Location of bottom photographs taken along the U.S. Atlantic East Coast as part of the Continental Margin Program (1963-1968, BPHOTOS)

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

Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Location of bottom photographs taken along the U.S. Atlantic East Coast as part of the Continental Margin Program (1963-1968, BPHOTOS)
Abstract:
In 1962, Congress authorized the Continental Margin Program, a joint program between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to conduct a geological reconnaissance investigation of the continental shelf and slope off the Atlantic coast of the United States. As part of this program 464 photographs were collected at 378 stations from the Canadian border to the southern tip of Florida. Bottom photography was conducted at many of these stations in conjunction with sediment sampling for grain size, mineralogy, geochemistry, and biology. Those photographs have been scanned and are archived here to release a digital version of the historical dataset.
Supplemental_Information:
The bottom photographs in this gallery are especially important because they can be used to appraise bottom variability, faunal communities, and sedimentary processes around stations distributed over a wide geographic area. These photographs also document bedrock outcrops, boulder fields, and coarse gravelly areas where statistically meaningful samples could not be collected. It is precisely because of this inability to collect adequate gravel samples that this fraction is often under-represented in many sediment grain-size databases (Hastings and others, 2000).
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Paskevich, Valerie, 20010702, Location of bottom photographs taken along the U.S. Atlantic East Coast as part of the Continental Margin Program (1963-1968, BPHOTOS): Open-File Report 01-154, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Paskevich, V. F., Poppe, L. J., Hastings, M. E., and Hathaway, J. C., 2001, SEA-FLOOR PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE CONTINENTAL MARGIN PROGRAM: A Pictorial Survey of Benthic Character and Habitats: Open-File Report 01-154, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -81.8167
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -59.9833
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 44.8500
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 24.4083
  3. What does it look like?
    http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/of01-154/htmldocs/images/browse/thumb/bphotos.gif (GIF)
    Thumbnail image showing location and distribution of bottom photographs along the U.S. east coast
    http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/of01-154/htmldocs/images/browse/bphotos.gif (GIF)
    Image showing location and distribution of bottom photographs along the U.S. east coast
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Beginning_Date: 1963
    Ending_Date: 1968
    Currentness_Reference:
    completion of the Continental Margin Program sampling
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector 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 (378)
    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 .17. Longitudes are given to the nearest .24. 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?
    bphotos.dbf
    Shapefile Attribute Table (Source: ESRI)
    FID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI) Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
    Shape
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)
    ValueDefinition
    PointShapefile point data
    Coordinates defining the features.
    FIELD_ID
    Field identifier - sample name or number as assigned in the field. (Source: User Defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:24.4083
    Maximum:44.8500
    Units:signed decimal degrees
    AREA
    General geographic area to identify location of bottom photograph. The "area" is general enough to easily locate the area on a map. (Source: User Defined) Character String
    LATITUDE
    Latitude coordinate portion of position of bottom photo location. Value is recorded in decimal-degrees. South latitudes are recorded as negative values. (Source: User Defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:24.4083
    Maximum:44.8500
    Units:signed decimal degrees
    Resolution:.0001
    LONGITUDE
    Longitude coordinate portion of position of bottom photo location. Value is recorded in decimal-degrees. West longitudes are recorded as negative values. (Source: User Defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-81.8167
    Maximum:-59.9833
    Units:signed decimal degrees
    Resolution:.0001
    DEPTH_M
    Depth or sounding in meters - Measured depth of water, in meters, overlying sediment at sample time. Depth value is not corrected for tides. (Source: User Defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:7
    Maximum:4861
    Units:meters
    Resolution:1
    CRUISE_ID
    Name or number of cruise on which sample collected. (text) (Source: User Defined) Character String
    DEVICE
    Sampling device used to collect the sample (Source: User Defined) Character String
    LITHOLOGY
    General lithologic description of sample (text) (Source: User Defined) Character String
    NO_PHOTOS
    number of photos taken at station (integer) (Source: User Defined)
    Range of values
    Minimum:1
    Maximum:6
    Units:count
    Resolution:1
    URL
    URL (Uniform Resource Locator) link to HTML formatted page containing thumbnail(s) view of the bottom photograph for the given station. The HTML formatted page also includes links to a larger, browse image and the full-resolution bottom photograph. (text) (Source: User Defined) Character String
    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    Attributes include cruise identifier, depth of the sample, a text description of the recovered sediment sample, and the name and relative location of the associated bottom photograph.
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: U.S. Geological Survey

