Polygons of global undersea features for geographic searches

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Title: Polygons of global undersea features for geographic searches
Abstract:
A shapefile of 311 undersea features from all major oceans and seas has been created as an aid for retrieving georeferenced information resources. Version 1.1 of the data set also includes a linked data representation of 299 of these features and their spatial extents. The geographic extent of the data set is 0 degrees E to 0 degrees W longitude and 75 degrees S to 90 degrees N latitude.
Many of the undersea features (UF) in the shapefile were selected from a list assembled by Weatherall and Cramer (2008) in a report from the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) to the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names (SCUFN). Annex II of the Weatherall and Cramer report (p. 20-22) lists 183 undersea features that "may need additional points to define their shape" and includes online links to additional BODC documents providing coordinate pairs sufficient to define detailed linestrings for these features. For the first phase of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) project, Wingfield created polygons for 87 of the undersea features on the BODC list, using the linestrings as guides; the selected features were primarily ridges, rises, trenches, fracture zones, basins, and seamount chains. In the second phase of the USGS project, Wingfield and Hartwell created polygons for an additional 224 undersea features, mostly basins, abyssal plains, and fracture zones.
Because USGS is a Federal agency, the attribute tables follow the conventions of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) GEOnet Names Server (http://geonames.nga.mil/gns/html/).
Supplemental_Information:
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Spatial Extents for Marine Gazetteers project.
Project Leaders:
Frances L. Lightsom, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program (CMGP), Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center (flightsom@usgs.gov)
Alan O. Allwardt, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program (CMGP), Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center (aallwardt@usgs.gov)
Project background:
Gazetteers of terrestrial and marine regions, including the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), GEOnet Names Server (GNS), GEBCO Gazetteer of Undersea Feature Names, and VLIZ Marine Gazetteer (VLIMAR), generally provide single-point locations or rectangular bounding boxes for named features, because the primary function of these gazetteers is to standardize geographic name usage. Many geospatial information services, however, would be improved if the authoritative place names from these gazetteers were associated with polygons representing the actual spatial extents of the features in question.
The USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program (CMGP) has created and compiled polygons to facilitate the retrieval of georeferenced information resources related to named oceans and seas, undersea features, coastal features and waterways, and relevant administrative areas including the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and Coastal Zone Management Program (CZMP) counties. Geospatial information systems with the capability for searching user-defined, polygonal geographic areas will be able to utilize these shapefiles or secondary products derived from them, such as linked data based on well-known text (WKT) representations of the individual polygons within the shapefiles.
Several USGS information systems could benefit from these CMGP products:
1. USGS Coastal and Marine Geoscience Data System (CMGDS) <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov>
2. USGS Science Data Catalog <https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/>
3. USGS Publications Warehouse <https://pubs.er.usgs.gov>
4. ScienceBase <https://www.sciencebase.gov/>
In this context, the primary purpose of including spatial extents for the place names in a gazetteer is to assist information retrieval rather than to establish precise boundaries.
Planned project products, compiled for incorporation into gazetteers:
1. Major ocean and sea boundaries (as defined by the International Hydrographic Organization and VLIMAR), incorporated into USGS gazetteers.
2. Defined spatial extents for high-priority undersea features, incorporated into the GEBCO Gazetteer (in collaboration with Lisa A. Taylor and John C. Cartwright, NOAA).
3. Spatial extents of named high-priority U.S. coastal features and waterways, incorporated into an authoritative gazetteer.
4. Spatial extents of relevant U.S. administrative areas, such as Coastal Zone Management Program (CZMP) counties (Hartwell and others, 2013).
Project results:
The project will improve communication about coastal and marine activities and enhance usability and interoperability of geospatial data services. The project will lay a foundation for future improvements by demonstrating formats and systems that can be used for incorporating additional spatial extents into marine gazetteers.
Project outcome:
People will be more successful in using familiar place names when they are looking for USGS projects and information, and other federally funded geospatial information, about coastal and offshore features.
Project objective:
To generate a set of databases, in a standard format, that use polygons to define the spatial extents of named oceans and seas, undersea features, coastal features and waterways, and relevant administrative areas.
