A study was made of the composition, grain-size distribution, and organic content of grab samples collected from Boston Harbor. In general, the coarsest mean sizes occur in the channels scoured by dredging or tidal action, and the finest in areas where no dredging has occurred and where tidal velocities are at a minimum.

Gravel, sand, silt, and clay contents were determined for samples from Narragansett Bay and the adjacent Rhode Island Shelf. In the Narragansett Bay system, clayey silt and sand-silt-clay are the most abundant sediments. Sand is abundant locally and on the inner shelf. In general, toward the lower passages of the Bay the sediments show a progressive change to coarser textures.

A study of bottom sediment samples from Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, provides a basis for establishing their major depositional facies and their relationships to the environmental framework. Texturally the sands tend to occur in shoaling areas of greater tidal-current activity, while the argillaceous sediments are deposited in deeper bathymetric entrapments.

Presented in this dataset are data determined from sediments collected by different means during a variety of cruises to the northwest Atlantic Ocean. These data have been collected in an attempt to gain knowledge of the interrelationships between early diagenesis and remineralization of organic matter, bioturbation, and dissolved ion exchange between sediments and the overlying water. All data are from surficial sediments (0-3 cm below the sediment-water interface).

The sediment data presented in this data layer were from a geochemical study sited in Great Bay estuarine system of New Hampshire. Textural data were used to support interpretations of trace metal distributions. The analog data were originally converted into digital form for inclusion in a Gulf of Maine Contaminated Sediments Database.

The modern sediments of Buzzards Bay are described principally by the use of quantitative data from mechanical analyses. The environment of the sediment and its source and mode of deposition are discussed in the original publication. Although Hough (1940) is available as part of the NGDC Deck41 database, additional data from the original report were manually entered and, therefore, this file is unique.

Cape Cod Bay, lying on the Massachusetts coast partly enclosed by Cape Cod, is in a glaciated region of low relief. Coarse sediments generally occur in areas exposed to wave and current action as in shallow water near shore or on shoals, and in the deep channel north of the tip of Cape Cod, which is swept by tidal currents. Fine sediments are restricted to the deeper water in the central portion of the Bay, and to the small well-protected embayments of the shore. Although Hough (1942) is available as part of the NGDC Deck 41 Database, additional data from the original report were manually entered and, therefore, this file is unque.

This data release is an archive of sedimentary field and laboratory analytical data collected in Grand Bay, Alabama/Mississippi from 2014-2016 by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (USGS SPCMSC). This work, a component of the SPCMSC’s Sea-level and Storm Impacts on Estuarine Environments and Shorelines (SSIEES) project, provides the necessary data to quantify sedimentation rates and sediment sources for the marsh and estuary. The SSIEES project objective is to evaluate the exchange of sediment material between the marsh and estuary due to extreme storms and sea-level rise. Micropaleontological data from select cores and surface samples are available in Haller and others (2018, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7MC8X5F, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7445KSG). Single-beam bathymetry of Grand Bay proper and multi-beam bathymetry of several marsh-edge eroding shorelines are reported in Dewitt and others (2017, https://doi.org/10.3133/ds1070) and Stalk and others (2018, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7MC8Z9N), respectively. Subbottom and sidescan sonar data for Grand Bay proper are reported in Locker and others (2018, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9374DKQ). This publication includes data for the sediment cores and surface sediments taken in Grand Bay marsh and estuary during five sampling periods of this study, which were designated as USGS Field Activity Numbers (FAN) 2014-323-FA (project ID 14CCT01), 2015-315-FA (project ID 15CCT02), 2016-331-FA (project ID 16CCT03), 2016-348-FA (project ID 16CCT04), and 2016-358-FA (project ID 16CCT07). Data products include: GPS-derived site locations and elevations; core photographs,logs, and x-radiographs; lithologic, radiochemical, elemental composition, stable isotopic composition, and radiocarbon data; and Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata.