Locations and information for 38 cores (27 from U.S. Geological Survey cruise 2008-008-FA and 11 cores from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory) from offshore Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (geographic, WGS 84)

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Locations and information for 38 cores (27 from U.S. Geological Survey cruise 2008-008-FA and 11 cores from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory) from offshore Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (geographic, WGS 84)
Abstract:
In 2008, as a collaborative effort between Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the U.S. Geological Survey, 20 giant gravity cores were collected from areas surrounding Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The regions sampled have had many large earthquake and landslide events, some of which are believed to have triggered tsunamis. The objective of this coring cruise, carried out aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel Seward Johnson, was to determine the age of several substantial slope failures and seismite layers near Puerto Rico in an effort to map their temporal distribution. Data gathered from the cores collected in 2008 and 11 archive cores from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory are included in this report. These data include lithologic logs, core summary sheets, x-ray fluorescence, wet-bulk density, magnetic susceptibility, grain-size analyses, radiographs, and radiocarbon age dates.
Supplemental_Information:
For more information on the USGS cruise, please see: https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2008-008-FA.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    U.S. Geological Survey, 2014, Locations and information for 38 cores (27 from U.S. Geological Survey cruise 2008-008-FA and 11 cores from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory) from offshore Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (geographic, WGS 84): Open-File Report 2014-1277, 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.

    Hoy, Shannon K., Chaytor, Jason D., and Uri S. ten Brink, 2014, Core Data From Offshore Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands: Open-File Report 2014-1227, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -67.983000
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -64.822830
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 19.767000
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 17.552930
  3. What does it look like?
    https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1227/data/1-CoreLocations/PRcore_locations.jpg (JPEG)
    Map of location of cores from offshore Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Beginning_Date: 02-Mar-1964
    Ending_Date: 24-Mar-2008
    Currentness_Reference:
    ground condition; recent cores collected in 2008 supplemented with archived cores collected in the 1960's
  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 Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
      • Entity point (38)
    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.
      Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:
      Depth_System_Definition:
      Depth_Datum_Name: Instantaneous Sea Level
      Depth_Resolution: 9999
      Depth_Distance_Units: meters
      Depth_Encoding_Method: Explicit depth coordinate included with horizontal coordinates
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    PRcore_locations
    Esri point shapefile representing the location of 38 samples around Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin islands. 27 were collected in 2008 by the U.S. Geological Survey and 11 are archive cores provided by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
    FID
    Internal feature number. (Source: Esri) Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
    Shape
    Feature geometry. (Source: Esri) Coordinates defining the features.
    CoreName
    ID name given to core based on cruise number and core site. The GGC stands for giant gravity corer. (Source: USGS and NGDC) Character string
    CollectedB
    Person or institution that collected cores (Source: USGS)
    ValueDefinition
    J. ChaytorJason D. Chaytor from USGS
    LDEOArchive cores from LDEO published through NGDC
    DateColl_U
    Month, day, and year of collection (YYYYMMDD) based on UTC time. (Source: USGS) Character string
    Depth_m
    water depth (meters) at core location. The resolution of the depth measurement is 2% of the water depth. (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-8372
    Maximum:-1356
    Units:meters
    Lat_DD
    Latitude of core in decimal degrees (WGS84) (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:17.55293
    Maximum:19.767
    Units:signed decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.000001
    Long_DD
    Longitude of the core in decimal degrees (WGS84) (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-67.983
    Maximum:-64.82283
    Units:signed decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.000001
    Length_cm
    total length of core (cm), -9999 means no data available. (Source: USGS)
    Range of values
    Minimum:12.5
    Maximum:1035
    Units:centimeters
    Resolution:0.5
    Original
    YES or NO; is there original field descriptions of the core or log sheet (Source: USGS) Character string
    LogPlot
    YES or NO; is there a core summary sheet of the core created with LogPlot 7 (Source: USGS) Character string
    MSCL
    YES or NO; are there multi-sensor core logger data for the collected sample (Source: USGS) Character string
    XRF
    YES or NO; are there x-ray fluorescence data for the collected core (Source: USGS) Character string
    Radiograph
    YES or NO; are there radiographs for the sample (Source: USGS) Character string
    GrainSize
    YES or NO; are there grain-size data for the sample (Source: USGS) Character string
    Radiocarbo
    YES or NO; are there radiocarbon dates for the sample (Source: USGS) Character string
    SmearSlide
    YES or NO; are there SmearSlide of the sample (Source: USGS) Character string
    Sample
    What type of sample is it: core (2008), bag (2008), core and bag (2008) or archive (Source: USGS) Character string
    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    All data and fields within this file are related to whole-core determinations. For individual samples within the core, related to radiocarbon age, grain-size, MSCL, XRF, or smear slides, please refer to that sample-based file within the data catalog.
    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)
    • U.S. Geological Survey
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    Jason D. Chaytor
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Research Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA

    (508) 548-8700 x2351 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    jchaytor@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

This data set contains spatial information for 27 core sites (full core, grab sample, or both) collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2008 and 11 archive cores (LDEO) within the area surrounding Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These data are available in shapefile, comma separated (CSV), and Microsoft Excel (XLS) formats.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
    NGDC_RC08 (source 1 of 7)
    NGDC, Unknown, Robert Conrad Cruise 08- Preliminary Megascopic Descriptions of Split Cores.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Original core descriptions provided by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and released by NGDC. MGG id: 01015088
    Type_of_Source_Media: Online data download
    Source_Contribution:
    Core descriptions, photos, and general information about core site (Latitude, Longitude, Depth, etc.) for RC08-115, RC08-116, and RC08-118.
    NGDC_RC09 (source 2 of 7)
    NGDC, Unknown, Robert Conrad Cruise 09- Preliminary Megascopic Descriptions of Split Cores.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Original core descriptions provided by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and released by NGDC. MGG id: 01015009
    Type_of_Source_Media: Online data download
    Source_Contribution:
    Core descriptions, photos, and general information about core site (Latitude, Longitude, Depth, etc.) for RC09-38, RC09-39, RC09-40, RC09-42, and RC09-43.
    NGDC_VM20 (source 3 of 7)
    NGDC, Unknown, Vema Cruise 20 - Preliminary Megascopic Descriptions of Split Cores.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Original core descriptions provided by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and released by NGDC. MGG id: 01035020
    Type_of_Source_Media: Online data download
    Source_Contribution:
    Core descriptions, photos, and general information about core site (Latitude, Longitude, Depth, etc.) for VM20-002.
    NGDC_VM22 (source 4 of 7)
    NGDC, Unknown, Vema Cruise 22 - Preliminary Megascopic Descriptions of Split Cores.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Original core descriptions provided by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and released by NGDC. MGG id: 01035022
    Type_of_Source_Media: Online data download
    Source_Contribution:
    Core descriptions, photos, and general information about core site (Latitude, Longitude, Depth, etc.) for VM22-18.
    NGDC_VM24 (source 5 of 7)
    NGDC, Unknown, Vema Cruise 24 - Preliminary Megascopic Descriptions of Split Cores.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Original core descriptions provided by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and released by NGDC. MGG id: 01035024
    Type_of_Source_Media: Online data download
    Source_Contribution:
    Core descriptions, photos, and general information about core site (Latitude, Longitude, Depth, etc.) for VM24-261.
    PR Bathymetry (source 6 of 7)
    Andrews, B.D., ten Brink, U.S., Danforth, W.W., Chaytor, J.D., Granja Burna, J.L., Llanes Estrada, P., and Carbo-Gorosabel, A., 2014, Bathymetric Terrain Model of Puerto Rico Trench and the Northeast Caribbean Region: Marine Geological Investigations: Open-File Report 2013-1125, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: Open File Report
    Source_Contribution:
    The 50 meter grid was used for depth information in the sample area
    GGC (source 7 of 7)
    Hoy, Shannon K., Chaytor, Jason D., and Uri S. ten Brink, 2014, Core data from offshore Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands: Open-File Report 2014-1227, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

    Online Links:

    Type_of_Source_Media: physical samples
    Source_Contribution:
    The gravity cores collected during U.S. Geological Survey field activity 2008-008-FA. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Giant Gravity Corer (GGC) was used to collect the 20 cores in 2008. The gravity corer is a large diameter (10 centimeter) sampler that collects cores up to 6.5 meters in length. During field activity 2008-008-FA the corer was not rigged with liner longer than approximately 3 meters. Although cores were attempted at 40 core sites, core was recovered at only 20 sites. Seven additional sites yielded only samples (bagged) from the core catcher or cutting head. Of the 20 successful cores, three also have cutter/catcher bag samples.
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: 2013 (process 1 of 7)
    For the 2008 SJ8 cores, core locations from the R/V Seward Johnson's DGPS system were recorded in the PRcore_locations spreadsheet (Microsoft Office Excel 2010) along with water depth information, field notes, cruise information, and core length. Jason Chaytor performed this and the subsequent process steps, unless otherwise noted. Person who carried out this activity:
    Jason D. Chaytor
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Research Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA

    (508) 548-8700 x2351 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    jchaytor@usgs.gov
    Date: 2013 (process 2 of 7)
    Archive core log sheets were downloaded from NGDC and core information and location were entered into the PRcore_locations spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel 2010). These depths were taken from the original log sheets from the attribute "Corr. depth" which is the "P.D.R depth" converted from fathoms to meters and corrected for sound velocity. Data sources used in this process:
    • NGDC_RC08
    • NGDC_RC09
    • NGDC_VM20
    • NGDC_VM22
    • NGDC_VM24
    Date: 2013 (process 3 of 7)
    2008 Gravity core and archive core information was exported from the spreadsheet (Microsoft Office Excel 2010) as a comma-separated value (CSV) file and imported to ArcCatalog (version 9.3) by right clicking on the CSV file and selecting 'create feature class' --> from XY table'. Parameters for import are: X Field- Long_DD and Y Field- Lat_DD. This process created and Esri point shapefile where each sample is a unique record with core specific attributes Person who carried out this activity:
    Shannon K. Hoy
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Research Associate
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA

    (508) 548-8700 x2297 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    shoy@usgs.gov
    Date: 2013 (process 4 of 7)
    Additional fields were added to the point shapefile and populated. These additional fields contain information regarding what subsampling occurred on the core including MSCL, XRF, radiographs, grain-size, and radiocarbon dating. Other fields include the presence or absence of core summary sheets and sample type (core, archive, or bag). Person who carried out this activity:
    Shannon K. Hoy
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Research Associate
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA

    (508) 548-8700 x2297 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    shoy@usgs.gov
    Date: 03-Oct-2017 (process 5 of 7)
    Edits to the metadata were made to fix any errors that MP v 2.9.36 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.). Added additional online links in the Identification section. Updated a cross-reference citation to go from "in prep" to published. In the case of the depth resolution, the value of 9999 was entered to indicate that the original metadata did not contain the required information. Minor fixes to the attribute format for some attributes were needed to meet the standard. 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: 20-Jul-2018 (process 6 of 7)
    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: 08-Sep-2020 (process 7 of 7)
    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?
    All attributes were checked to ensure that the data translation from spreadsheet to shapefile and back was correct.
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    The 2008 latitude and longitude were taken from the R/V Seward Johnson's DGPS system which gives about 20 centimeter accuracy. The location of the archive cores were provided through the NGDC log report. Since these cores were collected in the 1960's we assume they used a LORAN navigation system. The LORAN system has less accuracy than the DGPS. Because of the variety of horizontal datums of the originally collected data, the horizontal datum will be defined as WGS 84 to agree with the most recent and largest concentration of the data.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
    The R/V Seward Johnson was not equipped with a multibeam echosounder during the 2008 cruise. The depths were taken from a 50 m resolution grid bathymetric map with a Instantaneous Sea Level datum (Andrews and others, PR Bathymetry OFR (in prep)). Where cores fell outside the bathymetry map, the depth was taken from the 3.5 kHz echosounder (local surface). The depths for the archive cores were provided through their original report. We cannot be sure of what system was used to get depths, however we compared the reported depth with the same bathymetric grid and the greatest difference in depth was 660 meters for the RC08-118 core. The rest of the archive cores had no more than a 100 meter difference. Because of the variety and uncertainty of the depth information, the vertical datum will be defined as Instantaneous Sea Level, as defined in (Andrews and others, in prep).
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    This report contains all the samples collected during 2008. There are missing core numbers because each site was given a number regardless if it was a failure or a success. The 27 successful sites from the R/V Seward Johnson 2008 cruise were: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 38, and 40. There are eleven archive cores from LDEO that had radiocarbon age dates in the area of investigation. These were: RC08-115, RC08-116, RC08-118, RC09-38, RC09-39, RC09-40, RC09-42, RC09-43, VM20-002, VM22-18, and VM24-261.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    Any spurious data points were removed during creation of the spreadsheet file. The data are related to whole-core or grab sample determinations.

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:
The Public domain data from the U.S. Government are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize the U.S. Geological Survey as the originator of the dataset.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    Jason D. Chaytor
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Research Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA

    (508) 548-8700 x2351 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    jchaytor@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?
    Neither the U.S. Government, the Department of the Interior, nor the USGS, nor any of their employees, contractors, or subcontractors, make any warranty, express or implied, nor assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product or process disclosed, nor represent that its use would not infringe on privately owned rights. 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. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
  4. How can I download or order the data?
  5. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?
    Must be able to unzip a WinZip 18 compressed file and view a shapefile, CSV or XLS.

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 16-Nov-2021
Metadata author:
U.S. Geological Survey
Attn: Shannon K. Hoy
Research Associate II
384 Woods Hole Road
Woods Hole, MA
United States

(508) 548-8700 x2297 (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:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/whcmsc/open_file_report/ofr2014-1227/PRcore_locationsmeta.faq.html>
Generated by mp version 2.9.50 on Tue Nov 16 10:06:52 2021