Glossary of terms, acronyms, and abbreviations:
       ACUF           - U.S. BGN Advisory Committee on Undersea Features
                            <http://geonames.nga.mil/gns/html/acuf.html>
       BGN            - U.S. Board on Geographic Names
                            <https://geonames.usgs.gov/>
       BODC           - British Oceanographic Data Centre
                            <https://www.bodc.ac.uk/>
       CMGDS          - USGS Coastal and Marine Geoscience Data System
                            <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/>
       CMGP           - USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program
                            <https://marine.usgs.gov/>
       GAZ            - gazetteer
       GEBCO          - General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (IHO-IOC)
                            <https://www.gebco.net/>
       GIS            - geographic information system
       GMIS           - USGS Geospatial Management Information System (USGS Intranet)
       GNIS           - Geographic Names Information System
                            <https://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/>
       GNS            - GEOnet Names Server
                            <http://geonames.nga.mil/gns/html/>
       IHO            - International Hydrographic Organization
                            <http://www.iho.int/>
       IOC            - Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO)
                            <http://ioc-unesco.org/>
       Linestring       - (aka polyline) an open graphic element composed of straight-line segments connected at the vertices.
       NGA            - National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
                            <https://www.nga.mil/>
       NOAA           - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
                            <https://www.noaa.gov/>
       Polygon        - a closed graphic element composed of straight-line segments connected at the vertices.
       SCUFN          - GEBCO Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names
                            <https://www.gebco.net/data_and_products/undersea_feature_names/>
       Shapefile      - geospatial vector data format that describes geometries as points, linestrings, and polygons (see above). A single shapefile may contain multiple features of the same geometry (several individual polygons, for instance).
       UF             - undersea feature
       UNESCO         - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
                            <https://en.unesco.org/>
       USGS           - U.S. Geological Survey
                            <https://www.usgs.gov/>
       VLIMAR         - VLIZ Marine Gazetteer (now incorporated in the Marine Regions website)
                            <http://www.marineregions.org/>
       VLIZ           - Flanders Marine Institute
                            <http://www.vliz.be/en>
       WKT            - well-known text, a markup language for vector geometry objects
                            <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well-known_text>
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National Ocean Service, 1984b, Multibeam surveys -- Vizcaino Canyon [LM133]: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, scale 1:100,000.
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National Ocean Survey, 1975a, Bathymetric map -- Atlantic Ocean, Hudson Canyon [NOS NJ 18-3]: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Survey, scale 1:250,000.
National Ocean Survey, 1975b, Bathymetric map -- Garden Banks -- Gulf of Mexico [NOS NG 15-2]: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Survey, scale 1:250:000.
National Ocean Survey, 1977, Bathymetric map -- Atlantic Ocean, Wilmington Canyon [NOS NJ 18-6]: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Survey, scale 1:250,000.
National Ocean Survey, 1978a, Bathymetric map -- Atlantic Ocean, Cashes Ledge [NOS NK 19-5]: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Survey, scale 1:250,000.
National Ocean Survey, 1978b, Bathymetric map -- Atlantic Ocean, Hydrographer Canyon [NOS NK 19-11]: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Survey, scale 1:250,000.
National Ocean Survey, 1978c, Bathymetric map -- Gulf of Mexico, Ewing Bank [NOS NH 15-12]: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Survey, scale 1:250,000.
National Ocean Survey, 1979, Bathymetric map -- Gulf of Mexico, Pulley Ridge [NOS NG 17-7]: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Survey, scale 1:250:000.
National Ocean Survey, 1980a, Bathymetric map -- Atlantic Ocean, Browns Bank [NOS NK 19-6]: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Survey, scale 1:250,000.
National Ocean Survey, 1980b, Bathymetric map -- Atlantic Ocean, Corsair Canyon [NOS NK 19-9]: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Survey, scale 1:250,000.
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National Ocean Survey, 1981b, Bathymetric map -- Pioneer Canyon, San Francisco [NOS NJ 10-8]: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Survey, scale 1:250,000.
Nelson, C., 1984, The Astoria Fan -- An elongate type fan: Geo-Marine Letters, v. 3, no. 2-4, p. 65-70.
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  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Hartwell, Stephen R., Wingfield, Dana K., Allwardt, Alan O., Lightsom, Frances L., and Wong, Florence L., 2018, Polygons of global undersea features for geographic searches: U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -180
