Gulf of Mexico features names

Metadata also available as - [Outline] - [Parseable text] - [XML]

Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title: Gulf of Mexico features names
Abstract:
This GIS overlay is a component of the U. S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole Field Center's, Gulf of Mexico ArcView GIS database. The Gulf of Mexico GIS database is intended to organize and display USGS held data and provide on-line (WWW) access to the data and/or metadata.
Supplemental_Information:
This ArcView shapefile was created from a Microsoft Excel spread sheet found at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric's National Geophysical Data Center's website. The information contained in the spread sheet was editted to include only those features that would pertain to the planned Gulf of Mexico Internet Map Server for the USGS, Woods Hole Field center. Therefore, this is not a complete listing as would be found from NOAA-NGDC.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Paskevich, Valerie, 19981007, Gulf of Mexico features names: Open-File Report 2000-019, USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Team, U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    The geologic interpretation of the Gulf of Mexico GLORIA data was taken from an image, Gulf_mex.rmp, available on the U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series DDS-15 CD-ROM. The image was created from the geologic interpretations of the GLORIA images that may be found in the paper atlases that were 500,000 and are referenced as U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series I-1864-A,B (1987).
    This is part of the following larger work.

    Paskevich, Valerie F., 2000, Gulf of Mexico GLORIA sidescan sonar geologic interpretation: ArcView data coverages: Open-File Report 2000-019, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Suggested citation: Paskevich, V.F., 2000, Gulf of Mexico GLORIA sidescan sonar geologic interpretation—ArcView data coverages: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2000-019, https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr0019 .
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -97.5
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -79.9167
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 31.00000
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 23.50000
  3. What does it look like?
    https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2000/of00-019/htmldocs/images/browse/gomnames.gif (Undersea Feature Name Image based on http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/ibcca/html/images.htm)
    GIF
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Calendar_Date: 1999
    Currentness_Reference:
    Publication Date
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: point digital data
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?
      This is a Point data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • Point (254)
    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 .005. Longitudes are given to the nearest .005. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees. The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1927.
      The ellipsoid used is Clarke 1866.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378206.4.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/294.98.
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    gomnames.dbf
    Shapefile Attribute Table (Source: None)
    Lon
    Longitude coordinate of feature recorded in decimal degrees. (Source: User Defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-97.5000
    Maximum:-79.91667
    Lat
    Latitude coordinate of feature recorded in decimal degrees. (Source: User Defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:23.50000
    Maximum:31.00000
    Name
    Name of feature. (Source: User Defined) Character field
    Type
    Type of feature. List includes features such as bank basin canyon dome escarpment gap hill knoll mesa mound plain reef ridge seamount shelf shoal slope spur terrace trough valley (Source: User Defined) Character field
    Latitude
    This field contains the latitude coordinate of the feature as a character field. (Source: User Defined) Character field
    Longitude
    This field contains the longitude coordinate of the feature as a character field. (Source: User Defined) Character field
    Code
    Code assigned by NOAA-NGDC. Origin and meaning unknown. (Source: User Defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:223083
    Maximum:231080
    Source
    Source of feature name. (Source: User Defined) Character field
    Comments
    Additional comments regarding the name and/or source of the seafloor feature name. (Source: User Defined) Character field

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • Valerie Paskevich
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
    NOAA - National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), Marine Geology & Geophysics & World Data Center A for MGG
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    U. S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Valerie Paskevich
    Computer Specialist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    vpaskevich@usgs.gov
    Hours_of_Service: M-Thu 6:30am-3:30pm; Fri 6:30am-10:30am

Why was the data set created?

