Field Activity 1994-004-FA

Identifier 1994-004-FA
Alternate names 9409; FERL9409
Purpose Document character/distribution of fisheries habitats in SE Stellwagen Bank w/ sidescan sonar, video, photo, and samples. Resurvey/sample areas surveyed April and Sep. 1993 to evaluate changes in dredge disturbance on sea bed; prepare sediment distribution/bio habitat maps.
Location Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, United States, North America, North Atlantic;
Summary Previous cruises have imaged the southwestern part of Stellwagen Bank. This cruise expanded sidescan sonar coverage to the east. Bottom sediment is coarse sand and gravel on the southeastern part of the bank, and it is the source of the sand that is moved westward during large storms from the northeast. Several sidescan lines that were surveyed in April and September 1993 were resurveyed on this cruise. The distribution of storm deposits has not changed since the earlier surveys, and no large nor'easters have occurred since December 1992. These observations support the hypothesis that the bank surface is unaffected by tidal currents and minor storms. Large storms and fishing gear (dredges and trawls) apparently are the major causes of habitat disturbance on the bank.
Comments Field work conducted in two parts: October 11-16 and October 23-25. Project = Sea floor habitat mapping, Sea floor habitat mapping
Platform
Ferrel
133 feet
Itinerary
Start Woods Hole, MA 1994-10-11
End Woods Hole, MA 1994-10-25
Days in the field 10
Bounds
West -70.3925
East -70.1826
North 42.2627
South 42.16787

Personnel

Organization
384 Woods Hole Road
Quissett Campus
Woods Hole, MA02543-1598
(508) 548-8700
Principal investigators Page C Valentine
Crew members
Page C Valentine
Scientist, Staff
Dann S Blackwood
Scientist, Staff
Schmuck, Eric A.
Scientist, Staff
Kenneth Parolski
Scientist, Staff

Data types and categories

Data category: Sampling, Imagery, Sonar, Location-Elevation
Data type: Geology, Photo, Video, Sidescan, Single Beam, Navigation

Documents: Notes and log books

Name Description
Cruise report Chief Scientist's report including personnel, purpose, equipment, tabulated information, preliminary results, station locations and data acquired at the station, trackmap.

Equipment used

Equipment Usage description Data types Datasets
Van Veen grab sampler Geology 4
Osprey camera system Photo, Video 6
Klein 595 100/500kHz sidescan sonar Sidescan (no data reported)
Benthos fish tracking system Single Beam (no data reported)
DGPS Navigation (no data reported)

Datasets

Datasets produced in this activity

Dataset name Equipment Description Dataset contact
1994-004-FA-SC-001 Van Veen grab sampler GRAB samples Brian Buczkowski
1994-004-FA-PH-001 Osprey camera system CD ROM disk of BOTTOMPHOTO STELL JD284, BOTTOMPHOTO STELL ROV Nancy K. Soderberg

Datasets compiled from multiple sources

Dataset name Equipment Description Dataset contact
Stellwagen_sedimentsamples Van Veen grab sampler Geographic locations of seabed sediment samples from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Region. Includes sediment analyses. Page C Valentine
SIM3341_stations_geology Van Veen grab sampler Point shapefile of quadrangle 6 station locations in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary offshore of Boston, Massachusetts where video, photographs and sediment samples were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey from 1993-2004 - includes sediment sample analyses and interpreted geologic substrate. Page C Valentine
SIM3341_geologic_interp Van Veen grab sampler Polygon shapefile of the interpretation of the seabed geologic substrates in quadrangle 6 of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary region offshore of Boston, Massachusetts based on data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey from 1993-2004 Page C Valentine
Stellwagen_bottomphotos_locations Osprey camera system Geographic locations of images in the USGS collection of photographs from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Region Page C Valentine
ridges0_SIM2840 Osprey camera system Boulder ridges less than 1 m high on the sea floor of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary region. The boulder ridges were identified using multibeam topographic imagery and backscatter intensity of the seabed and video and photographic images collected from 1994 to 2003. Page C Valentine
ridges1_SIM2840 Osprey camera system Boulder ridges greater than or equal to 1 m high on the sea floor of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine region. The boulder ridges were identified using multibeam topographic imagery and backscatter intensity of the seabed and video and photographic images collected from 1994 to 2003. Page C Valentine
sbnmsallsta_SIM2840 Osprey camera system Sample and video stations located in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary region. Stations represent the location of a sediment sample and/or the end of a video transect. Page C Valentine
sbnmsallvid_SIM2840 Osprey camera system Video transects of the sea floor in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary region. This dataset contains polylines showing extents of video transects documenting seabed characteristics in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Region off Boston, Massachusetts, an area of approximately 1100 nautical square miles. Page C Valentine

Datasets not currently associated with specific equipment

Dataset name Description Dataset contact
q5_geologic_interp Interpretation of the seabed geologic substrates in quadrangle 5 of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary region offshore of Boston, Massachusetts based on data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey from 1993-2019. Page C Valentine
q5_stations_geology Station locations in quadrangle 5 in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary offshore of Boston, Massachusetts where video, photographs and sediment samples were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey from 1993-2015 - includes sediment sample analyses and interpreted geologic substrate Page C Valentine

Publications

Samples collected during this field activity