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  • Physiographic Shell Zones of the Sea Floor of Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts (BuzzardsBay_ShellZones, polygon shapefile, Geographic WGS 84)

    Metadata Updated: November 12, 2020

    Geologic, sediment texture, and physiographic zone maps characterize the sea floor of Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. These maps were derived from interpretations of seismic-reflection profiles, high-resolution bathymetry, acoustic-backscatter intensity, bottom photographs, and surficial sediment samples. The interpretation of the seismic stratigraphy and mapping of glacial and Holocene marine units provided a foundation on which the surficial maps were created. This mapping is a result of a collaborative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management to characterize the surface and subsurface geologic framework offshore of Massachusetts.

    Access & Use Information

    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 Date November 25, 2019
    Metadata Created Date November 12, 2020
    Metadata Updated Date November 12, 2020
    Reference Date(s) January 1, 2014 (publication)
    Frequency Of Update notPlanned

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from DOI Open Data

    Graphic Preview

    Image of the physiographic Shell Zone shapefile for Buzzards Bay

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date November 25, 2019
    Metadata Created Date November 12, 2020
    Metadata Updated Date November 12, 2020
    Reference Date(s) January 1, 2014 (publication)
    Responsible Party U.S. Geological Survey (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid
    Access Constraints Use Constraints: Not to be used for navigation. Public domain data from the U.S. Government are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as the source of this information. Additionally, there are limitations associated with qualitative sediment mapping interpretations. Because of the scale of the source geophysical data and the spacing of samples, not all changes in sea floor texture are captured. The data were mapped between 1:5,000 and 1:20,000, but the recommended scale for application of these data is 1:25,000. Not all digitized sea floor features contained sample information, so often the sea floor texture is characterized by the nearest similar feature that contains a sample. Conversely, sometimes a digitized feature contained multiple samples and not all of the samples within the feature were in agreement (of the same texture). In these cases the dominant sediment texture was chosen to represent the primary texture for the polygon. Samples from rocky areas often only consist of bottom photographs, because large particle size often prevents the recovery of a sediment sample. Bottom photo classification can be subjective, such that determining the sediment type that is greater than 50% of the view frame is estimated by the interpreter and may differ among interpreters. Bottom photo transects often reveal changes in the sea floor over distances of less than 100 m and these changes are often not observable in acoustic data. Heterogeneous sea floor texture can change very quickly, and many small-scale changes will not be detectable or mappable at a scale of 1:25,000. The boundaries of polygons are often inferred based on sediment samples, and even boundaries that are traced based on amplitude changes in geophysical data are subject to migration. Polygon boundaries should be considered an approximation of the location of a change in texture., Access Constraints: None
    Bbox East Long -70.652979
    Bbox North Lat 41.680620
    Bbox South Lat 41.448175
    Bbox West Long -70.944425
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update notPlanned
    Graphic Preview Description Image of the physiographic Shell Zone shapefile for Buzzards Bay
    Graphic Preview File http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1220/GIS_catalog/PhysiographicZones/shellzones_browse.png
    Graphic Preview Type PNG
    Licence Neither the U.S. Government, the Department of the Interior, nor the USGS, nor any of their employees, contractors, or subcontractors, make any warranty, express or implied, nor assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, nor represent that its use would not infringe on privately owned rights. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the U.S. Geological Survey in the use of these data or related materials. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government
    Metadata Language
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Progress completed
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 2004-01-01
    Temporal Extent End 2011-08-31

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