Habitat--Drakes Bay and Vicinity, California

This part of DS 781 presents data for the habitat map of the seafloor of the Drakes Bay and Vicinity map area, California. The vector data file is included in "Habitat_DrakesBay.zip," which is accessible from https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/781/DrakesBay/data_catalog_DrakesBay.html. These data accompany the pamphlet and map sheets of Watt, J.T., Dartnell, P., Golden, N.E., Greene, H.G., Erdey, M.D., Cochrane, G.R., Johnson, S.Y., Hartwell, S.R., Kvitek, R.G., Manson, M.W., Endris, C.A., Dieter, B.E., Sliter, R.W., Krigsman, L.M., Lowe, E.N., and Chin, J.L. (J.T. Watt and S.A. Cochran, eds.), 2015, California State Waters Map Series—Drakes Bay and Vicinity, California: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2015–1041, pamphlet 36 p., 10 sheets, scale 1:24,000, https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20151041. Potential marine benthic habitat maps were constructed using multibeam echosounder (MBES) bathymetry and backscatter data. The habitats were based on substrate types and documented or "ground truthed" using underwater video images and seafloor samples obtained by the USGS. These maps display various habitat types that range from flat, soft, unconsolidated sediment-covered seafloor to hard, deformed (folded), or highly rugose and differentially eroded bedrock exposures.