Archive of Digitized Analog Boomer Seismic-Reflection Data Collected in 1990 and 1991 During the ERDA90-2 and MB91-1 Surveys in Mobile Bay, Alabama

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program has actively collected geophysical and sedimentological data in the northern Gulf of America (Gulf of Mexico) for several decades, including shallow subsurface data in the form of high-resolution seismic reflection profiles (HRSP). Prior to the mid-1990s, most HRSP data were collected in analog format as paper rolls of continuous profiles up to 25 meters long. As part of the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program, scientists from the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center converted analog paper records to digital format using a large-format continuous scanner. The scanned image files were subsequently processed to fix distortions and crop out blank spaces prior to exporting them as geophysical industry standard Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) SEG-Y data exchange formatted files.

This data release serves as an archive of HRSP profiles annotated with header information, converted SEG-Y files, navigation data, profile trackline files, and survey logbook. The HRSP data were collected between August 12 and August 19, 1990, for ERDA90-2, and May 15 and May 18, 1991, for MB91-1, using an EG&G Uniboom acoustic (boomer) system, onboard research vessel (R/V) ERDA 1. Data conversion methods are described in USGS Data Series 1047 (Bosse and others, 2017).

Bosse, S.T., Flocks, J.G., and Forde, A.S., 2017, Digitized analog boomer seismic-reflection data collected during U.S. Geological Survey cruises Erda 90-1_HC, Erda 90-1_PBP, and Erda 91-3 in Mississippi Sound, June 1990 and September 1991: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 1047, https://doi.org/10.3133/ds1047.