This map includes shoreline change data for the state of Massachusetts hosted by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management.The active data layer in this map is Massachusetts Shoreline Change Transect (1970-2014) with short-term shoreline change rates. To view long-term rates, open map in Map Viewer to turn on layer.The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management launched the Shoreline Change Project in 1989 to identify erosion-prone areas of the coast. The shoreline position and change rate are used to inform management decisions regarding the erosion of coastal resources. In 2001, a shoreline from 1994 was added to calculate both long- and short-term shoreline change rates along ocean-facing sections of the Massachusetts coast. In 2013, two oceanfront shorelines for Massachusetts were added using 2008-9 color aerial orthoimagery and 2007 topographic lidar datasets obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ocean Service, Coastal Services Center. In 2018 two new mean high water (MHW) shorelines for Massachusetts were extracted from lidar collected between 2010 and 2014 (described below). 2018 addition shoreline 1The North Shore and South Coast uses 2010 lidar data collected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise. The South Shore and Outer Cape uses 2011 lidar data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Geospatial Program Office. Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard uses 2012 lidar data collected by the USACE (post Sandy)from a 2012 USACE Post Sandy Topographic lidar survey. 2018 addition shoreline 2The North Shore, Boston, South Shore, Cape Cod Bay, Outer Cape, South Cape, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and the South Coast (around Buzzards Bay to the Rhode Island Border) is from 2013-14 lidar data collected by the (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program. This 2018 update of the rate of shoreline change in Massachusetts includes two types of rates. Some of the rates include a proxy-datum bias correction, this is indicated in the filename with “PDB”. The rates that do not account for this correction have “NB” in their file names. The proxy-datum bias is applied because in some areas a proxy shoreline (like a High Water Line shoreline) has a bias when compared to a datum shoreline (like a Mean High Water shoreline). In areas where it exists, this bias should be accounted for when calculating rates using a mix of proxy and datum shorelines. This issue is explained further in Ruggiero and List (2009) and in the process steps of the metadata associated with the rates. This release includes both long-term (~150 years) and short term (~30 years) rates. Files associated with the long-term rates have “LT” in their names, files associated with short-term rates have “ST” in their names.

The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (MA CZM) launched the Shoreline Change Project in 1989 to identify erosion-prone areas of the coast by compiling a database of historical (1800's-1989) shoreline positions and shoreline change maps. Trends of shoreline position over long and short-term timescales provide information to landowners, managers, and potential buyers about possible future impacts to coastal resources and infrastructure. In 2001, a 1994 shoreline was added to calculate both long- and short-term shoreline change rates at 40-meter intervals along ocean-facing sections of the Massachusetts coast. In 2013 two oceanfront shorelines for Massachusetts were added using 2008-2009 color aerial orthoimagery and 2007 topographic lidar datasets obtained from NOAA's Ocean Service, Coastal Services Center. The 2013 update also included a 2000 lidar shoreline covering most of the open-ocean coast, as well as a 2001 shoreline for the South Shore coastal region. In 2018, two new mean high water (MHW) shorelines for the Massachusetts coast extracted from lidar data collected between 2010-2014 were added to the dataset. This 2021 data release contains a compilation of previously published historical shoreline positions spanning 170 years (1844 to 2014), intended to be used as an authoritative shoreline database for the state. This dataset is an update to the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management Shoreline Change Project.

Seagrass beds are critical wetlands components of shallow marine ecosystems along the Massachusetts coastline. Seagrass beds provide food and cover for a great variety of commercially and recreationally important fauna and their prey. The leaf canopy of the seagrass bed calms the water, filters suspended matter and together with extensive roots and rhizomes, stabilizes sediment. Seagrasses are often referred to as "Submerged Aquatic Vegetation" or SAV. This distinguishes them from algae, which are not classified as plants by biologists (rather they are often placed in the kingdom protista), and distinguishes them from the "emergent" saltwater plants found in salt marshes.