This ArcView shapefile an additional GIS overlay. It contains the names of various seafloor features (basins, slopes, knolls, ridges, etc.) for the Gulf of Mexico.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
    NOAA (source 1 of 1)
    National Oceanic and Atomospheric Administration(comp.), Unknown, International Bathymetric Chart of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: online
    Source_Contribution:
    This ArcView shapefile was created from a Microsoft Excel spread sheet found at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric's National Geophysical Data Center's website. The information contained in the spread sheet was editted to include only those features that would pertain to the planned Gulf of Mexico Internet Map Server for the USGS, Woods Hole Field center. Edit 20250813: Although the link is to a NOAA site, there is a link from the main ibcca page to the Gazetter of Undersea Feature Names. The assumption is this might be the way the original author accessed the information.
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: 14-Jun-1999 (process 1 of 4)
    The Microsoft Excel datafile was downloaded from the NOAA-NGDC site and read into Excel. Records that did not contain a latitude/longitude coordinate for a feature name was deleted from the spreadsheet. The text fields containing the latitude and longitude coordinate of the seafloor feature were then copied and added to the spreadsheet as the first two fields. These fields were added so numeric latitude longitude fields recorded as signed decimal degrees could be created later. The modified spreadsheet was saved as a comma separated values text file. Person who carried out this activity:
    U. S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Valerie Paskevich
    Computer Specialist
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    vpaskevich@usgs.gov
    Data sources used in this process:
    • ib1234gz.xls
    Data sources produced in this process:
    • gomnames.csv
    Date: 14-Jun-1999 (process 2 of 4)
    The comma separated values file was processed on a UNIX operating system to convert the first two text fields that contained the feature coordinates to numeric, signed decimal degree fields. Person who carried out this activity:
    U. S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Valerie Paskevich
    Computer Specialist
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    vpaskevich@usgs.gov
    Data sources used in this process:
    • gomnames.csv
    Data sources produced in this process:
    • gomnames.txt
    Date: 14-Jun-1999 (process 3 of 4)
    The text file with geographic coordinates was read into ArcView as a table. Features locations that did not fall within the bounds of the Gulf of Mexico IMS were eliminated, and the remaining table information was converted to an ArcView shapefile. Person who carried out this activity:
    U. S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Valerie Paskevich
    Computer Specialist
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    vpaskevich@usgs.gov
    Data sources used in this process:
    • gomnames.txt
    Data sources produced in this process:
    • gomnames.shp
    Date: 13-Aug-2025 (process 4 of 4)
    This metadata file was edited for inclusion in the CMHRP metadata inventory. These edits included but are not limited to converting the metadata from HTML to XML format; fixing the publication date; added additional information in the identification section such as adding the series information, larger work ctation as well as the online links. Added the ISO 19115 Topic Category and USGS Thesaurus and appropriate terms; added the full URL to the browse graphic; specified that the information was not available from the original metadata in some of the fields; moved the original citation to a source contribution and added additional information; duplicate elements that caused errors were combined into a single element when appropriate; updated the distribution liability with an FSP approved statement; added the online digital transfer option and links; updated the metadata date; provided a generic email and contact instructions in the metadata contact section; fixed all errors. No spatial reference information was provided with the original metadata file. A spatial reference section was added to be consistent with the other datasets in the publication. A persistent identifier (PID) was added to the metadata in the thesaurus section. (20250813) Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: VeeAnn A. Cross
    Marine Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2251 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    vatnipp@usgs.gov
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    No information was available in the original metadata. There was also no spatial reference section in the original metadata file, so one was added that is consistent with the other datasets in the publication, but may be incorrect with respect to the datum used.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    No information available from the original metadata.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    No information available from the original metadata.

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 Although this derived data set and it's lineage dataset have been used by the USGS, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in the use of these data or related materials.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Valerie Paskevich
    Computer Specialist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    vpaskevich@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? Gulf of Mexico features names: gomnames 20250813 edit: assumed to be based on Gazetteer of Undersea Feature Names which was listed as a separate resource description
  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 for other purposes, nor on all computer systems, 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?
    There are no technical requirements for downloading the data. However to use the ArcView shape files the user must have an ESRI software product or some other GIS program that allows importing of ArcView shapefiles.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 13-Aug-2025
Metadata author:
U. S. Geological Survey
Attn: Valerie Paskevich
Computer Specialist
384 Woods Hole Rd.
Woods Hole, MA
USA

(508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
(508) 457-2310 (FAX)
whsc_data_contact@usgs.gov
Contact_Instructions:
The metadata contact email address is a generic address in the event the metadata contact is no longer with the U.S. Geological Survey.
Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/whcmsc/open_file_report/ofr2000-019/gomnames_meta.faq.html>
Generated by mp version 2.9.51 on Thu Aug 14 10:49:56 2025