Study area map of the South Atlantic Bight

Map showing the bathymetry of the South Atlantic Bight 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: South Atlantic Bight

Publication Date: December 2012

The South Atlantic Bight region extends from the coast of North Carolina southward to the Florida Keys.

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:

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

Complete details on the procedure used to create the data files may be found in the associated metadata.

Note: Additional analysis of bottom shear stress and sediment mobility for this domain may be found in:
Dalyander, P. S., Butman, B., Sherwood, C.R., Signell, R.P., Wilkin, J.L., 2012, Characterizing wave- and current- induced bottom shear stress—U.S. middle Atlantic continental shelf: Continental Shelf Research (52), p.73-86. Online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2012.10.012.

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 South Atlantic Bight 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. See metadata files for details of the calculations. Click on zip file to download.

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)

Sputh Atlantic Bight median of bottom shear stress browse graphic

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SAB_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)

Suth Atlantic Bight range of bottom shear stress browse graphic HTML
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SAB_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)

South Atlantic Bight bottom shear stress browse graphic HTML
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SAB_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)

South Atlantic Bight bed mobility percentage browse graphic HTML
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SAB_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)

South Atlantic Bight bed mobility recurrence interval browse graphic HTML
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SAB_mobile_freq_v1_1.zip