Scientists from the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center investigated the sedimentary and geochemical properties of the lower reaches of the Pearl River in eastern Louisiana by collecting estuarine, riverine and marsh sediments. This was done in order to increase understanding of the region's environmental history, quantify the deposition associated with Hurricane Katrina, identify the subsequent changes in the deposited sediments and assess the effects of this deposition on marsh sustainability. To this end, the group obtained long sediment cores, shovel-dug sediment slabs and marsh and riverine channel/estuarine surface samples from a north-south transect along the river edge from the low-salinity bottomland hardwood forest through Lake Borgne, and a west-east transect near the coast, during field work conducted in September 2015.

Scientists from the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center investigated the sedimentary and geochemical properties of the lower reaches of the Pearl River in eastern Louisiana by collecting estuarine, riverine and marsh sediments. This was done in order to increase understanding of the region's environmental history, quantify the deposition associated with Hurricane Katrina, identify the subsequent changes in the deposited sediments and assess the effects of this deposition on marsh sustainability. To this end, the group obtained long sediment cores, shovel-dug sediment slabs and marsh and riverine channel/estuarine surface samples from a north-south transect along the river edge from the low-salinity bottomland hardwood forest through Lake Borgne, and a west-east transect near the coast, during field work conducted in September 2015.

Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center extracted sediment and surface samples along transects at three saltmarsh sites situated on the lower end of the Waccasassa River in north-west Florida in order to increase understanding of the region’s environmental history and the ongoing soil chemical processes. To this end, they obtained 17 (ten long and seven short) sediment cores and seven surface samples from saltmarshes along the margins of the river, during field trips in November 2014 and February 2015. Site names are WC01, WC04, WC05, WC10, WC11, WC12, WC20, WC21, WC22, and WC23. Long cores from each location are given the location name and the suffix “R”, surface samples are noted with a “S”, and short cores are given the location name and the suffix “D”, except for the cores taken at sites WC22 and WC23. At those two sites, the short cores were obtained by extracting two parallel peat auger samples to a depth of 50 cm, named WC22Ra-b, and WC23Ra-b, respectively.

Data release doi:10.5066/F71G0KKD associated with this metadata record serves as an archive of sediment data for samples collected in 2015, 2016, and 2017 from coastal Louisiana. In 2015 and 2016, sediment grab samples (N=874) were collected coast-wide along shore-perpendicular transects that included back-barrier, emergent (beach and barrier island), shoreface, and nearshore environments. Sample locations were selected to re-occupy locations previously sampled in 2008 (U.S. Geological Survey [USGS] Open-File Report 2013-1083). The 2008 and 2015-2016 datasets were collected under the Barrier Island Coastal Monitoring (BICM) program (CPRA project LA-0226; https://cims.coastal.louisiana.gov/outreach/ProjectView.aspx?projID=LA-0226), an ongoing collaboration between the State of Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), the University of New Orleans (UNO) Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Sciences (PIES), and the USGS. In 2017, additional grab samples (N=77) were collected along shore-perpendicular transects from West Belle Pass to Caminada Pass as part of the CPRA (CPRA project BA-0045; https://cims.coastal.louisiana.gov/outreach/ProjectView.aspx?projID=BA-0045). The 2015, 2016, and 2017 sediment samples were collected by personnel from UNO–PIES and provided to the USGS St. Petersburg and Coastal Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) sediment laboratory. Textural characteristics were analyzed using a Coulter LS 200 particle-size analyzer. Following SPCMSC data management and archiving protocols, the samples were assigned a USGS field activity number (FAN) (https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=2015-301-CNT). Data products, including sample location tables, results of sediment grain-size analyses, and geographic information system (GIS) data files with accompanying formal Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.5066/F71G0KKD.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is producing detailed geologic maps of the coastal sea floor. Bathymetry and sidescan-sonar imagery, originally collected by NOAA for charting purposes, provides a fundamental framework for research and management activities in Long Island Sound, shows the composition and terrain of the seabed, and provides information on sediment transport and benthic habitat. During October 2008 NOAA completed hydrographic survey H11251 offshore of Rocky Point, New York and during November 2009, bottom photographs and surficial sediment data were acquired as part of a ground-truth reconnaissance survey of this area. Interpretive data layers were derived from the multibeam echo-sounder and sidescan-sonar data and the ground-truth data used to verify them. For more information on the ground-truth survey see http://quashnet.er.usgs.gov/data/2009/09059/

