This tile service is derived from a digital raster graphic of the historical 15-minute USGS topographic quadrangle maps of coastal towns in Massachusetts. These quadrangles were mosaicked together to create a single data layer of the coast of Massachusetts and a large portion of the southeastern area of the state.The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) obtained the map images from the Harvard Map Collection. The maps were produced in the late 1890s and early 20th century at a scale of 1:62,500 or 1:63,360 and are commonly known as 15-minute quadrangle maps because each map covers a four-sided area of 15 minutes of latitude and 15 minutes of longitude.

IntroductionClimate Central’s Surging Seas: Risk Zone map shows areas vulnerable to near-term flooding from different combinations of sea level rise, storm surge, tides, and tsunamis, or to permanent submersion by long-term sea level rise. Within the U.S., it incorporates the latest, high-resolution, high-accuracy lidar elevation data supplied by NOAA (exceptions: see Sources), displays points of interest, and contains layers displaying social vulnerability, population density, and property value. Outside the U.S., it utilizes satellite-based elevation data from NASA in some locations, and Climate Central’s more accurate CoastalDEM in others (see Methods and Qualifiers). It provides the ability to search by location name or postal code.The accompanying Risk Finder is an interactive data toolkit available for some countries that provides local projections and assessments of exposure to sea level rise and coastal flooding tabulated for many sub-national districts, down to cities and postal codes in the U.S. Exposure assessments always include land and population, and in the U.S. extend to over 100 demographic, economic, infrastructure and environmental variables using data drawn mainly from federal sources, including NOAA, USGS, FEMA, DOT, DOE, DOI, EPA, FCC and the Census.This web tool was highlighted at the launch of The White House's Climate Data Initiative in March 2014. Climate Central's original Surging Seas was featured on NBC, CBS, and PBS U.S. national news, the cover of The New York Times, in hundreds of other stories, and in testimony for the U.S. Senate. The Atlantic Cities named it the most important map of 2012. Both the Risk Zone map and the Risk Finder are grounded in peer-reviewed science.Back to topMethods and QualifiersThis map is based on analysis of digital elevation models mosaicked together for near-total coverage of the global coast. Details and sources for U.S. and international data are below. Elevations are transformed so they are expressed relative to local high tide lines (Mean Higher High Water, or MHHW). A simple elevation threshold-based “bathtub method” is then applied to determine areas below different water levels, relative to MHHW. Within the U.S., areas below the selected water level but apparently not connected to the ocean at that level are shown in a stippled green (as opposed to solid blue) on the map. Outside the U.S., due to data quality issues and data limitations, all areas below the selected level are shown as solid blue, unless separated from the ocean by a ridge at least 20 meters (66 feet) above MHHW, in which case they are shown as not affected (no blue).Areas using lidar-based elevation data: U.S. coastal states except AlaskaElevation data used for parts of this map within the U.S. come almost entirely from ~5-meter horizontal resolution digital elevation models curated and distributed by NOAA in its Coastal Lidar collection, derived from high-accuracy laser-rangefinding measurements. The same data are used in NOAA’s Sea Level Rise Viewer. (High-resolution elevation data for Louisiana, southeast Virginia, and limited other areas comes from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)). Areas using CoastalDEM™ elevation data: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Corn Island (Nicaragua), Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Blas (Panama), Suriname, The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago. CoastalDEM™ is a proprietary high-accuracy bare earth elevation dataset developed especially for low-lying coastal areas by Climate Central. Use our contact form to request more information.Warning for areas using other elevation data (all other areas)Areas of this map not listed above use elevation data on a roughly 90-meter horizontal resolution grid derived from NASA’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). SRTM provides surface elevations, not bare earth elevations, causing it to commonly overestimate elevations, especially in areas with dense and tall buildings or vegetation. Therefore, the map under-portrays areas that could be submerged at each water level, and exposure is greater than shown (Kulp and Strauss, 2016). However, SRTM includes error in both directions, so some areas showing exposure may not be at risk.SRTM data do not cover latitudes farther north than 60 degrees or farther south than 56 degrees, meaning that sparsely populated parts of Arctic Circle nations are not mapped here, and may show visual artifacts.Areas of this map in Alaska use elevation data on a roughly 60-meter horizontal resolution grid supplied by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). This data is referenced to a vertical reference frame from 1929, based on historic sea levels, and with no established conversion to modern reference frames. The data also do not take into account subsequent land uplift and subsidence, widespread in the state. As a consequence, low confidence should be placed in Alaska map portions.Flood control structures (U.S.)Levees, walls, dams or other features may protect some areas, especially at lower elevations. Levees and other flood control structures are included in this map within but not outside of the U.S., due to poor and missing data. Within the U.S., data limitations, such as an incomplete inventory of levees, and a lack of levee height data, still make assessing protection difficult. For this map, levees are assumed high and strong enough for flood protection. However, it is important to note that only 8% of monitored levees in the U.S. are rated in “Acceptable” condition (ASCE). Also note that the map implicitly includes unmapped levees and their heights, if broad enough to be effectively captured directly by the elevation data.For more information on how Surging Seas incorporates levees and elevation data in Louisiana, view our Louisiana levees and DEMs methods PDF. For more information on how Surging Seas incorporates dams in Massachusetts, view the Surging Seas column of the web tools comparison matrix for Massachusetts.ErrorErrors or omissions in elevation or levee data may lead to areas being misclassified. Furthermore, this analysis does not account for future erosion, marsh migration, or construction. As is general best practice, local detail should be verified with a site visit. Sites located in zones below a given water level may or may not be subject to flooding at that level, and sites shown as isolated may or may not be be so. Areas may be connected to water via porous bedrock geology, and also may also be connected via channels, holes, or passages for drainage that the elevation data fails to or cannot pick up. In addition, sea level rise may cause problems even in isolated low zones during rainstorms by inhibiting drainage.ConnectivityAt any water height, there will be isolated, low-lying areas whose elevation falls below the water level, but are protected from coastal flooding by either man-made flood control structures (such as levees), or the natural topography of the surrounding land. In areas using lidar-based elevation data or CoastalDEM (see above), elevation data is accurate enough that non-connected areas can be clearly identified and treated separately in analysis (these areas are colored green on the map). In the U.S., levee data are complete enough to factor levees into determining connectivity as well.However, in other areas, elevation data is much less accurate, and noisy error often produces “speckled” artifacts in the flood maps, commonly in areas that should show complete inundation. Removing non-connected areas in these places could greatly underestimate the potential for flood exposure. For this reason, in these regions, the only areas removed from the map and excluded from analysis are separated from the ocean by a ridge of at least 20 meters (66 feet) above the local high tide line, according to the data, so coastal flooding would almost certainly be impossible (e.g., the Caspian Sea region).Back to topData LayersWater Level | Projections | Legend | Social Vulnerability | Population | Ethnicity | Income | Property | LandmarksWater LevelWater level means feet or meters above the local high tide line (“Mean Higher High Water”) instead of standard elevation. Methods described above explain how each map is generated based on a selected water level. Water can reach different levels in different time frames through combinations of sea level rise, tide and storm surge. Tide gauges shown on the map show related projections (see just below).The highest water levels on this map (10, 20 and 30 meters) provide reference points for possible flood risk from tsunamis, in regions prone to them.