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: 180
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 89
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: -74
  3. What does it look like?
    https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1040/data/undersea_features.gif (GIF)
    browse graphic of undersea features shapefile
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Calendar_Date: 2018
    Currentness_Reference:
    publication date
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data, linked data
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?
      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • G-polygon (311)
    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 0.000001. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.000001. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees. The horizontal datum used is D_WGS_1984.
      The ellipsoid used is WGS_1984.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257224.
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    undersea_features.shp
    Shapefile for selected undersea features. (Source: USGS)
    FID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI) Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
    Shape
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI) Coordinates defining the features.
    UFI
    Unique Feature Identifier. A number that uniquely identifies an undersea feature (UF) in GNS. A null value indicates that the feature is not listed in GNS (as noted in the COMMENTS attribute field). (Source: GNS) Unique catalog number from GNS.
    CENT_LAT
    Centroid Latitude. Latitude of the UF centroid in decimal degrees: north latitudes are positive; south latitudes are negative. (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-90
    Maximum:90
    CENT_LONG
    Centroid Longitute. Longitude of the UF centroid in decimal degrees: east longitudes are positive; west longitudes are negative. (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-180
    Maximum:180
    DSG
    Feature Designation Code. A three- or four-character code that indicates the type of undersea feature represented. A null value indicates that the feature is not listed in GNS (as noted in the COMMENTS attribute field). (Source: GNS) 3-4 character code from GNS catalog.
    UF_NAME
    Name of the undersea feature, without diacritics. The BGN standard name is used (unless feature is not listed in GNS, as noted in the COMMENTS attribute field). (Source: USGS) Catalog name from GNS.
    VAR_NAME
    Variant name used by GEBCO or USGS (if applicable). (Source: USGS) Name used by GEBCO or USGS.
    COMMENTS
    Notes and abbreviated citations recorded by USGS project team. (Source: USGS) Notes from this report
    AREA_SQKM
    Area of polygon in square kilometers (as calculated in sinusoidal projection). (Source: ESRI) Area calculated using ArcMap.
    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    The primary linked data file, undersea_features.ttl, provides selected information from the source shapefile, undersea_features.shp. The shapefile attributes, UFI, DSG, UF_NAME, VAR_NAME, and COMMENTS, have been relabeled and merged as necessary to fit the classes and properties typically employed in linked data. Three new attributes have been added to the five extracted from the shapefile: GEOnet Names Server (GNS) feature notes (from GNS advanced search); use constraints (condensed from the shapefile metadata); and a link to the source shapefile in USGS Open-File Report 2014-1040 (Hartwell and others, 2014). The vertices extracted from the shapefile for each feature have been converted to Well-known text (WKT) notation for polygons. The supplemental linked data file, undersea_feature_designations.ttl, provides the undersea feature designations, codes, and definitions employed in GNS (U.S. Board on Geographic Names, 2005). Both linked data files are expressed in Turtle format (Terse RDF Triple Language) following the recommendations of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C; 2008, 2014, 2015) and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC; 2012).
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: GEOnet Names Server (GNS): http://geonames.nga.mil/gns/html/
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    Hartwell, S.R., and others, 2014, Polygons of global undersea features for geographic searches (undersea_features.shp), U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2014-1040: https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20141040
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), 2012, GeoSPARQL -- a geographic query language for RDF data: http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/geosparql
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    U.S. Board on Geographic Names, 2005, Policies and guidelines for the standardization of undersea feature names: http://geonames.nga.mil/gns/html/Docs/GUIDELINES05.doc
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), 2008, Best practice recipes for publishing RDF vocabularies: https://www.w3.org/TR/swbp-vocab-pub/
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), 2014, RDF 1.1 Turtle, Terse RDF Triple Language: https://www.w3.org/TR/turtle/
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), 2015, Linked Data Platform 1.0: https://www.w3.org/TR/ldp/

