Coral cores collected in Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, U.S.A.: Photographs and X-rays

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Coral cores collected in Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, U.S.A.: Photographs and X-rays
Abstract:
Cores from living coral colonies were collected from Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, to obtain skeletal records of past coral growth and allow geochemical reconstruction of environmental variables during the corals’ centuries-long lifespans. The samples were collected as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies project (http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/) that provides science to assist resource managers tasked with the stewardship of coral reef resources. Three colonies each of the coral species Orbicella faveolata and Siderastrea siderea were collected in May 2012 as approved under National Park Service (NPS) scientific collecting permit number DRTO-2012-SCI-0001. These coral samples can be used to retroactively construct sea-surface temperature records by measuring the elemental ratio of strontium (Sr) to calcium (Ca), and are valuable for measuring additional paleoproxies as new methods are developed. Flannery and others (2017) includes temperature reconstructions using samples from one of the six (coral CG2) collected in this study. The core slabs described here, as well as others (see http://olga.er.usgs.gov/coreviewer/), can be requested on loan for further scientific study. Here we provide photographic images for each core depicting 1) the coral in its ocean environment, 2) the core as curated and slabbed, and 3) the X-rays of the slabs. More information on coring methods can be found in the associated U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2016-1182 (Weinzierl and others, 2016). These coral samples are presently on loan from the NPS, stored at the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) in St. Petersburg, Florida, and cataloged under accession number DRTO-353.
Supplemental_Information:
The samples were collected under the Dry Tortugas National Park scientific collecting permit number DRTO-2012-SCI-0001 and are cataloged under accession number DRTO-353. To ensure that USGS-St. Petersburg data management protocols were followed, the field expedition was assigned the following USGS field activity number (FAN): 12CBC03. Additional survey and data details are available from the U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geoscience Data System (CMGDS) at, http://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=12CBC03.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Kuffner, Ilsa B., Weinzierl, Michael S., Reich, Christopher D., Bartlett, Lucy A., and Flannery, Jennifer A., 20161031, Coral cores collected in Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, U.S.A.: Photographs and X-rays:.

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Kuffner, Ilsa B., Weinzierl, Michael S., Reich, Christopher D., Bartlett, Lucy A., and Flannery, Jennifer A., 20161031, Coral cores collected in Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, U.S.A.: Photographs and X-rays: U.S. Geological Survey data release doi:10.5066/F7V69GQ2, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg, FL.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -82.9239
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -82.7948
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 24.7034
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 24.6367
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Beginning_Date: 08-May-2012
    Ending_Date: 17-May-2012
    Currentness_Reference:
    ground condition
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: raster digital data
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?
    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    The entity and attribute information provided here describes the photographic images associated with the dataset.
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    The entity and attribute information was generated by the individual and/or agency identified as the originator of the dataset. 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)
    • Ilsa B. Kuffner
    • Michael S. Weinzierl
    • Christopher D. Reich
    • Lucy A. Bartlett
    • Jennifer A. Flannery
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
    Acknowledgment of the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program, as a data source would be appreciated in products developed from these data, and such acknowledgment as is standard for citation and legal practices for data source is expected.
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    Ilsa B. Kuffner
    U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
    600 4th Street South
    Saint Petersburg, FL
    U.S.A.

    727-502-8000 (voice)
    ikuffner@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

These photographic images were obtained to document and describe the six coral cores collected during a field expedition to Dry Tortugas National Park (DRTO) from May 8 to 17, 2012. These cores can be used for analyzing past coral-growth rates and retroactive sampling of coral skeletal material deposited over at least the past century. The purpose of sampling these cores is to uncover and understand the relationship between coral growth and various environmental variables, as well as to paleoreconstruct variables such as sea-surface temperature. Using corals as paleorecorders can extend scientific records of ocean temperature further back in time than those measured by human observers or satellites.

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: 17-May-2012 (process 1 of 4)
    Field photographs of the coral colonies, in the ocean environment where they lived, were taken underwater at a depth of approximately 1 to 3 meters using an Olympus C-5050Z zoom camera enclosed in an Olympus underwater housing. The photographs were taken in-situ, then subsequently color corrected using Adobe Photoshop CC 2015 version 17.0.1 to adjust for the truncated underwater light regime. The in-situ field photographs of the corals are included in the data release download file, DRTO_coral_cores_field_photographs.zip. Once the six coral cores were extracted from the field, they were transported back to the SPCMSC core lab in St. Petersburg, FL. Person who carried out this activity:
    Ilsa B. Kuffner
    U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Geology Science Center
    Research Marine Biologist
    600 4th Street South
    Saint Petersburg, Florida
    U.S.A.