The following dashboards provide data on contagious respiratory viruses, including acute respiratory diseases, COVID-19, influenza (flu), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in Massachusetts. The data presented here can help track trends in respiratory disease and vaccination activity across Massachusetts.

April 2022

This spring, MassWildlife will stock brook, brown, rainbow, and tiger trout in over 450 lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams in 264 towns across Massachusetts!

This polyline data layer contains the bus routes for the Regional Transit Authorities of Massachusetts, except for the MBTA. Attributes included the RTA the route belongs to, the route name, to and from destination, and a link to information about the route (if applicable). The data was obtained from the GTFS feeds on the MassDOT Developers page which were processed into KML files using the python GTFS toolkit. All data is in WGS84. The RTAs included are listed below.Regional Transportation AuthoritiesBrockton Area Transit (BAT)Berkshire Regional Transportation Authority (BRTA)Cape Ann Transportation Authority (CATA)Cape Cod Transportation Authority (CCRTA)Franklin Regional Transportation Authority (FRTA)Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA)Lowell Regional Transit Authority (LRTA)Montachusett Area Regional Transit (MART)Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority (MVRTA)MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA)Nantucket Regional Transit Authority (NRTA)Pioneer Valley Regional Transit Authority (PVRTA)Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA)Vineyard Regional Transit Authority (VRTA)Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA)

Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada, has been identified as a potential site for underground storage of high-level radioactive waste. This geologic map compilation, including all of Yucca Mountain and Crater Flat, most of the Calico Hills, western Jackass Flats, Little Skull Mountain, the Striped Hills, the Skeleton Hills, and the northeastern Amargosa Desert, portrays the geologic framework for a saturated-zone hydrologic flow model of the Yucca Mountain site. Key geologic features shown on the geologic map and accompanying cross sections include: (1) exposures of Proterozoic through Devonian strata inferred to have been deformed by regional thrust faulting and folding, in the Skeleton Hills, Striped Hills, and Amargosa Desert near Big Dune; (2) folded and thrust-faulted Devonian and Mississippian strata, unconformably overlain by Miocene tuffs and lavas and cut by complex Neogene fault patterns, in the Calico Hills; (3) the Claim Canyon caldera, a segment of which is exposed north of Yucca Mountain and Crater Flat; (4) thick densely welded to nonwelded ash-flow sheets of the Miocene southwest Nevada volcanic field exposed in normal-fault-bounded blocks at Yucca Mountain; (5) upper Tertiary and Quaternary basaltic cinder cones and lava flows in Crater Flat and at southernmost Yucca Mountain; and (6) broad basins covered by Quaternary and upper Tertiary surficial deposits in Jackass Flats, Crater Flat, and the northeastern Amargosa Desert, beneath which Neogene normal and strike-slip faults are inferred to be present on the basis of geophysical data and geologic map patterns. A regional thrust belt of late Paleozoic or Mesozoic age affected all pre-Tertiary rocks in the region; main thrust faults, not exposed in the map area, are interpreted to underlie the map area in an arcuate pattern, striking north, northeast, and east. The predominant vergence of thrust faults exposed elsewhere in the region, including the Belted Range and Specter Range thrusts, was to the east, southeast, and south. The vertical to overturned strata of the Striped Hills are hypothesized to result from successive stacking of three south- vergent thrust ramps, the lowest of which is the Specter Range thrust. The CP thrust is interpreted as a north-vergent backthrust that may have been roughly contemporaneous with the Belted Range and Specter Range thrusts. The southwest Nevada volcanic field consists predominantly of a series of silicic tuffs and lava flows ranging in age from 15 to 8 Ma. The map area is in the southwestern quadrant of the southwest Nevada volcanic field, just south of the Timber Mountain caldera complex. The Claim Canyon caldera, exposed in the northern part of the map area, contains thick deposits of the 12.7-Ma Tiva Canyon Tuff, along with widespread megabreccia deposits of similar age, and subordinate thick exposures of other 12.8- to 12.7-Ma Paintbrush Group rocks. An irregular, blocky fault array, which affects parts of the caldera and much of the nearby area, includes several large-displacement, steeply dipping faults that strike radially to the caldera and bound south-dipping blocks of volcanic rock. South and southeast of the Claim Canyon caldera, in the area that includes Yucca Mountain, the Neogene fault pattern is dominated by closely spaced, north-northwest- to north- northeast-striking normal faults that lie within a north- trending graben. This 20- to 25-km-wide graben includes Crater Flat, Yucca Mountain, and Fortymile Wash, and is bounded on the east by the "gravity fault" and on the west by the Bare Mountain fault. Both of these faults separate Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in their footwalls from Miocene volcanic rocks in their hanging walls. Stratigraphic and structural relations at Yucca Mountain demonstrate that block-bounding faults were active before and during eruption of the 12.8- to 12.7-Ma Paintbrush Group, and significant motion on these faults continued until after the 11.6-Ma Rainier Mesa Tuff was deposited. North of Crater Flat, in and near the Claim Canyon caldera, most of the tilting of the volcanic section predated the 11.6-Ma Rainier Mesa Tuff. In contrast, geologic relations in central and southern Yucca Mountain indicate that much of the stratal tilting there occurred after 11.6 Ma, probably synchronous with the main pulse of vertical-axis rotation that occurred between 11.6 and 11.45 Ma. Beneath the broad basins, such as Crater Flat, Jackass Flats, and the Amargosa Desert, faults are inferred from geophysical data. Geologic and geophysical data imply the presence of the large-offset, east-west-striking Highway 95 fault beneath surficial deposits along the northeast margin of the Amargosa Desert, directly south of Yucca Mountain and Crater Flat. The Highway 95 fault is interpreted to be downthrown to the north, with a component of dextral displacement. It juxtaposes a block of Paleozoic carbonate rock overlain by a minimal thickness of Tertiary rocks (to the south) against the Miocene volcanic section of Yucca Mountain (to the north). Alluvial geomorphic surfaces compose the bulk of Quaternary surficial units in the Yucca Mountain region. Deposits associated with these surfaces include alluvium, colluvium, and minor eolian and debris-flow sediments. Photogeologic and field studies locally have identified subtle fault scarps that offset these surfaces, and other evidence of Quaternary fault activity.

Milingimbi is situated in the northwest of the Arnhem Land Aboriginal Reserve. The map sheet extends from the northern coast and coastal plains, inland to low undulating country and spectacular escarpment plateau. Milingimbi lies at the northern extent of the McArthur Basin and includes parts of the Pine Creek Inlier in the northwest and the Arafura Basin in the north and east. The oldest rocks exposed are part of the Pine Creek Inlier, comprising Palaeoproterozoic (Orosirian) granite and gneiss of the Nimbuwah Complex. The Pine Creek Inlier was affected by a major tectonic event, the 1870-1850 Ma Barramundi Orogeny, which involved multiple fold generations, regional metamorphism and emplacement of the Nimbuwah Complex intrusives. These units form the basement to the Palaeoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic McArthur Basin succesion. The oldest unit of the McArthur Basin is the Katherine River Group, which consists of fluviatile, shallow-marine, and minor aeolian units as well as volcanics. The extensive sheet-like sill of the Oenpelli Dolerite intruded at ~1688 Ma. Deposition of the Mt Rigg Group in a post-rifting sag basin extended across the Arnhem Shelf and Walker Trough to the east. The McArthur Basin underwent predominantly brittle deformation during the Proterozoic. 'Post-Nathan Shortening' involving west-northwest-east-southeast compression, resulted in north-northeast-directed thrusting, northeast- and northwest-trending conjugate faulting, and joint development. 'Post-Roper Extension' was characterised by east-west extension and emplacement of dolerite dykes at ~1324 Ma. 'Post-Roper Inversion' involved northeast-southwest compression reactivating northeast- and northwest-trending faults, north-directed thrusting and north-trending dextral strike-slip faulting. Undeformed, shallow-marine sediments of the Neoproterozoic to Middle Cambrian Arafura Basin unconformably overlie the McArthur Basin. A thin cover of Cretaceous shallow-marine sandstone and mudstone mantles the older rocks. Cainozoic alluvium, coastal deposits, laterite and soil cover a large proportion of Milingimbi. Exploration for uranium, bauxite and diamonds has been unsuccessful in locating economic prospects.

Spring 2023

The deep sea sedimentary record is an archive of the pre-glacial to glacial development of Antarctica and changes in climate, tectonics and ocean circulation. Identification of the pre-glacial, transitional and full glacial components in the sedimentary record is necessary for ice sheet reconstruction and to build circum-Antarctic sediment thickness grids for past topography and bathymetry reconstructions, which constrain paleoclimate models. A ~3300 km long Weddell Sea to Scotia Sea transect consisting of multichannel seismic reflection data from various organisations, were used to interpret new horizons to define the initial basin-wide seismostratigraphy and to identify the pre-glacial to glacial components. We mapped seven main units of which three are in the inferred Cretaceous-Paleocene pre-glacial regime, one in the Eocene-Oligocene transitional regime and three units in the Miocene-Pleistocene full glacial climate regime. Sparse borehole data from ODP leg 113 and SHALDRIL constrain the ages of the upper three units. Compiled seafloor spreading magnetic anomalies constrain the basement ages and the hypothetical age model. In many cases, the new horizons and stratigraphy contradict the interpretations in local studies. Each seismic sedimentary unit and its associated base horizon are continuous and traceable for the entire transect length, but reflect a lateral change in age whilst representing the same deposition process. The up to 1240 m thick pre-glacial seismic units form a mound in the central Weddell Sea basin and, in conjunction with the eroded flank geometry, support the interpretation of a Cretaceous proto-Weddell Gyre. The base reflector of the transitional seismic unit, which marks the initial ice sheet advances to the outer shelf, has a lateral model age of 26.6-15.5 Ma from southeast to northwest. The Pliocene-Pleistocene glacial deposits reveals lower sedimentations rates, indicating a reduced sediment supply. Sedimentation rates for the pre-glacial, transitional and full glacial components are highest around the Antarctic Peninsula, indicating higher erosion and sediment supply of a younger basement. We interpret an Eocene East Antarctic Ice Sheet expansion, Oligocene grounding of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and Early Miocene grounding of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet.

