Modern observations of planktic foraminifera from sediment trap studies help to constrain the regional ecology of paleoceanographically valuable species. Results from a weekly-resolved sediment trap time series (2008–2014) in the northern Gulf of Mexico demonstrate that 92% of Globorotalia truncatulinoides flux occurs in winter (January, February, and March), and that encrusted and non-encrusted individuals represent calcification in distinct depth habitats. Individual foraminiferal analysis (IFA) of G. truncatulinoides tests were used to investigate differences in the elemental Magnesium/Calcium (Mg/Ca) and isotopic composition (δ18O and δ13C) of the encrusted and non-encrusted ontogenetic forms of G. truncatulinoides, and to estimate their calcification depth in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Estimates show that non-encrusted and encrusted G. truncatulinoides have mean calcification depths of 66 ± 9 meters and 393 ± 83 meters, respectively. The Mg/Ca-calcification temperature relationship was validated for G. truncatulinoides and demonstrated that the δ18O and Mg/Ca of the non-encrusted form is a suitable proxy for winter surface mixed layer conditions in the Gulf of Mexico. Care should be taken not to combine encrusted and non-encrusted individuals of G. truncatulinoides for down core paleoceanographic studies. For further information regarding data collection and/or processing methods as well as the associated published manuscript refer to Reynolds and others (2018b).

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) deployed a sediment trap (McLane PARFLUX 78H) mooring in the northern Gulf of Mexico (27.5 °N and 90.3°W, water depth 1150 meters [m]) in January 2008 to collect seasonal time-series data on the flux and assemblage composition of planktic foraminifers. The trap was positioned in the water column at a depth of 700 m on the mooring cable to enable the collection of deeper dwelling species of planktic foraminifera. The trap contains 21 collection cups that were programmed to rotate every 7 to 14 days (resulting in weekly to biweekly sampling resolution). Upon retrieval, samples were subsequently wet split into four aliquots using a precision rotary splitter, stored in buffered deionized water, and refrigerated. A quarter split was wet sieved over a 150-micron (μm) sieve and subsequently wet picked for all foraminifers. In samples containing fewer than 300 foraminifers in the first quarter split, an additional split was processed and picked in its entirety. The counts were then summed. All planktic foraminifers were identified to the species level. This report gives information on the raw counts and foraminifera flux (tests m−2 day−1) through May 2014. Flux was calculated based on the total number of foraminifera for each sub-sample, the fraction of the total sample used, the duration (days) the sediment trap was opened and collecting data for a given sample, and the aperture area of the sediment trap (0.5 meter-squared [m2]). The sediment trap mooring is currently deployed, and foraminifera data will be updated as new samples are processed.

This portion of the data release provides geochemical analyses data of ferromanganese rock samples collected off the coast of Hawaii. Ferromanganese crusts, nodules, and coated cobbles were collected via ROV from seamounts within the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (PMNM) in the Pacific Ocean during E/V Nautilus expeditions NA134 and NA138 in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Ferromanganese rock samples were sent to USGS for subsampling and major and trace element geochemical analyses. Major and trace element data as well as location information (latitude, longitude, depth) for each sample are provided here.

This dataset accompanies proposed publication, "Tectonic disruption of the Proterozoic Yavapai-Matzatzal Province boundary near Sierra Hornaday, northwest Sonora", to be published in a Geological Society of America publication, which will report zircon SHRIMP-RG U-Pb ages and Sm-Nd whole rock isotope analyses to map the path of the Yavapai-Matzatzal province boundary across southwest Arizona and northwest Sonora. Samples were collected from the study area by Jon Nourse, Miguel Espinoza, and Erin Stahl (all of Cal. State Polytechnic Univ.), Karl Kellogg, Wayne Premo, Douglas Morton, Jonathan Matti, Barney Poole, and Alex Iriondo (all of the USGS), Thomas Anderson (Univ. of Pittsburgh), Leon Silver and Michael Oskin (all of Cal. Inst. Tech.), and Bryan Kriens (Cal. State Univ., Dominguez Hills), who brought them to the USGS Denver for analysis. The analyses were performed from Dec 2001 to August 2018.

In 2019, the magnesium-to-calcium (Mg/Ca) ratios were measured in the tests of planktic foraminiferal species, Globigerinoides ruber (white variety), in a subset of samples from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) sediment core U1146 from the Bay of Bengal drilled November 2014 to January 2015. For further information regarding data collection and/or processing methods, refer to the associated journal article (Clemens and others, 2021).

Elemental chemistry and weight percent of the less than 0.063 mm fine sediment fraction are reported for surface sediments from shoals, the ebb tide delta, local tributaries, and inland rivers that carry sediment to San Francisco Bay, California.

Geochemical and isotopic compositions were determined in stream sediment and parent rocks collected in April 2017 and June 2017 and in nearshore sediment collected bimonthly in sediment traps from May 2017 to June 2018 in the coastal zone and 12 drainages of southwest Puerto Rico: Rio Loco, Yauco, Guayanilla, Macana, Tallaboa, Matilde, Portugues, Bucana, Inabon, Jacaquas, Descalabrado, and Coamo. Geochemical compositional data include: a) total contents of major, minor, trace, and rare earth elements in the <0.063 mm-diameter fraction of terrestrial (n=53) and nearshore sediment (n=63) and powdered rocks (n=19) analyzed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS); b) major oxide contents of stream sediment (n=46) and rocks (n=19) determined by wavelength dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (WD-XRF); and c) total organic carbon and carbonate contents of stream (n=48) and nearshore (n=64) sediment determined coulometrically. Isotopic compositional data include: 1) strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) determined by thermal ionization mass spectrometry in the <0.063 mm-diameter fraction of select stream (n=50) and nearshore (n=40) sediment, and in all rocks; and 2) activities of the short-lived cosmogenic nuclides beryllium-7, cesium-137, and excess (unsupported) lead-210 determined by gamma spectrometry on bulk nearshore sediment (n=44). The percentage by weight of the <0.063 mm-diameter sediment fraction (percent fines), the median grain size, and the silt to clay ratio are reported for stream (n=48) and nearshore (n=64) sediments. These data accompany Takesue, R.K., Sherman, C., Ramirez, N.I., Reyes, A.O., Cheriton, O.M., Rios, R.V., and Storlazzi, C.D., 2021, Land-based sediment sources and transport to southwest Puerto Rico coral reefs after Hurricane Maria, May 2017 to June 2018: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, v. 59, p. 107476, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2021.107476.

To aid in geologic studies of sediment transport and environmental change in coastal marsh, 1-centimeter (cm) foraminiferal subsamples were taken from seven sediment push cores collected in the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (GNDNERR), Mississippi, in October 2016. The push cores were collected along two, shore-perpendicular transects at 5, 15, 25, and 50 meters (m) from the shoreline, on opposite sides of Middle Bay during U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Field Activities Number (FAN) 2016-358-FA, also known as alternate FAN 16CCT07. Foraminiferal subsamples were processed and analyzed at the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC). Sediment characteristics, loss-on-ignition (LOI), and site location information for the core sites can be found in Marot and others (2019; https://doi.org/10.5066/P9FO8R3Y). Downloadable data are available as Excel spreadsheets (.xlsx), comma-separated values text files (.csv), and Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata (.txt and .xml).