Sea-Floor Sediment Samples, Seabed Imagery, and CTD Instrument Data Collected on Stellwagen Bank in August 2017, U.S. Geological Survey Field Activity 2017-043-FA

This field activity is part of an effort to map geologic substrates of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary region off Boston, Massachusetts. The overall goal is to develop high-resolution (1-25,000-scale) interpretive maps, based on multibeam sonar data and seabed sampling, showing surficial geology and seabed sediment dynamics. The data collected in this study will aid research on the ecology of fish and invertebrate species that inhabit the region. On August 22 and 23, 2017, the U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, conducted a research cruise aboard the Sanctuary Research Vessel Auk, visiting 39 locations within the sanctuary. A customized Van Veen grab sampler (SEABOSS) equipped with a video camera and a conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) instrument was deployed in drift mode to collect sediment for grain-size analysis, video imagery of the seabed, and measurements of water column properties.