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • Stephen R. Hartwell
    • Dana K. Wingfield
    • Alan O. Allwardt
    • Frances L. Lightsom
    • Florence L. Wong
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    United States Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program (CMGP)
    Attn: Frances L. Lightsom
    Supervisory Oceanographer
    USGS, 384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    508-457-2242 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    flightsom@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

These polygons are provided as criteria for selecting georeferenced data from other databases. The precision of geographic searches in any system that employs these polygons will depend on the nature of the search algorithm.
This information is not intended for navigational purposes.
These data are intended for science researchers, students, policymakers, and the general public. The shapefile can be used with geographic information systems (GIS) software to display geologic and oceanographic information. The linked data representation can be incorporated in a triple store that supports GeoSPARQL queries.

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: 2014 (process 1 of 5)
    Many of the undersea features in the shapefile were selected from a list assembled by Weatherall and Cramer (2008) in a report from the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) to the GEBCO Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names (SCUFN). Annex II of the Weatherall and Cramer report (p. 20-22) lists 183 undersea features that "may need additional points to define their shape" and includes online links to additional BODC documents providing coordinate pairs sufficient to define detailed linestrings for these features.
    For the first phase of the USGS project, Wingfield created polygons for 87 of the undersea features on the BODC list, using the linestrings as guides; the selected features were primarily ridges, rises, trenches, fracture zones, basins, and seamount chains. In the second phase of the USGS project, Wingfield and Hartwell created polygons for an additional 224 undersea features, mostly basins, abyssal plains, and fracture zones. Polygons were created and compiled in a single shapefile, using ArcGIS version 9.3.1, with the aid of historical bathymetric maps and bathymetric raster data -- the ETOPO1 global relief model (NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, 2009) was used unless noted otherwise in the COMMENTS attribute field. Primary scientific literature was used to resolve ambiguous feature extents and is cited in the COMMENTS attribute field. Maps from the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) and the International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean (IBCAO) were also consulted as needed but are not cited in the COMMENTS attribute field. Adjacent polygons were snapped together, except for clearly overlapping and nested features.
    The UFI and DSG attributes follow the GEOnet Names Server geographic information system (GIS) compatible format (http://geonames.nga.mil/gns/html/gis_countryfiles.html). UFI and DSG values are taken from the GNS database. The federally approved name in GNS is given in the UF_NAME attribute field (except as noted in the COMMENTS attribute field). Variant names used by GEBCO or USGS are listed in the VAR_NAME attribute field if applicable. Polygon centroids (CENT_LAT and CENT_LONG attribute fields) were determined using ArcGIS Calculate Geometry, in the WGS 84 geographical coordinate system. (CENT_LONG values for features crossing the 180th meridian were estimated by inspection in ArcMap.) The centroid of a highly irregular or non-convex feature may fall outside the perimeter of the polygon, as this calculated value represents the average center.
    Depth ranges included in the COMMENTS attribute field for some features represent the approximate depth in meters below sea level. These values were obtained by examining bathymetric maps and bathymetric raster data to determine the minimum and maximum depths that define the feature and its spatial extent. Depth ranges typically apply to features such as basins, plains, and seamounts, which are reasonably defined by closed isobaths, but do not apply to features such as canyons, fans, and escarpments. AREA_SQKM values were determined using ArcGIS Calculate Geometry, with datum WGS 84 and sinusoidal (equal area) projection. The sinusoidal projection preserves area but distorts perimeter values for high-latitude features.
    Processing date 2009 to 2014.
    Date: 2018 (process 2 of 5)
    To create the linked data, Hartwell first extracted the vertices of the polygons from the shapefile along with the values of five selected attributes: UFI, DSG, UF_NAME, VAR_NAME, and COMMENTS. Allwardt then converted the coordinate pairs (vertices) to WKT notation for polygons and added three new attributes to the five extracted from the shapefile: GNS feature notes (from GNS advanced search); use constraints (condensed from the shapefile metadata); and a link to the source shapefile in Open-File Report 2014-1040 (undersea_features.zip). The WKT and attribute values for each feature were assembled in a spreadsheet and then converted to linked data in Turtle format (Terse RDF Triple Language) following the recommendations of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C; 2014, 2015) and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC; 2012). This conversion required relabeling and merging some of the attributes to fit the classes and properties typically employed in linked data. In addition, the undersea feature designations, codes, and definitions employed in GNS (see United States Board on Geographic Names, 2005) were also converted to linked data.
    Processing date 2015-2018.
    Date: 10-Sep-2018 (process 3 of 5)
    Fixed the process date format. Added the ADLFTT theme thesaurus keyword. Added a keyword to the USGS Thesaurus. 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 Road
    Woods Hole, MA

