USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

Additional USGS Geoscience data can be found by geographic location or by publication series.

USGS benthic foraminiferal samples (1996 - 1997)

Frequently-anticipated questions:

• What does this data set describe?
  1. How should this data set be cited?
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
• Who produced the data set?
  1. Who are the originators of the data set?
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
• Why was the data set created?
• How was the data set created?
  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
  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?
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the data, including topology?
• How can someone get a copy of the data set?
  1. Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
  2. Who distributes the data?
  3. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?
  4. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
  5. How can I download or order the data?
• Who wrote the metadata?

What does this data set describe?

1. How should this data set be cited?

   (ed.), Ellen Thomas , 2000, USGS benthic foraminiferal samples (1996 - 1997): U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 00-304, U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA.

   This is part of the following larger work.

   (ed.), Valerie Paskevich , and (ed.), Larry Poppe , 2000, Georeferenced sea-floor mapping and bottom photography in Long Island Sound: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 00-304, U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole Field Center.

   Online Links:

   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/openfile/of00-304/>

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -73.7466

   East_Bounding_Coordinate: -72.4066

   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.2696

   South_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.8781

3. What does it look like?

   <http://pubs.usgs.gov/openfile/of00-304/htmldocs/images/browse/usgs9697.gif> (GIF)

   image showing the extent of the GIS layer and the distribution of benthic foraminiferal samples collected during the time period of 1996 - 1997 by the USGS in Long Island Sound

4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

   Calendar_Date: 1996

   Currentness_Reference: Publication Date

5. What is the general form of this data set?

6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
   1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      This is a Point data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):

      • Point (45)

   2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator

      Universal_Transverse_Mercator:

      UTM_Zone_Number: 18

      Transverse_Mercator:

      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.99960

      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -075.000000

      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: +00.000000

      False_Easting: 500000

      False_Northing: 0

      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 8500
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 4000
      Planar coordinates are specified in Meters

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is WGS_1984.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.00.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/0.003352810664747.
      

      Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:

      Depth_System_Definition:

      Depth_Datum_Name: Local surface

      Depth_Resolution: 2

      Depth_Distance_Units: Meters

      Depth_Encoding_Method: Attribute values

7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

   usgs9697.dbf

   Shapefile attribute file (Source: ESRI)

   Usgs96_97_

   Assigned unique identifier of sample.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	1
   Maximum:	51

   Cruis

   Name of Cruise from which sample collected.

   Character field

   Station_na

   Name or number of station at which sample was collected.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	23
   Maximum:	93

   Longitude

   Longitude, in decimal-degrees, of sample location.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	-73.746600
   Maximum:	-72.406600
   Units:	decimal-degrees

   Latitude

   Latitude, in decimal-degrees, of sample location.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	40.878100
   Maximum:	41.269600
   Units:	decimal-degrees

   Water_dept

   Measured depth of water overlying sediment at sample time, in original units.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	0.000000
   Maximum:	35.000000
   Units:	meters

   E__excavat

   Elphidium excavatum in a species of benthic foraminifera

   Range of values
   Minimum:	0.0000
   Maximum:	92.300000
   Units:	Perecent of total benthic foraminifera
   Resolution:	0.1 %

   Elph__i

   Elphidium incertum is a species of benthic foraminifera

   Range of values
   Minimum:	0.000000
   Maximum:	50.500000
   Units:	Percent of total fbenthic oraminifera
   Resolution:	0.1%

   B__frigid

   Bucella frigida is a species of benthic foraminifera.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	1.000000
   Maximum:	36.300000
   Units:	% of total benthic foraminifera.
   Resolution:	0.10%

   Egg__adven

   Eggeralla advena is a species of benthic foraminifera.

   Range of values
   Minimum:	0.000000
   Maximum:	1.000000
   Units:	Percent of the total benthic foraminifera
   Resolution:	0.1%

   A__beccari

   Ammonia beccarii is a species of benthic foraminifera

   Range of values
   Minimum:	0.000000
   Maximum:	27.800000
   Units:	Percent of the total benthic foraminifera
   Resolution:	0.1%

   Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

   This is a point layer showing the distribution of samples collected by the USGS during the time period of 1996- 1997. The attribute information associated with the samples provide analysis of the composition of benthic foraminiferal assemblages in LIS.

   Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: none

Who produced the data set?

1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
   • Ellen Thomas (ed.)