In Massachusetts, the dominant SAV is Zostera marina or eelgrass. The other species found in the embayments of the Massachusetts coast is Ruppia maritima, commonly called “widgeon grass,” which is present in areas of less salinity along Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay. Widgeon grass, found in the upper reaches of embayments, has a thread-like morphology that makes it difficult to identify using remotely sensed data. It can only be identified and located by on-site survey.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) began a program to map the state's SAV resources in the early 1990s and since 1995 the MassDEP Eelgrass Mapping Project has produced multiple surveys of SAV along the Massachusetts coastline, as listed here:

PhaseProject YearsProject Area11995Entire MA Coast22001Coast-wide MA Coast except Elizabeth Islands (Gosnold) and Mount Hope Bay32006/07Selected embayments, coast-wide including Elizabeth Islands42010-20132010 - South Shore of Cape Cod: Woods Hole to Chatham, selected embayments, Pleasant Bay;2012 - North Shore, Boston Harbor, South Shore to Provincetown;2013 - Buzzards Bay, Elizabeth Islands, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket52015-20172015 - South Shore of Cape Cod, Pleasant Bay, Nantucket;2016 - North Shore, Boston Harbor, South Shore to Canal;2017 - Buzzards Bay, North Shore of Cape Cod, Elizabeth Islands and Martha's Vineyard62019-20232019 - South Shore of Cape Cod, Pleasant Bay, North Shore of Nantucket2020 - Martha’s Vineyard, Buzzards Bay and Elizabeth Islands 2021 - Cape Cod Bay (Provincetown through Duxbury) 2022 - South Shore, Boston Harbor, North Shore (Marshfield through Rockport)2023 - Cape Ann to the New Hampshire border (Essex through Newburyport)

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Accurate data and maps of sea-floor geology are important first steps toward protecting habitat, delineating marine resources, and assessing environmental changes due to natural or human effects. Initiated in 2003, the primary objective of the Geologic Mapping of the Massachusetts Sea Floor program is to develop regional geologic framework information for the management of coastal and marine resources. The project is focused on the inshore waters (5–30 meters deep) of Massachusetts. This dataset is from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) sampling survey 2011-015-FA (September 9–16, 2011) by the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management with partners from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aboard the ocean survey vessel Bold. During the survey, surficial sediment samples and bottom still and video imagery were collected in Cape Cod Bay, Buzzards Bay, and Vineyard Sound; south of Martha's Vineyard; and south and east of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

The USGS Woods Hole Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey offshore of the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard, in the vicinity of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO) in August 2007. This mapping program was part of a larger research effort supporting the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Ripples Directed-Research Initiative (DRI) studies at MVCO by providing data collection and modeling. The geophysical data will be used to provide initial conditions for wave and circulation models for the study area. Ultimately, geophysical mapping, oceanographic measurements and modeling will help to improve our understanding of coastal sediment-transport processes. The geophysical mapping utilized a suite of high-resolution instrumentation to map the surficial sediment distribution, depth and sub-surface geology: dual-frequency 100/500 KHz sidescan-sonar system, 234-KHz interferometric sonar, and 500 Hz -12 KHz chirp sub-bottom profiler. The survey was conducted aboard the M/V Megan Miller August 9-13, 2007. The study area covers 35 square kilometers from about 0.2 km to 5-km offshore of the south shore of Martha's Vineyard, and ranges in depth from ~ 5 to 20 meters.

Accurate data and maps of sea-floor geology are important first steps toward protecting habitat, delineating marine resources, and assessing environmental changes due to natural or human effects. Initiated in 2003, the primary objective of the Geologic Mapping of the Massachusetts Sea Floor program is to develop regional geologic framework information for the management of coastal and marine resources. The project is focused on the inshore waters (5–30 meters deep) of Massachusetts. This dataset is from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) sampling survey 2011-015-FA (September 9–16, 2011) by the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management with partners from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aboard the ocean survey vessel Bold. During the survey, surficial sediment samples and bottom still and video imagery were collected in Cape Cod Bay, Buzzards Bay, and Vineyard Sound; south of Martha's Vineyard; and south and east of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

