SEEPS.SHP - Gulf of Mexico Hydrocarbon Seeps

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Frequently-anticipated questions:


What does this data set describe?

Title: SEEPS.SHP - Gulf of Mexico Hydrocarbon Seeps
Abstract:
This GIS overlay is a component of the U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole Science Center's, Gulf of Mexico GIS database. The Gulf of Mexico GIS database is intended to organize and display USGS held data and provide on-line (WWW) access to the data and/or metadata.
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    U.S. Geological Survey, 2005, SEEPS.SHP - Gulf of Mexico Hydrocarbon Seeps: Open-File Report 2005-1071, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    D.C., Twichell, V.A., Cross, Paskevich, V.F., Hutchinson, D.R., Winters, W.J., and Hart, P.E., 2005, GIS of selected geophysical and core data in the northern Gulf of Mexico continental slope collected by the U.S. Geological Survey: Open-File Report 2005-1071, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details: 1 DVD-ROM

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -94.818336
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -89.903336
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 28.006666
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 27.368334

  3. What does it look like?

    <http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1071/data/sidescan/interpretation/gloria/seep.gif> (GIF)
    Overview image showing the extent and overage of the data layer.
    <http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1071/data/sidescan/interpretation/gloria/seep-thumb.gif> (GIF)
    Thumbnail image showing the extent and coverage of the data layer.

  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

    Calendar_Date: 1988
    Currentness_Reference: publication date

  5. What is the general form of this data set?

    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):

      • String (29)

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest 0.000000. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.000000. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees.

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222.

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    seep
    Shapefile Attribute Table (Source: ESRI)

    FID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    Shape
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

    Coordinates defining the features.

    LENGTH
    Length of trawl in native units (Source: Software computed)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0.013
    Maximum:0.087
    Resolution:.001

    LINEID
    Line Identifier assigned by USGS (Source: USGS)

    Range of values
    Minimum:201
    Maximum:235
    Units:integer count
    Resolution:1


Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)

  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

    U.S. Geological Survey
    c/o Valerie Paskevich
    Computer Specialist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02532-1598
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    vpaskevich@usgs.gov


Why was the data set created?

This GIS data layer data layer contains the location of hydrocarbon seep sites that have chemosynthetic organisms associated with them from the continental slope in the Gulf of Mexico. The information compiled in This GIS data layer was derived from a publication by Kennicutt and others (1988).


How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

    Table1 (source 1 of 1)
    Kennicutt, M.C., Brooks, J.M., Bidigare, R.R., and Denoux, G.J., 1988, Gulf of Mexico hydrocarbon seep communities-I. Regional distribution of hydrocarbon seepagfe and associated fauna: Deep Sea Research Vol. 35, Page 1639-1651, Pergamon Press, United Kingdom.

    Type_of_Source_Media: paper
    Source_Contribution:
    Information on trawls that recovered seep communities was taken from Table 1 of this report.

  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

    (process 1 of 2)
    Coordinates for seep sites in the Gulf of Mexico were taken from Table 1 of a publication by Kennicutt and others (1988) and entered into a spreadsheet. The coordinates are in pairs representing the start and end of trawls where seep communities were recovered.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    David Twichell
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Oceanographer
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2266 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    dtwichell@usgs.gov

    Data sources used in this process:
    • Table1

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • seeps.xls

    (process 2 of 2)
    The spreadsheet was converted to a comma delimited text file, imported to ArcView, and converted to a shapefile with each trawl represented by a line extending from its start to end point.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Valerie Paskevich
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Information Specialist/GIS Coordinator
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    vpaskevich@usgs.gov

    Data sources used in this process:
    • seeps.xls

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • seeps.shp

  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

    Kennicutt, M.C., Brooks, J.M., Bidigare, R.R., and Denoux, G.J., 1988, Gulf of Mexico hydrocarbon seep communities-I. Regional distribution of hydrocarbon seepage and associated fauna: Deep-Sea Research Vol. 35, Page 1639-1651, Pergamon Press, United Kingdom.


How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

    No additional checks for topological consistency were performed on the data. No duplicate features are present.


How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access_Constraints: None
Use_Constraints:
Although this derived data set and it's lineage dataset have been used by the USGS, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in the use of these data or related materials.

  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)

    U.S. Geological Survey
    c/o Valerie Paskevich
    Computer Specialist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    (508) 548-8700 x2266 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    vpaskevich@usgs.gov

  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    Downloadable Data.

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    Although this data set has been used by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS 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.

  4. How can I download or order the data?

  5. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?

    These data are available in Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) shapefile format. The user must have ArcGIS® or ArcView® 3.0 or greater software to read and process the data file. In lieu of ArcView or ArcGIS, the user may utilize another GIS application package capable of importing data. A free data viewer, arcexplorer, capable of displaying the data is available from ESRI at www.esri.com.


Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 28-Apr-1999
Last Reviewed: 24-Feb-2004
Metadata author:
U.S. Geological Survey
c/o Valerie Paskevich
Computer Specialist
384 Woods Hole Road
Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
USA

(508) 548-8700 x2281 (voice)
(508) 457-2310 (FAX)
vpaskevich@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
Metadata extensions used:


Generated by mp version 2.8.6 on Tue Dec 13 13:29:10 2005