The Bayreuth sheet cuts into: the Bohemian massif with the Fichtel Mountains and the Upper Palatinate Forest, the Thuringian-Saxon and north-eastern Bavarian basement mountains and the southern German strata. Variscan folded rocks of the Precambrian to Lower Carboniferous are exposed in the southwest-northeast trending saddle and trough structures (Thuringian Synclinorian, Bergaer Anticlinorian & Vogtland Synclinorian) of the Thuringian-Saxon and Northeast Bavarian basement. The embedded complex of the Münchberger Gneissmasse represents a special feature: with its metamorphic rocks and its anchimetamorphic environment of Paleozoic layers in the Bavarian facies, it is both facies and tectonically in contrast to the surrounding Paleozoic in the Thuringian facies. In the center of the map sheet is the Fichtelgebirge with its Variscan granites and metamorphic pararocks (mica slate, gneisses, phyllites, quartzites). The Precambrian and Old Paleozoic sedimentary rocks were metamorphosed during the Variscan deformation. The Fichtelgebirge granites intruded post-Sudetic (330-310 ma) and post-Asturian (290-280 ma). In the area around Marktredwitz (Waldsassener Schiefergebirge) volcanic rocks pushed up in the Tertiary. While the Fichtelgebirge belongs to the Saxothuringian of the Variscids, the Upper Palatinate Forest in the southeast of the map sheet belongs to the Moldanubian. It is made up of metamorphites (gneiss, metabasite and anatexite) that emerged from the early Variscan overprint of Precambrian rocks. Here, too, extensive granitic plutonic rocks intruded in the Carboniferous. Slate Mountains and Bohemian Massif are cut off to the southwest by the Frankish Line, one of the major NW-SE fault zones in Central Europe. At the fault, the basement was z. T. lifted out more than 1000 m. In the south-west, the South German escarpment landscape with the Mesozoic of the East Bavarian Schollenland and the Franconian Jura joins. With its Jurassic sedimentary rocks, the Franconian Jura is one of the dominant mountain ranges in the southern German escarpment landscape. In addition to the legend, which provides information about the age, petrography and genesis of the units shown, three geological sections provide insights into the structure of the subsoil. In the northwest-southeast profile, the Franconian Forest, the Münchberg Gneiss Massif, the Fichtelgebirge and the Moldanubian Massif of the Bohemian Massif are crossed. Two northeast-southwest profiles illustrate the transition from the Franconian Forest or Fichtelgebirge to the southern German escarpment landscape via the fault of the Franconian Line.

Detailed list of 122 cemeteries in Bristol County, Massachusetts, with links to specific information and records.

DRAFTThis regional protocol provides a framework for quantifying the number of breeding pairs and productivity of Atlantic Coast piping plover (Charadrius melodus) populations during the breeding season. A primary purpose of this protocol is to standardize piping plover monitoring during the breeding season. The survey techniques described herein involve repeated visual counts of adults, nests, eggs, and chicks within a defined survey site (i.e., beach) as well as visual identification of potential threats to survival and productivity. Resulting data can be compiled and analyzed across multiple geographic units (i.e., sites, states, and recovery units) to assess progress toward recovery goals, inform local management decisions, assess management effectiveness, and improve monitoring efforts. This protocol framework was developed as part of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Initiative in coordination with Ecological Services (ES) and state coordinators within the Southeast and Northeast Regions (4 and 5, respectively). Although this protocol framework is to be used primarily by NWRS to inform recovery goals, assist with local management decision-making, and meet State reporting requirements, the approach strives to assist monitoring efforts of non- NWRS partners, such as other federal agencies (e.g. National Park Service), State wildlife agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private landowners. This protocol framework and associated data management system (PIPLweb) aims to interface with existing data management and analysis tools (i.e., PIPLODES, NestStory, and PiperEx) to ensure that data collection is efficient and comparable across scales and supports management decisions across partners. The content and structure of the protocol framework follows standards set forth in the USFWS’s How to Develop Survey Protocols: A Handbook (Version 1.0; 2013). The eight elements addressed include: introduction, sampling design, field methods, data management and analysis, reporting, personnel requirements and training, operational requirements, and references. A series of standard operating procedures (SOPs) provides greater detail on recommended methods and technical aspects of this protocol. Data entry, archival, and multi-scale analysis are handled through a secure web application (Plover Inventory and Productivity Library; PIPLweb) developed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). When management activities and survey objectives are similar across management units, partners (Refuges, other federal agencies, State, NGOs, private) are encouraged to use this protocol framework to develop stepped-down site-specific survey protocols that include guidance for conducting on-the-ground monitoring and management plans Suggested citation: King E, Katz RA, Iaquinto KE, Suir K, Baldwin MJ, and Hecht A. 2022. Regional Protocol Framework for the Inventory and Monitoring of Breeding Atlantic Coast Piping Plovers. Version 2.0. US Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Regional Office, Hadley, MA. This protocol is available from ServCat URL for ServCat metadata record