Bed sediment properties in Little Holland Tract and Liberty Island, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, 2014 to 2019 (ver. 3.0, April 2023)

Bed sediments were collected by the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center (PCMSC) in two submerged agricultural tracts, Liberty Island and Little Holland Tract, in the northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California. Samples were analyzed for grain size distribution, bulk density, or both. Analyses were conducted using PCMSC sediment lab standard techniques (see Process Step in metadata). This effort was part of a large interdisciplinary study supported by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to investigate how shallow water habitats in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta function and whether they provide good habitat for native fish species, including the Delta smelt. Bed sediment properties, including grain size and bulk density, inform studies of sediment resuspension and transport. Suspended sediment is a dominant component of turbidity, and elevated turbidity is a requirement for Delta smelt habitat. Sediment samples were collected at multiple locations in the two tracts during numerous surveys performed between 2014 and 2017. In the summers of 2014 and 2016, surveys were conducted to investigate spatial variability in sediment properties. Sediment cores were collected at 14 to 17 locations in the study area and analyzed for grain size and bulk density at different depths below the sediment-water interface. In addition, during 2015, 2016, and 2017, surface sediment samples were collected repeatedly at several locations to investigate how grain size varied temporally and spatially. The repeat-sample sites were the locations of collection of time-series data of wind-wave properties and suspended-sediment concentration (published separately). Three data sets are available in the Child Items listed below: the 2015 to 2017 surface sediment sample data, the 2014 spatial survey data, and the 2016 spatial survey data. Links to data from other components of this study are provided in the Related External Resources below: time-series data of wind-waves and suspended-sediment, and a digital elevation model of Little Holland Tract.