2. Who also contributed to the data set?

3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
   Wesleyan University
   c/o Ellen Thomas
   professor
   Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
   Wesleyan University
   265 Church Street
   Middletown, CT 06459-0139
   USA
   

   (860) 685-2238 (voice)
   ethomas@wesleyan.edu
   

Why was the data set created?

The purpose of this layer is to disseminate a digital version of the location of benthic foraminiferal samples and population data collected and analyzed by the USGS during the time period of 1996 - 1997.

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: Unknown (process 1 of 2)

   Sediment samples were washed on a 0.062 mm sieve to separate the foraminifera from the silt and clay. Foraminifera were picked from the fraction retained on the sieve and individually identified and counted with a binocular microscope using reflected light.

   Person who carried out this activity:
   

   Wesleyan University
   c/o Ellen Thomas
   Professor
   265 Church Street
   Middletown, CT 06459
   USA
   

   (860) 685-2238 (voice)
   ethomas@weslyan.edu
   

   Date: Unknown (process 2 of 2)

   The foraminifera data and navigation were entered into a flat-file database (Excel) and inported into Mapview for graphical analysis. The files were subsequently exported into MIDMIF files, and converted into shape files with the Arc utility MIFSHAPE.EXE.

   Person who carried out this activity:
   

   U.S. Geological Survey
   c/o Ellen L. Mecray
   384 Woods Hole road
   Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
   USA
   

   (508) 548-8700 x2213 (voice)
   emecray@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?

   The foraminifera species were individually identified and counted with a binocular microscope using standard micropaleontologic procedures. This suggest a reproducibility of less than 1 standard deviation.

2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

   Ship navigation was by radar and line of sight (sextant) and is therefore of variable accuracy.

3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

   No attempt was made to correct depths for tides..

4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

   none

5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

   No additional checks for topological consistency were performed on this data set.

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 U.S. Geological Survey and Wesleyan University must be referenced as the originator of the dataset in any future products or research derived from these data.
Although this derived data set and its lineage dataset have been used by the USGS, Wesleyan University and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by either the USGS, Wesleyan University or the Connecticut DEP as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by either the USGS, Wesleyan University or the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection in the use of these data or related materials.

1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
   Wesleyan University
   c/o Ellen L. Thomas
   professor
   Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
   Wesleyan University 265 Church Street
   Middletown, CT 06459-0139
   USA
   

   (860) 685-2238 (voice)
   ethomas@wesleyan.edu
   

2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

   Long Island Sound: usgs9697.shp

3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

   Although this derived data set and its lineage dataset have been used by the USGS, Connecticut Department of Environmental protection and Wesleyan University, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by either the USGS, Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection or Wesleyan University, in the use of these data or related materials.

4. How can I download or order the data?
   • Availability in digital form:

     Data format:	usgs9697.dbf usgs9697.shp usgs9697.shx usgs9697.avl usgs9697.sbn usgs9697.sbx in format ARCV Size: 12Kbytes
     Media you can order:	CD-ROM (Density 650 Mbytes) (format ISO 9600) Note: The user must have a system with a CD-ROM capable of reading an ISO-9660 standard CD-ROM disk. To browse the information contained on this disk, the user must also have a current version of WWW browser available.

     Data format:	The six ArcView files (usgs9697.dbf, usgs9697.shp, usgs9697.shx, usgs9697.avl, usgs9697.sbn, usgs9697.sbx) comprising the USGS samples collected in Long Island Sound during the period 1996 - 1997. in format ARCV Size: 4Kbytes
     Media you can order:	CD-ROM (Density 650 Mbytes) (format ISO 9600) Note: The user must have a system with a CD-ROM capable of reading an ISO-9660 standard CD-ROM disk. To browse the information contained on this disk, the user must also have a current version of WWW browser available. The user must also have the software installed on their computer system capable to unzip the archived file.

   • Cost to order the data: none

   • Availability in digital form:

     Data format:	USGS benthic foraminiferal samples collected during the time period in format Shapefile (version 1.0)
     Network links:	<http://pubs.usgs.gov/openfile/of00-304/lisound/data/chap09/usgs9697.zip>

   • Cost to order the data: none

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:

Last modified: 28-Aug-2000

Metadata author:

Larry Poppe
U. S. Geological Survey
geologist
384 Woods Hole Road
Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
USA

(508) 548-8700 x2314 (voice)
(508) 457-2310 (FAX)
lpoppe@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:

FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)