    727-502-8048 (voice)
    ikuffner@usgs.gov
    Date: 01-Feb-2013 (process 2 of 4)
    In the lab, the coral cores were sectioned along the primary growth axis into 4-millimeter-thick slabs using a lapidary saw with a carbide-tipped blade. Multiple slabs (designated by numbers) were taken from each coral-core section (designated by letters) because corallite walls tend to meander over time and having replicate slabs increases the chance of obtaining a continuous path for geochemical sampling. When necessary, the cores were slabbed at an angle to follow the main axis of growth. The resulting slabs were cleaned in deionized milli-Q water using a Branson Sonifer 450 sonication device and air dried before storage. None of the slabs was treated with bleach or any oxidizing chemicals. Photographs of the coral slabs in their core boxes are included in the data release download file, DRTO_coral_cores_slab_photographs.zip. Person who carried out this activity:
    Christopher Reich
    U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Geology Science Center
    Geologist
    600 4th Street South
    Saint Petersburg, Florida
    U.S.A.

    727-502-8000 (voice)
    creich@usgs.gov
    Date: 09-Jan-2015 (process 3 of 4)
    X-radiographs (X-rays) of each coral slab were taken at the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) in St. Petersburg, FL. The coral slabs were placed on a phosphor plate and X-rayed at 55 kilovolts and 2.5 milli-Ampere-seconds (mAs). The distance between the plate and the X-ray source was 79 centimeters (cm). The plate was scanned on an iCR3600+ scanner at 254 dots per inch (dpi) resolution (10 pixels per millimeter), processed on iCRco, Inc. software, and adjusted for contrast and brightness using Adobe Photoshop CC 2015 version 17.0.1. The x-ray images of the corals are included in the data release download file, DRTO_coral_cores_xrays.zip. Person who carried out this activity:
    Jennifer Flannery
    U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Geology Science Center
    Chemist
    600 4th Street South
    Saint Petersburg, Florida
    U.S.A.

    727-502-8000 (voice)
    jflannery@usgs.gov
    Date: 20-Oct-2016 (process 4 of 4)
    The coral core field photograph locations were collected using a Garmin GPSMAP 78SC handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) and written into field notebooks. EXchangeable Image File format (EXIF) headers were initially populated during data collection by the camera’s imaging software but were subsequently updated by USGS staff to include additional core-related details. A Python version 2.7.3 script (UpdatePhotoEXIFv2.py, WHCMSC script) was run to incorporate the GPS locations, along with additional information, into the appropriate locations in 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 information exported from the handheld GPS. 
    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 Olympus C-5050Z camera.
    comment: Photo collected in May 2012 from the Dry Tortugas, Florida during field activity 12CBC03 (http://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=12CBC03). Published as USGS data release DOI:10.5066/F7V69GQ2.
    EXIF tags: The tag is listed along with the information used to populate it - which is the same for every image.
    ImageDescription: Underwater photograph of in-situ coral collected from Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida during survey 12CBC03. 
    Artist: Ilsa Kuffner
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: Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, Florida Keys, 12CBC03, coral, Siderastrea siderea, Orbicella faveolata, sea-surface temperature, USGS
CopyrightNotice: Public Domain - please credit U.S. Geological Survey
Caption-Abstract: Underwater photograph of in-situ coral collected from Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida during survey 12CBC03.
    XMP tags: The tag is listed along with the information used to populate it - which is the same for every image. 
    Caption: Underwater photograph of in-situ coral collected from Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida during survey 12CBC03.
    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. Person who carried out this activity:
    Arnell Forde
    U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Geology Science Center
    Geologist
    600 4th Street South
    Saint Petersburg, Florida
    U.S.A.

    727-502-8000 (voice)
    aforde@usgs.gov
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
    Flannery, J. A., J. N. Richey, K. Thirumalai, R. Z. Poore, and K. L. DeLong, 20170115, Multi-species coral Sr/Ca based sea-surface temperature reconstruction using Orbicella faveolata and Siderastrea siderea from the Florida Straits: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology Volume 466, pages 100-109.

    Online Links:

    Weinzierl, M. S., C. D. Reich, T. D. Hickey, L. A. Bartlett, and I. B. Kuffner, 2016, Collection methods and descriptions of core samples extracted from massive corals in Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, U.S.A.: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2016-1182.

    Online Links:

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?
    No formal positional accuracy tests were conducted.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
    No formal positional 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 read the rest of the metadata record carefully for additional details.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    No formal logical accuracy tests were conducted.

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 Public domain data from the U.S. Government are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. The U.S. Geological Survey requests to be acknowledged as originator of these data in future products or derivative research.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    Ilsa B. Kuffner
    U.S. Geological Survey
    600 4th Street South
    Saint Petersburg, FL
    U.S.A.

    727-502-8000 (voice)
    ikuffner@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    This publication was prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system, nor shall the act of distribution imply any such warranty. The U.S. Geological Survey shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and (or) contained herein. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof.
  4. How can I download or order the data?

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 01-Sep-2022
Metadata author:
Ilsa B. Kuffner
U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Geology Science Center
Research Marine Biologist
600 4th Street South
Saint Petersburg, Florida
U.S.A.

727-502-8048 (voice)
ikuffner@usgs.gov
Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/spcmsc/Coral_cores_collected_in_Dry_Tortugas_National_Park_Florida_U_S_A_Photographs_and_x_rays.faq.html>
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