In the substrate attribute, weight percents described in the domain value definitions may not add to 100 due to rounding of values. Also in the geo_substr attributes, the mean weight percents for the units, sand is divided into two composite grades: fine-grained sand (fgS; 0.062 to <0.25 mm) and coarse-grained sand (cgS; 0.25 to <2mm). Gravel is also divided into two composite grades: Gravel1 (G1; 2 to <8 mm) and Gravel2(G2; 8 to <64 mm).
In the CSV file, the column headings are not truncated. The truncation is a function of converting to a shapefile with a 10-character attribute header limit.
In addition to the shapefile and CSV file, there is an accompanying Excel spreadsheet (q5_stations_geology.xlsx). Additional information regarding abbreviations is in the first row of the spreadsheet.
That following information is the second row of the spreadsheet, the more robust header information. This is presented as column: column heading: description.
Column A: USGS SBNMS Stations: Station number for samples collected during this project in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary region offshore of Boston, Massachusetts
Column B: Geologic substrate symbol: Symbol of substrate shown on maps
Column C: Substrate name: Combination of substrate unit symbol and abbreviation of substrate descriptive name (see column AV)
Column D: Photos: Collected (TRUE) or did not collect (FALSE) seabed photographs at the station
Column E: Video: Collected (TRUE) or did not collect (FALSE) video imagery at the station
Column F: Sample: Collected (TRUE) or did not collect (FALSE) sediment sample at the station
Column G: USGS-DBID: USGS sediment grain size analysis database identification; n.d., no data
Column H: Longitude west, decimal degrees: Longitude west in decimal degrees
Column I: Latitude north, decimal degrees: Latitude north in decimal degrees
Column J: WHCMSC field activity (cruise) no.: USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center field activity (cruise) number. Example ANDR95036. ANDR is vessel name code (Peter W. Anderson), 95 is last two digits of year, and 036 is the 36th field activity of the year.
Column K: Sample collection water depth, m: Water depth at which sample was taken, in meters
Column L: Sample collection year: Year sediment sample was collected
Column M: Sample collection date, DDD:HH:MM:SS GMT: Date expressed as Julian Day (DDD) and time as HOUR:MINUTES:SECONDS Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) at which sample was collected (GMT same as UTC, Universal Coordinated Time, and ZULU, military time)
Column N: Quad: Quadrangle number in SBNMS region in which sample was collected
Column O: Sampler used: Sediment sample collected by a USGS modified Van Veen (VV) grab sampler
http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/sfmapping/seaboss.htm
Column P: Sediment sample top, cm below seabed surface: Top of sediment sample is the seabed surface (0 centimeters)
Column Q: Sediment sample bottom, cm below seabed surface: Bottom of sediment sample is 2 centimeters below the seabed surface
Column R: Dry sediment sample mass, g: Mass of dry sediment used for grain-size analysis in grams
Column S: Sand, wt pct: Weight percent of sand in sample
Column T: Gravel, wt pct: Weight percent of gravel in sample
Column U: Clay, wt pct: Weight percent of clay in sample
Column V: Silt, wt pct: Weight percent of silt in sample
Column W:Mud (clay+silt), wt pct: Weight percent of mud (combined clay and silt) in sample
Column X: 11-phi-size class (clay), wt pct: Weight percent of 11-phi-size sediment in sample
Column Y: 10-phi-size class (clay), wt pct: Weight percent of 10-phi-size sediment in sample
Column Z: 9-phi-size class (clay), wt pct: Weight percent of 9-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AA: 8-phi-size class (very fine silt), wt pct: Weight percent of 8-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AB: 7-phi-size class (fine silt), wt pct: Weight percent of 7-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AC: 6-phi-size class (medium silt), wt pct: Weight percent of 6-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AD: 5-phi-size class (coarse silt), wt pct: Weight percent of 5-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AE: 4-phi-size class (very fine sand), wt pct: Weight percent of 4-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AF: 3-phi-size class (fine sand), wt percent: Weight percent of 3-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AG: fine-grained sand (fgS) (4 + 3 phi), wt pct: Weight percent of combined 3-phi- and 4-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AH: 2-phi-size class (medium sand), wt pct: Weight percentage of 2-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AI: 1-phi-size class (coarse sand), wt pct: Weight percent of 1-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AJ: 0-phi-size class (very coarse sand), wt pct: Weight percent of 0-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AK: Coarse-grained sand (cgS) (2 + 1 + 0 phi), wt pct: Weight percent of combined 2-phi-, 1-phi-, and 0-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AL: -1-phi-size class (granule), wt pct: Weight percent of -1-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AM: -2-phi-size class (pebble), wt pct: weight percent of -2-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AN: Gravel 1 (G1) (-1 + -2 phi), wt pct: G subscript 1 weight percent of combined -1-phi- and -2-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AO: -3-phi-size class (pebble), wt pct: Weight percent of -3-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AP: -4-phi-size class (pebble), wt pct: Weight percent of -4-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AQ: -5-phi-size class (pebble), wt pct: Weight percent of -5-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AR: Gravel2 (G2) (-3 + -4 + -5 phi), wt pct: G subscript 2 weight percent of combined -3-phi-, -4-phi-, and -5-phi-size sediment in sample
Column AS: Sand ripples present: Indicates if sand ripples were observed in video at the station location
Column AT: Substrate unit name translation: Describes the mobility, texture, and layering of the sediment substrate
Column AU: Polygon locations of sample stations used to map substrates. Polygon locations of samples that cannot be mapped as a coherent substrate and are represented by a square symbol: Indicates if identified substrate at the sample location can be mapped as a substrate and what substrate the sample falls in, or cannot be mapped as a coherent substrate indicating in what substrate polygon the sample falls followed by a symbol representation as a square.
Column AV: Comment: Explanatory notes for selected stations.
The definitions of the substrate components are fully defined in the related report (Valentine and Cross, 2024) but are also defined here:
i = immobile
cgS = coarse-grained sand
fgS = fine-grained sand
fgcgS = fine- and coarse-grained sand dominated by coarse-grained
cgfgS = coarse-and fine-grained sand dominated by fine-grained
If the S is capitalized, it indicates Sand as a major component. A lower-case s indicates sandy, and not a major component.
M = mud (as a major component)
m = muddy
r = rippled
p = pebble
c = cobble (when not immediately followed by g)
b = boulder
G = gravel (as a major component)
g = gravelly
/ = overlying or partial veneer over