description: The USGS Woods Hole Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey offshore of the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard, in the vicinity of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO) in August 2007. This mapping program was part of a larger research effort supporting the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Ripples Directed-Research Initiative (DRI) studies at MVCO by providing data collection and modeling. The geophysical data will be used to provide initial conditions for wave and circulation models for the study area. Ultimately, geophysical mapping, oceanographic measurements and modeling will help to improve our understanding of coastal sediment-transport processes. The geophysical mapping utilized a suite of high-resolution instrumentation to map the surficial sediment distribution, depth and sub-surface geology: dual-frequency 100/500 KHz sidescan-sonar system, 234-KHz interferometric sonar, and 500 Hz -12 KHz chirp sub-bottom profiler. The survey was conducted aboard the M/V Megan Miller August 9-13, 2007. The study area covers 35 square kilometers from about 0.2 km to 5-km offshore of the south shore of Martha's Vineyard, and ranges in depth from ~ 5 to 20 meters.; abstract: The USGS Woods Hole Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey offshore of the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard, in the vicinity of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO) in August 2007. This mapping program was part of a larger research effort supporting the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Ripples Directed-Research Initiative (DRI) studies at MVCO by providing data collection and modeling. The geophysical data will be used to provide initial conditions for wave and circulation models for the study area. Ultimately, geophysical mapping, oceanographic measurements and modeling will help to improve our understanding of coastal sediment-transport processes. The geophysical mapping utilized a suite of high-resolution instrumentation to map the surficial sediment distribution, depth and sub-surface geology: dual-frequency 100/500 KHz sidescan-sonar system, 234-KHz interferometric sonar, and 500 Hz -12 KHz chirp sub-bottom profiler. The survey was conducted aboard the M/V Megan Miller August 9-13, 2007. The study area covers 35 square kilometers from about 0.2 km to 5-km offshore of the south shore of Martha's Vineyard, and ranges in depth from ~ 5 to 20 meters.

Coastal erosion is a widespread process along most open-ocean shores of the United States that affects both developed and natural coastlines. As the coast changes, there are a wide range of ways that change can affect coastal communities, habitats, and the physical characteristics of the coast-including beach erosion, shoreline retreat, land loss, and damage to infrastructure. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is responsible for conducting research on coastal change hazards, understanding the processes that cause coastal change, and developing models to forecast future change. To understand and adapt to shoreline change, accurate information regarding the past and present configurations of the shoreline is essential. A comprehensive, nationally consistent analysis of shoreline movement is needed. To meet this national need, the USGS is conducting an analysis of historical shoreline changes along open-ocean coasts of the United States and parts of the Great Lakes. As more data are gathered, periodic updates are made, which provide information that can be used in multidisciplinary assessments of global change impacts.

Geologic, sediment texture, and physiographic zone maps characterize the sea floor south and west of Martha's Vineyard and north of Nantucket, Massachusetts. These maps were derived from interpretations of seismic-reflection profiles, high-resolution bathymetry, acoustic-backscatter intensity, bottom photographs, and surficial sediment samples. The interpretation of the seismic stratigraphy and mapping of glacial and Holocene marine units provided a foundation on which the surficial maps were created. This mapping is a result of a collaborative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management to characterize the surface and subsurface geologic framework offshore of Massachusetts.

Accurate data and maps of sea-floor geology are important first steps toward protecting habitat, delineating marine resources, and assessing environmental changes due to natural or human effects. Initiated in 2003, the primary objective of the Geologic Mapping of the Massachusetts Sea Floor program is to develop regional geologic framework information for the management of coastal and marine resources. The project is focused on the inshore waters (5–30 meters deep) of Massachusetts. This dataset is from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) sampling survey 2011-015-FA (September 9–16, 2011) by the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management with partners from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aboard the ocean survey vessel Bold. During the survey, surficial sediment samples and bottom still and video imagery were collected in Cape Cod Bay, Buzzards Bay, and Vineyard Sound; south of Martha's Vineyard; and south and east of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Long-term (78-177 years) rates of shoreline change have been computed for open-ocean shorelines of the conterminous United States and parts of Hawaii ranging from 1800's to 2018. Shorelines were compiled from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration T-sheets, air photos, and lidar data. These data are used to calculate rates of shoreline change using a linear regression method for the U.S. Geological Survey's National Assessment Project.

Accurate data and maps of sea-floor geology are important first steps toward protecting habitat, delineating marine resources, and assessing environmental changes due to natural or human effects. Initiated in 2003, the primary objective of the Geologic Mapping of the Massachusetts Sea Floor program is to develop regional geologic framework information for the management of coastal and marine resources. The project is focused on the inshore waters (5–30 meters deep) of Massachusetts. This dataset is from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) sampling survey 2011-015-FA (September 9–16, 2011) by the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management with partners from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aboard the ocean survey vessel Bold. During the survey, surficial sediment samples and bottom still and video imagery were collected in Cape Cod Bay, Buzzards Bay, and Vineyard Sound; south of Martha's Vineyard; and south and east of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

