Archive of Digitized Analog Boomer Seismic-Reflection Data Collected During U.S. Geological Survey Cruises Erda 92-2 and Erda 92-4 in Mississippi Sound, June and August 1992

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program has actively collected geophysical and sedimentological data in the northern 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 (NGGDPP), and in collaboration with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Marine Minerals Program, scientists at the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center converted the analog paper records to digital format using a large-format continuous scanner. The image files created by scanning were further processed to fix distortions and crop out blank spaces to create industry standard Society of Exploration Geophysicists data exchange (SEG-Y) format.

This data release serves as an archive of HRSP profiles annotated with header information, and converted SEG-Y files. The HRSP data were collected using a Huntec boomer seismic system onboard the Research Vessel (R/V) Erda. The geophysical cruises were completed in two segments within Mississippi Sound. On the first leg, geophysical surveys were conducted in June with the data being acquired from waterbodies surrounding Grand, Cat, and Horn Islands (Erda 92-2). During the second leg, geophysical surveys were collected in August off the coast of Mississippi and Alabama and between Horn and Petit Bois Islands (92-4). Data collection and processing methods are described in USGS Data Series 1047.

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.