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?
    The locations associated with the bottom photographs were extracted from the surficial sediment database held at the USGS, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Science Center.
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    Valerie Paskevich
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Computer Specialist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    vpaskevich@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

This ArcView shapefile contains the locations of bottom photographs taken along the U.S. Atlantic East Coast as part of the Continental Margin Program and may be utilized as a data layer in any Geographic Information System (GIS).

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
    sd022395.db (source 1 of 1)
    John C. Hathaway (comp.), 1971, DATA FILE: CONTINENTAL MARGIN PROGRAM ATLANTIC COAST OF THE UNITED STATES: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA.

    This is part of the following larger work.

    (ed.), L.J. Poppe, and (ed.), C.F. Polloni, 2000, U.S. Geological Survey East-Coast Sediment Analysis: Procedures, Database, and Georeferenced Displays: Open-File Report 00-358, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: disk file
    Source_Contribution:
    Data from report 71-15 were digitally transcribed to create a Paradox database. This database was the foundation of the USGS East Coast Sediment Texture database referenced as the Larger_Work_Citation in the Source_Information.
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: 05-Mar-2001 (process 1 of 8)
    The records pertaining to the bottom photos were extracted from the sediment database. Person who carried out this activity:
    U. S. Geological Survey
    Attn: M.E. (Polly) Hastings
    database specialist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2289 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    phastings@usgs.gov
    Data sources used in this process:
    • sd022395.db
    Data sources produced in this process:
    • stations.xls
    Date: 15-May-2001 (process 2 of 8)
    The Excel spreadsheet was exported as an ASCII text file with tab delimited fields. Person who carried out this activity:
    U. S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Valerie Paskevich
    Information Specialist, GIS Coordinator
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    vpaskevich@usgs.gov
    Data sources used in this process:
    • stations.xls
    Data sources produced in this process:
    • stations.txt
    Date: 08-Jun-2001 (process 3 of 8)
    The file, stations.txt, was imported into ArcView to create a table. The table was then converted to an ArcView shapefile to be used as a GIS data layer. Also, at this time the ArcView legend file, bphotos.avl, was created and saved. Person who carried out this activity:
    U. S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Valerie Paskevich
    Information Specialist, GIS Coordinator
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    vpaskevich@usgs.gov
    Data sources used in this process:
    • stations.txt
    Data sources produced in this process:
    • bphotos.dbf
    • bphotos.shp
    • bphotos.shx
    • bphotos.sbn
    • bphotos.sbx
    • bphotos.avl
    Date: 08-Jun-2001 (process 4 of 8)
    The ArcView shapefile was modified to add the field URL. This new field holds the relative path to the HTML formatted page containing the bottom photograph associated with the FIELD_ID for the data record. Person who carried out this activity:
    U. S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Valerie Paskevich
    Information Specialist, GIS Coordinator
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    vpaskevich@usgs.gov
    Data sources used in this process:
    • bphotos.dbf
    Data sources produced in this process:
    • bphotos.dbf
    Date: 08-Jun-2016 (process 5 of 8)
    Edits to the metadata were made to fix any errors that MP v 2.9.32 flagged. This is necessary to enable the metadata to be successfully harvested for various data catalogs. In some cases, this meant adding text "Information unavailable" or "Information unavailable from original metadata" for those required fields that were left blank. Other minor edits were probably performed (title, publisher, publication place, etc.). Removed a bad link in the Identification_Information section to coastalmap. The distribution format name was modified in an attempt to be more consistent with other metadata files of the same data format. The metadata date (but not the metadata creator) was edited to reflect the date of these changes. The metadata available from a harvester may supersede metadata bundled within a download file. Compare the metadata dates to determine which metadata file is most recent. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: VeeAnn A. Cross
    Marine Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA

    508-548-8700 x2251 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    vatnipp@usgs.gov
    Date: 20-Jul-2018 (process 6 of 8)
    USGS Thesaurus keywords added to the keyword section. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: VeeAnn A. Cross
    Marine Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA

    508-548-8700 x2251 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    vatnipp@usgs.gov
    Date: 18-Nov-2019 (process 7 of 8)
    Crossref DOI link was added as the first link in the metadata. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: VeeAnn A. Cross
    Marine Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA

    508-548-8700 x2251 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    vatnipp@usgs.gov
    Date: 08-Sep-2020 (process 8 of 8)
    Added keywords section with USGS persistent identifier as theme keyword. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: VeeAnn A. Cross
    Marine Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA

    508-548-8700 x2251 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    vatnipp@usgs.gov
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
    Poppe, L.J., Williams, S.J., and Paskevich, V.F., 2005, USGS East-Coast Sediment Analysis: Procedures, Database, and GIS Data: Open-File Report 2005-1001, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

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

  1. How well have the observations been checked?
    Attributes were extracted with the bottom photograph location from the East coast surficial samples database.
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    Individuals should be careful when assuming precise positional accuracy because of the navigational equipment used to locate the bottom photography stations. Most of the stations were navigated with Loran-A; some near-shore stations were navigated by radar and line of sight. As a general rule of thumb, Loran-A had an average expected accuracy of 1 percent of the distance between the navigator and the onshore Loran stations (U.S. Coast Guard, 1949).
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    This data set is complete inasmuch as it contains the location of those bottom photos that could be recovered from the archives at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    No additional checks for topological consistency were performed on this data set.

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. Please recognize the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as the source of this information.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    U. S. Geological Survey
    Attn: Valerie Paskevich
    Information Specialist, GIS Coordinator
    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? Downloadable Data
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    Although this derived data set and its sources 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.
  4. How can I download or order the data?
    • Availability in digital form:
      Data format: The six files comprising the ArcView shapefile representing the Continental Margin bottom photograph locations and an ASCII version of the metadata file. in format Shapefile (version ArcView 3.2) shapefile Size: 0.03
      Network links: http://pubs.usgs.gov/openfile/of01-154/data/bphotos.zip
      Media you can order: CD-ROM (Density 650 Mbytes) (format ISO 9600)
      Note: The user must have a system with a CD-ROM capable of reading an ISO-9660 standard CD-ROM disk. To browse the information contained on this disk, the user must also have a current version of WWW browser available.
    • Cost to order the data: none

  5. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?
    The Continental Margin bottom photograph locations overlay is available as an ArcView shapefile format. The user must have ESRI's ArcView 3.0 or greater software to read and process the data file. In lieu of ArcView, the user may utilize another GIS application package capable of importing the data. Access to the data and information contained on this CD-ROM was developed using the HyperText Markup Language (HTML) utilized by the World Wide Web (WWW) project. Development of the CD-ROM documentation and user interface in HTML allows a user to access the information by using a variety of WWW information browsers to facilitate browsing and locating information and data. To access the information contained on this disk with a WWW client browser, open the file 'index.htm' at the top level directory of this CD-ROM with your selected browser. This CD-ROM should be readable by a variety of operating systems including Windows 95/98/NT, Macintosh and UNIX.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 16-Nov-2021
Metadata author:
Valerie Paskevich
U. S. Geological Survey
Information Specialist, GIS Coordinator
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 USGS or the email is otherwise invalid.
Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/whcmsc/open_file_report/ofr2001-154/bphotos.shp.faq.html>
Generated by mp version 2.9.50 on Tue Nov 16 10:06:29 2021