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This part of DS 781 presents data for the geologic and geomorphic map of the Offshore of Bodega Head map area, California. The vector data file is included in "Geology_OffshoreBodegaHead.zip," which is accessible from http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/781/OffshoreBodegaHead/data_catalog_OffshoreBodegaHead.html. The morphology and the geology of the Offshore of Bodega Head map area result from the interplay between tectonics, sea-level rise, local sedimentary processes, and oceanography. The Offshore of Bodega Head map area is cut by the northwest-trending San Andreas Fault, the right-lateral transform boundary between the North American and Pacific tectonic plates. From southeast to northwest, this fault extends through Bodega Bay and Bodega Harbor, crosses the Bodega Head isthmus at the mouth of Salmon Creek, and extends in the offshore for about 20 km before passing onland at Fort Ross, about 12 km north of the Offshore of Bodega Head map area. The San Andreas Fault juxtaposes Cretaceous granitic rock on the southwest with the Jurassic, Cretaceous, and early Tertiary Franciscan Complex on the northeast. Uplift of the granitic rock (unit Kg) on the west side of the San Andreas Fault has created extensive, rugged, rocky seafloor, centered offshore Bodega Head and extending northwest for about 15 km, from the western flank of Bodega Bay to the shelf offshore of the mouth of Salmon Creek. At its south and north ends this rocky seafloor extends to water depths of about 40 m and 50 m, respectively where it is onlapped by young sediment (see below); offshore of Bodega Head, the rocky seafloor extends to water depths of 80 m. Northeast of the San Andreas Fault, offshore rocky outcrops of the Franciscan complex (units Kfs, Kjfss, fsr) occur only in the nearshore (water depths less than 15 m). Sediment-covered areas of the offshore part of the map occur in gently sloping (less than about 1 degree) nearshore, inner-, and mid-shelf environments. Sediment supply to the shelf north and west of Bodega Head is predominantly from coastal watersheds including the Russian River (4.5 km north of the map area) and Salmon Creek. Sediment supply to Bodega Bay and the shelf in the southern part of the map area is from small coastal watersheds and estuaries such as Estero Americano and Estero de San Antonio, and most likely from sediment flux out of the mouth of Tomales Bay, located two kilometers south of the map area. Shelf morphology and evolution largely reflects eustacy; sea level has risen about 125 to 130 m over about the last 21,000 years (for example, Lambeck and Chappell, 2001; Peltier and Fairbanks, 2005), leading to broadening of the continental shelf, progressive eastward migration of the shoreline and wave-cut platform, and associated transgressive erosion and deposition. Given present exposure to high wave energy, modern nearshore to inner-shelf sediments are mostly sand (unit Qms) and a mix of sand, gravel, and cobbles (units Qmsc and Qmsd). The more coarse-grained sands and gravels (units Qmsc and Qmsd) are primarily recognized on the basis of bathymetry and high backscatter. Unit Qmsc occurs in two areas: (1) as a linear nearshore bar (water depth less than 10 m) offshore of Salmon Creek - the eastern contact of this unit is queried because of the lack of data in the surf zone; and (2) as a west-trending bar at the north end of Bodega Bay. Unit Qmsd forms erosional lags in scoured depressions that are bounded by relatively sharp contacts with bedrock or sharp to diffuse contacts with unit Qms. These scoured depressions are typically a few tens of centimeters deep and range in size from a few 10's of sq m to more than one sq km. Similar unit Qmsd scour depressions are common along this stretch of the California coast (see, for example, Cacchione and others, 1984; Hallenbeck and others, 2012) where surficial offshore sandy sediment is relatively thin (thus unable to fill the depressions) due to both lack of sediment supply and to erosion and transport of sediment during large northwest winter swells. Such features have been referred to as "rippled-scour depressions" (see, for example, Cacchione and others, 1984) or "sorted bedforms" (see, for example, Goff and others, 2005; Trembanis and Hume, 2011). Although the general areas in which both unit Qmsd scour depressions and surrounding mobile sand sheets occur are not likely to change substantially, the boundaries of the individual Qmsd depressions are likely ephemeral, changing seasonally and during significant storm events. Unit Qmsf lies offshore of unit Qms, consists primarily of mud and muddy sand and is commonly extensively bioturbated. The water depth of the transition from sand-dominated marine sediment (unit Qms) to mud-dominated marine sediment (Qmsf) occurs at depths of about 45 to 50 m except offshore of Bodega Head where seafloor bedrock outcrops extend to depths of 80 m at the outer limit of California's State Waters. The smooth seafloor in the northern part of the map area between water depths of 40 m and 70 m notably includes an about 3-km-wide field of elongate, shore-normal, paired sediment lobes and chutes (unit Qmsl). Individual lobes within the field are as much as 1,000-m long and 150-m wide, and have as much as 2 m of relief above the surrounding smooth seafloor. This sediment-lobe field lies just one kilometer west of the San Andreas Fault and we infer that large earthquakes on this structure generated strong ground motions and slope failures, mobilizing small sediment flows that moved down the gentle slope and were deposited as lobes. Unit Qmsl also occurs as a 250-m-wide field of four discrete lobes and paired arcuate, low-relief scours on the south flank of a west-trending bar in northern Bodega Bay. Map unit polygons were digitized over underlying 2-meter base layers developed from multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data (see Bathymetry--Offshore Bodega Head, California and Backscattter A to C--Offshore Bodega Head, California, DS 781, for more information). The bathymetry and backscatter data were collected between 2007 and 2010. References Cited Cacchione, D.A., Drake, D.E., Grant, W.D., and Tate, G.B., 1984, Rippled scour depressions of the inner continental shelf off central California: Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, v. 54, p. 1,280-1,291. Goff, J.A., Mayer, L.A., Traykovski, P., Buynevich, I., Wilkens, R., Raymond, R., Glang, G., Evans, R.L., Olson, H., and Jenkins, C., 2005, Detailed investigations of sorted bedforms or "rippled scour depressions", within the Marthaâ s Vineyard Coastal Observatory, Massachusetts: Continental Shelf Research, v. 25, p. 461-484. Hallenbeck, T.R., Kvitek, R.G., and Lindholm, J., 2012, Rippled scour depressions add ecologically significant heterogeneity to soft-bottom habitats on the continental shelf: Marine Ecology Progress Series, v. 468, p. 119-133. Lambeck, K., and Chappell, J., 2001, Sea level change through the last glacial cycle: Science, v. 292, p. 679-686, doi: 10.1126/science.1059549. Peltier, W.R., and Fairbanks, R.G., 2006, Global glacial ice volume and Last Glacial Maximum duration from an extended Barbados sea level record: Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 25, p. 3,322-3,337. Trembanis, A.C., and Hume, T.M., 2011, Sorted bedforms on the inner shelf off northeastern New Zealand-Spatiotemporal relationships and potential paleo-environmental implications: Geo-Marine Letters, v. 31, p. 203-214.

