Seabed photographs, sediment texture analyses, and sun-illuminated sea floor topography in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary region off Boston, Massachusetts

The U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Sanctuary Program, conducted seabed mapping and related research in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary region from 1993 to 2004. The mapped area is approximately 3,700 km (1,100 nmi) in size and was subdivided into 18 quadrangles. An extensive series of sea-floor maps of the region based on multibeam sonar surveys has been published as paper maps and online in digital format (PDF, EPS, PS). In addition, 2,628 seabed-sediment samples were collected and analyzed and are in the usSEABED: Atlantic Coast Offshore Surficial Sediment Data Release. This report presents for viewing and downloading the more than 10,600 still seabed photographs that were acquired during the project. The digital images are provided in thumbnail, medium (1536 x 1024 pixels), and high (3071 x 2048) resolution. The images can be viewed by quadrangle on the U.S. Geological Survey Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center's photograph database. Photograph metadata are embedded in each image in Exchangeable Image File Format and also provided in spreadsheet format. Published digital topographic maps and descriptive text for seabed features are included here for downloading and serve as context for the photographs. An interactive topographic map for each quadrangle shows locations of photograph stations, and each location is linked to the photograph database. This map also shows stations where seabed sediment was collected for texture analysis; the results of grain-size analysis and associated metadata are presented in spreadsheet format.