As part of the Barrier Island Evolution Research (BIER) project, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) collected sediment samples from the northern Chandeleur Islands in March and September 2012. The overall objective of this project, which integrates geophysical (bathymetric, seismic, and topographic) and sedimentologic data, is to better understand the depositional and erosional processes that drive the morphologic evolution of barrier islands over annual to interannual timescales (1 to 5 years). Between June 2010 and April 2011, in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the State of Louisiana constructed a sand berm extending more than 14 kilometers (km) along the northern Chandeleur Islands platform. The construction of the berm provided a unique opportunity to investigate how this new sediment source will interact with and affect the morphologic evolution of the barrier-island system. Data collected from this study will be used to describe differences in the physical characteristics and spatial distribution of sediments both along the axis of the berm and also along transects across the berm and onto the adjacent barrier island. Comparison of these data with data from subsequent sampling efforts will provide information about sediment interactions and movement between the berm and the natural island platform, improving our understanding of short-term morphologic change and processes in this barrier-island system. This data series serves as an archive of sediment data collected in March and September 2012 from the Chandeleur Islands sand berm and adjacent barrier-island environments. Data products, including descriptive core logs, core photographs and x-radiographs, results of sediment grain-size analyses, sample location maps, and Geographic Information System (GIS) data files with accompanying formal Federal Geographic Data Committee (FDGC) metadata, can be downloaded from http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/850/data.html.

As part of the Barrier Island Evolution Research (BIER) project, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) collected sediment samples from the northern Chandeleur Islands in March and September 2012. The overall objective of this project, which integrates geophysical (bathymetric, seismic, and topographic) and sedimentologic data, is to better understand the depositional and erosional processes that drive the morphologic evolution of barrier islands over annual to interannual timescales (1 to 5 years). Between June 2010 and April 2011, in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the State of Louisiana constructed a sand berm extending more than 14 kilometers (km) along the northern Chandeleur Islands platform. The construction of the berm provided a unique opportunity to investigate how this new sediment source will interact with and affect the morphologic evolution of the barrier-island system. Data collected from this study will be used to describe differences in the physical characteristics and spatial distribution of sediments both along the axis of the berm and also along transects across the berm and onto the adjacent barrier island. Comparison of these data with data from subsequent sampling efforts will provide information about sediment interactions and movement between the berm and the natural island platform, improving our understanding of short-term morphologic change and processes in this barrier-island system. This data series serves as an archive of sediment data collected in March and September 2012 from the Chandeleur Islands sand berm and adjacent barrier-island environments. Data products, including descriptive core logs, core photographs and x-radiographs, results of sediment grain-size analyses, sample location maps, and Geographic Information System (GIS) data files with accompanying formal Federal Geographic Data Committee (FDGC) metadata, can be downloaded from http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/850/data.html.

As part of the Barrier Island Evolution Research (BIER) project, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) collected sediment samples from the northern Chandeleur Islands in March and September 2012. The overall objective of this project, which integrates geophysical (bathymetric, seismic, and topographic) and sedimentologic data, is to better understand the depositional and erosional processes that drive the morphologic evolution of barrier islands over annual to interannual timescales (1 to 5 years). Between June 2010 and April 2011, in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the State of Louisiana constructed a sand berm extending more than 14 kilometers (km) along the northern Chandeleur Islands platform. The construction of the berm provided a unique opportunity to investigate how this new sediment source will interact with and affect the morphologic evolution of the barrier-island system. Data collected from this study will be used to describe differences in the physical characteristics and spatial distribution of sediments both along the axis of the berm and also along transects across the berm and onto the adjacent barrier island. Comparison of these data with data from subsequent sampling efforts will provide information about sediment interactions and movement between the berm and the natural island platform, improving our understanding of short-term morphologic change and processes in this barrier-island system. This data series serves as an archive of sediment data collected in March and September 2012 from the Chandeleur Islands sand berm and adjacent barrier-island environments. Data products, including descriptive core logs, core photographs and x-radiographs, results of sediment grain-size analyses, sample location maps, and Geographic Information System (GIS) data files with accompanying formal Federal Geographic Data Committee (FDGC) metadata, can be downloaded from http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/850/data.html.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (MA CZM), is producing detailed geologic maps of the coastal sea floor. Imagery, originally collected by NOAA for charting purposes, provides a fundamental framework for research and management activities along this part of the Massachusetts coastline, shows the composition and terrain of the seabed, and provides information on sediment transport and benthic habitat. Interpretive data layers were derived from multibeam echo-sounder and sidescan-sonar data collected in the vicinity of Woods Hole, a passage through the Elizabeth Islands, off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In November 2007, bottom photographs, seismic-reflection profiles, and surficial sediment data were acquired as part of a ground-truth reconaissance survey.

Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center collected a set of sediment cores from the back-barrier environments along the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, in March 2012. The sampling efforts were part of a larger USGS study to evaluate effects on the geomorphology of the Chandeleur Islands following the construction of an artificial sand berm to reduce oil transport onto federally managed lands. The objective of this study was to evaluate the response of the back-barrier tidal and wetland environments to the berm. This report serves as an archive for sedimentological and radiochemical data derived from the sediment cores. The data described in this report is available for download.