Geologic, sediment texture, and physiographic zone maps characterize the sea floor south and west of Martha's Vineyard and north of Nantucket, Massachusetts. These maps were derived from interpretations of seismic-reflection profiles, high-resolution bathymetry, acoustic-backscatter intensity, bottom photographs, and surficial sediment samples. The interpretation of the seismic stratigraphy and mapping of glacial and Holocene marine units provided a foundation on which the surficial maps were created. This mapping is a result of a collaborative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management to characterize the surface and subsurface geologic framework offshore of Massachusetts.

description: These data were collected under a cooperative agreement between the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center (WHCMSC). Initiated in 2003, the primary objective of this program is to develop regional geologic framework information for the management of coastal and marine resources. Accurate data and maps of sea floor geology are important first steps toward protecting fish habitat, delineating marine resources, and assessing environmental changes due to natural or human impacts. The project is focused on the inshore waters of coastal Massachusetts, primarily in water depths of 5 to 30 meters (m) deep. Data collected for the mapping cooperative have been released in a series of USGS Open-File Reports (http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/coastal_mass/). The geophysical data were collected during a survey in 2013 during USGS Field Activity 2013-003-FA (http://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fa=2013-003-FA) and cover approximately 185 square kilometers of the inner continental shelf.; abstract: These data were collected under a cooperative agreement between the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center (WHCMSC). Initiated in 2003, the primary objective of this program is to develop regional geologic framework information for the management of coastal and marine resources. Accurate data and maps of sea floor geology are important first steps toward protecting fish habitat, delineating marine resources, and assessing environmental changes due to natural or human impacts. The project is focused on the inshore waters of coastal Massachusetts, primarily in water depths of 5 to 30 meters (m) deep. Data collected for the mapping cooperative have been released in a series of USGS Open-File Reports (http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/coastal_mass/). The geophysical data were collected during a survey in 2013 during USGS Field Activity 2013-003-FA (http://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fa=2013-003-FA) and cover approximately 185 square kilometers of the inner continental shelf.