    508-548-8700 x2251 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    vatnipp@usgs.gov
    Date: 18-Nov-2019 (process 4 of 5)
    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 5 of 5)
    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?

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

  1. How well have the observations been checked?
    Attributes or characteristics of each polygon were newly composed for this project and checked against cited maps and other publications.
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    Polygons were digitized at scales between 1:40,000 and 1:10,000,000 with vertices spaced between 2 and 1,500 kilometers.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    Features contained in this report were selected based on previous research interest within the USGS. Officially recognized features that have not been the focus of substantial USGS research are not covered in this report. Twelve features included in the shapefile are excluded from the linked data representation: eleven features that are not listed in GNS; and one polar feature for which WKT could not be created.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    All polygons are closed. Polygons intersecting 180 degrees longitude are composed of two or more merged polygons. Polygons representing features occupying multiple discrete locations are defined by multiple merged polygons. All nodes defining polygons are represented by a single coordinate pair.

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 Feature polygons are defined for general reference and are not to be construed as legal boundaries.
This information is not intended for navigational purposes.
Read and fully comprehend the metadata prior to data use. Uses of these data should not violate the spatial resolution of the data. Where these data are used in combination with other data of different resolution, the resolution of the combined output will be limited by the lowest resolution of all the data.
Acknowledge the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in products derived from these data. Share data products developed using these data with the U.S. Geological Survey.
This data set has been approved for release and publication by the Director of the USGS. Although this data set has been subjected to rigorous review and is substantially complete, the USGS reserves the right to revise the data pursuant to further analysis and review. Furthermore, it is released on condition that neither the USGS nor the United States Government may be held liable for any damages resulting from its authorized or unauthorized use.
Although this Federal Geographic Data Committee-compliant metadata file is intended to document these data in nonproprietary form, as well as in ESRI shapefile format, this metadata file may include some ESRI-specific terminology.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    United States Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program (CMGP)
    Attn: Frances L. Lightsom
    Supervisory Oceanographer
    USGS, 384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA
    USA

    508-457-2242 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    flightsom@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? USGS OFR 2014-1040
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    This information is not intended for navigational purposes.
    This data set has been approved for release and publication by the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Although this data set has been subjected to rigorous review and is substantially complete, the USGS reserves the right to revise the data pursuant to further analysis and review. Furthermore, it is released on condition that neither the USGS nor the United States Government may be held liable for any damages resulting from its authorized or unauthorized use.
    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: 18-Mar-2024
Metadata author:
United States Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program (CMGP)
Attn: Frances L. Lightsom
Supervisory Oceanographer
USGS, 384 Woods Hole Road
Woods Hole, MA
USA

508-457-2242 (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 person is no longer with USGS. (updated on 20240318)
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/ofr2014-1040/undersea_features.faq.html>
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