanding calibrated radiocarbon ages, refer to the Beta Analytic, Inc. (https://www.radiocarbon.com/calendar-calibration-carbon-dating.htm) or University of Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (https://c14.arch.ox.ac.uk/calibration.html, https://c14.arch.ox.ac.uk/explanation.php) websites.

Populating image headers: Credit, contact information, copyright, usage terms, image descriptions, attribution url, metadata link, and georeferencing information were added to the exchangeable image file format (EXIF) header of each image using Phil Harvey’s ExifTool (version 12.44). The images were grouped by image type (core logs, photographs, and x-rays) into separate folders: 2021-312-FA_CoreLogs (16 images), 2021-312-FA_CorePhotos (13 images), 2021-312-FA_CoreXRays (9 images). All information in the scripts were the same among all images, aside from the EXIF:ImageDescription, EXIF:DateTimeOriginal, EXIF:GPSLatitude and EXIF:GPSLongtitude information, as that information varies for each core. A separate script containing that header information was run on each image individually to populate those headers (see the third script). The core logs and photographs are published as JPGs, whereas the core x-rays are published as TIFs. Therefore, all mentions of the file extension in the example scripts below used ".TIF" rather than ".JPG" for the x-ray images. Image header information was also populated for 2021-312-FA_GrainSizeDistributions.jpg in 2021-312-FA_GrainSizeData.zip. However, since this image details grain-size distributions for all collected cores, the third script was not used, along with removing EXIF:GPSMapDatum and EXIF:GPSAreaInformation in the second script.
First, the following command was run on all images in a folder to preserve filenames: exiftool -P "-XMP:PreservedFileName<Filename" *.JPG.
Second, the following command was run on all images in a folder to populate the first set of headers. exiftool -IPTC:Credit="U.S. Geological Survey" -IPTC:Contact="gs-g-spcmsc_data_inquiries@usgs.gov" -EXIF:Copyright="Public Domain" -XMP:UsageTerms="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 for other purposes, nor on all computer systems, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty." -XMP:AttributionURL="https://doi.org/10.5066/P91P1T88" -XMP:Event="2021-312-FA" -EXIF:GPSAreaInformation="Location of core collection site, GPS coordinates are in NAD83" -XMP:ExternalMetadataLink="https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/metadata/USGS:60af5833-a8ba-4a94-a85f-3bca6b652834.xml" -EXIF:GPSMapDatum="NAD83" *.JPG
Third, the following command was run on each image in the folder to populate the unique image headers for each core. This example is for the 2021-312-FA-C9_0-65 core photograph: exiftool -EXIF:ImageDescription="https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2021-312-FA; Core photograph for 2021-312-FA-C9_0-65." -EXIF:GPSLatitude="40.69391" -EXIF:GPSLatitudeRef="N" -EXIF:GPSLongitude="72.97954" -EXIF:GPSLongitudeRef="W" -EXIF:DateTimeOriginal="2022:04:20 00:00:00" 2021-312-FA-C9_0-65.JPG
Fourth, the following command run on all images in a folder to copy information into duplicate tags: exiftool -P "-XMP-photoshop:Credit<IPTC:Credit" "-XMP-iptcCore:CreatorWorkEmail<IPTC:Contact" "-XMP-dc:Rights<EXIF:Copyright" "-XMP-dc:Description<EXIF:ImageDescription" "-XMP-exif:all<GPS:all" "-XMP-photoshop:DateCreated<EXIF:DateTimeOriginal" "-EXIF:GPSDateStamp<EXIF:DateTimeOriginal" -overwrite_original *.JPG
To extract the information from the image headers using ExifTool, run the following command after connecting to the unzipped folder containing the images: exiftool a.jpg, where 'a' is replaced with the filename. Example: 2021-312-FA-C1.jpg