These data were collected under a cooperative agreement with the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Science Center (WHSC). Initiated in 2003, the primary objective of this program is to develop regional geologic framework information for the management of coastal and marine resources. Accurate data and maps of sea-floor geology are important first steps toward protecting fish habitat, delineating marine resources, and assessing environmental changes due to natural or human impacts. The project is focused on the inshore waters (5-30 m deep) of Massachusetts between the New Hampshire border and Cape Cod Bay. Data collected for the mapping cooperative have been released in a series of USGS Open-File Reports (http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/coastal_mass/html/current_map.html). This spatial dataset is from the study area located between Duxbury and Hull Massachusetts, and consists of high-resolution geophysics (bathymetry, backscatter intensity, and seismic reflection) and ground validation (sediment samples, video tracklines and bottom photographs). The data were collected during four separate surveys conducted between 2003 and 2007 (NOAA survey H10993 in 2003, USGS-WHSC survey 06012 in 2006, and USGS-WHSC surveys 07001 and 07003 in 2007) and cover more than 200 square kilometers of the inner continental shelf.

These data are qualitatively derived interpretive polygon shapefiles and selected source raster data defining surficial geology, sediment type and distribution, and physiographic zones of the sea floor from Nahant to Northern Cape Cod Bay. Much of the geophysical data used to create the interpretive layers were collected under a cooperative agreement among the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Coastal and Marine Geology Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Initiated in 2003, the primary objective of this program is to develop regional geologic framework information for the management of coastal and marine resources. Accurate data and maps of seafloor geology are important first steps toward protecting fish habitat, delineating marine resources, and assessing environmental changes because of natural or human effects. The project is focused on the inshore waters of coastal Massachusetts. Data collected during the mapping cooperative involving the USGS have been released in a series of USGS Open-File Reports (http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/coastal_mass/html/current_map.html). The interpretations released in this study are for an area extending from the southern tip of Nahant to Northern Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts. A combination of geophysical and sample data including high resolution bathymetry and lidar, acoustic-backscatter intensity, seismic-reflection profiles, bottom photographs, and sediment samples are used to create the data interpretations. Most of the nearshore geophysical and sample data (including the bottom photographs) were collected during several cruises between 2000 and 2008. More information about the cruises and the data collected can be found at the Geologic Mapping of the Seafloor Offshore of Massachusetts Web page: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/coastal_mass/.

The USGS Woods Hole Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey offshore of the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard, in the vicinity of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO) in August 2007. This mapping program was part of a larger research effort supporting the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Ripples Directed-Research Initiative (DRI) studies at MVCO by providing data collection and modeling. The geophysical data will be used to provide initial conditions for wave and circulation models for the study area. Ultimately, geophysical mapping, oceanographic measurements and modeling will help to improve our understanding of coastal sediment-transport processes.

The geophysical mapping utilized a suite of high-resolution instrumentation to map the surficial sediment distribution, depth and sub-surface geology: dual-frequency 100/500 KHz sidescan-sonar system, 234-KHz interferometric sonar, and 500 Hz -12 KHz chirp sub-bottom profiler. The survey was conducted aboard the M/V Megan Miller August 9-13, 2007. The study area covers 35 square kilometers from about 0.2 km to 5-km offshore of the south shore of Martha's Vineyard, and ranges in depth from ~ 5 to 20 meters.

Beach erosion is a chronic problem along most open-ocean shores of the United States. As coastal populations continue to grow, and community infrastructures are threatened by erosion, there is increased demand for accurate information regarding past and present shoreline changes. There is also need for a comprehensive analysis of shoreline movement that is regionally consistent. To meet these national needs, the USGS National Assessment of Shoreline Change Project has collected and analyzed a comprehensive database of digital vector shorelines by compiling shoreline positions from pre-existing historical shoreline databases and by generating historical and modern shoreline data.

This dataset includes a reference baseline used by the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) to calculate rate-of-change statistics. This baseline layer serves as the starting point for all transects cast by the DSAS application. The resulting rates of change are available in services with the titles USGS Map service: National Shoreline Change - Long-Term Shoreline Change Rates and USGS Map service: National Shoreline Change - Short-Term Shoreline Change Rates.

To make this shoreline data more accessible to the public and other agencies, the USGS created this web service. This web service was created utilizing ESRI ArcServer. This service meets open geospatial consortium standards.

The geographic information system (GIS) data layers from this web service are cataloged by state for ease of access.