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High-resolution (1m) bathymetry from the Stamp Sands of Lake Superior collected using a Norbit iWBMSh multibeam echosounder during 2021 (GeoTIFF, UTM Zone 16N, NAD 83, NAVD 88)

Metadata Updated: November 13, 2025

The erosion and active transport of legacy mine tailings (called “stamp sands”) are impacting native fish species and aquatic habitats on a shallow water rocky reef complex along the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan called Buffalo Reef. Stamp sands are spreading from an old mill site at the Town of Gay and settling on the reef. Multiple surveys have documented the underwater migration of toxic, metal-rich stamp sands and progressive burial of areas of hard/complex lakefloor, such as cobble fields. The finer-grained, muddy fraction of the mine tailings has been winnowed by waves and currents and transported to unknown locations in deeper waters offshore. High-resolution geophysical mapping of the bay in 2018 revealed a complex pattern of sandy bedforms on the lakefloor and a general trend of decreasing sediment thickness in areas more distal from the original source, suggesting a flux of sandy sediment from NE to SW across the bay. The present study used multi-beam echosounders deployed in August 2021 to update the high-resolution bathymetry and acoustic backscatter maps with the intent to document sand migration, and to describe habitat geomorphology and substrate variation.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date September 14, 2025
Metadata Updated Date November 13, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 14, 2025
Metadata Updated Date November 13, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-634ef781d34e47431c15545d
Data Last Modified 2022-11-14T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 82e18b77-71e8-4695-b3a0-fd7fae51a09f
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -88.24135, 47.15843, -88.17077, 47.21226
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 6de162c043e9ee93f4bd639d4545b6d6422c89b0cb4fa7e9e619b0f2f29cb6c0
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -88.24135, 47.15843, -88.24135, 47.21226, -88.17077, 47.21226, -88.17077, 47.15843, -88.24135, 47.15843}

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