1. Coastal/Marine Hazards and Resources
2. Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
3. U.S. Geological Survey Sea Floor Stress and Sediment Mobility Database

Map showing the bathymetry of the Gulf of Maine and regional physiographic features. Characterizations of bottom shear stress and sea floor mobility in this database extend offshore to approximately the 120-m isobath.

U.S. Geological Survey Sea Floor Stress and Sediment Mobility Database: Gulf of Maine

Publication Date: April 2014

The Gulf of Maine region is the semi-enclosed basin separated from the Atlantic Ocean to the south by Georges Bank, and extends from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia.

Spatially and temporally resolved estimates of bottom shear stress are calculated for seasonal and annual time periods. Seasons are defined as Winter (December-February), Spring (March-May), Summer (June-August), and Fall (September-November).

Specifications for stress and mobility time series:

• Spatial Resolution: Approximately 3.5 km.
• Time Period: May 2010, to May 2011.
• Temporal Resolution: Hourly.

Datasets used to compute the bottom stress and sediment mobility time series:

• Currents: The Northeast Coastal Ocean Forecast System (NECOFS) for the Gulf of Maine, which uses the Finite Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM). The FVCOM domain includes the Gulf of Maine, George's Bank, and portions of the Middle Atlantic Bight. Developed at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.
  Contact: Model run by Dr. Changsheng Chen, Marine Ecosystem Dynamics Modeling Lab.
• Waves: Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) model applied to the western North Atlantic.
  Contact: Model run by Dr. P. Soupy Dalyander, formerly with U.S. Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
• Sediment Texture Data: USGS East-Coast Sediment Texture database (Poppe and others, 2005) (https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20051001)

Suggested citation: Dalyander, P.S., Butman, B., Sherwood, C.R., and Signell, R.P., 2012, U.S. Geological Survey sea floor stress and sediment mobility database: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P999PY84.

Statistics of sea floor wave-current stress and sediment mobility in Arc polygon and point shapefile format for the Gulf of Maine from model output. Stress statistics are determined for the entire model grid, whereas mobility statistics are determined only at locations where sediment texture data are available

Data Layer Name and Explanation	Preview	Metadata	Download
Median of Bottom Shear Stress The value of bottom shear stress exceeded 50% of the time. (Shapefile polygon)		HTML FAQ TEXT XML	GMAINE_median.zip
Interpercentile Range of Bottom Shear Stress Half the difference between the 84th and 16th percentile. A measure of variability, equivalent to the standard deviation in a normal distribution. (Shapefile polygon)		HTML FAQ TEXT XML	GMAINE_hIPR.zip
95th Percentile of Bottom Shear Stress Value of bottom shear stress exceeded 5% of the time. A measure of the largest stresses. (Shapefile polygon)		HTML FAQ TEXT XML	GMAINE_95th_perc.zip
Bed Mobility Percentage Percentage of time the critical stress is exceeded (determined for locations with sediment texture data). A measure of the extent of bed mobility. (Shapefile point)		HTML FAQ TEXT XML	GMAINE_mobile_perc.zip
Bed Mobility Recurrence Interval Time between mobility events (determined for locations with sediment texture data). A measure of the of frequency of mobility events. (Shapefile point)		HTML FAQ TEXT XML	GMAINE_mobile_freq.zip