CHS offers 500-metre bathymetric gridded data for users interested in the topography of the seafloor. This data provides seafloor depth in metres and is accessible for download as predefined areas.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Maritime Science Branch has collected grain size data from sediment and water column samples using bottle samples, sediment cores, and sediment grabs as part of numerous research projects not only in the Atlantic provinces, but also worldwide. The data collected by DFO focuses on the fine grained (<1mm) particles as these are both a source of food and means of contaminant transport. Grain size data are used to study the fate and distribution of complimentary chemistries like heavy metals, pesticides, hydrocarbons, aquaculture waste as well as a variety of physical processes such as the resuspension and transport of sediment.

The data layer (.shp) presented is the result of an unsupervised classification method for classifying seafloor habitat in the Bay of Fundy (Northwest Atlantic, Canada). This method involves separating environmental variables derived from multibeam bathymetry (slope, bathymetric position index), backscatter, and oceanographic information (wave-shear current velocity) into spatial units (i.e. image objects) and classifying the acoustically and oceanographically separated units into 7 habitat classes (Bedrock and Boulders, Mixed Sediments, Gravelly Sand, Sand, Silty Gravel with Anemones, Silt, and Tidal Scoured Mixed Sediments) using in-situ data (imagery). Benthoscape classes (synonymous to landscape classifications in terrestrial ecology) describe the geomorphology and biology of the seafloor and are derived from elements of the seafloor that were acoustically and oceanographically distinguishable. Reference:Wilson, B.R., Brown, C.J., Sameoto, J.A., Lacharite, M., Redden, A. (2021). Mapping seafloor habitats in the Bay of Fundy to assess macrofaunal assemblages associated with Modiolus modiolus beds. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2021.107294Cite this data as: Wilson, B.R., Brown, C.J., Sameoto, J.A., Lacharite, M., Redden, A. Bay of Fundy Benthoscape. Published May 2023. Population Ecology Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/dbabd17a-a2c7-4b3f-9bd8-a77a9c7f9c1c

CHS offers 500-metre bathymetric gridded data for users interested in the topography of the seafloor. This data provides seafloor depth in metres and is accessible for download as predefined areas.

This record contains results from chemical analysis including suspended nitrogen (mg/g), suspended carbon (mg/g), and phosphorus (mg/g) based on dry weight sediment samples collected in the Beaufort Sea.

These data sets provide information pertaining to epifauna taxa including bottom-dwelling shrimp and fish along trawling transects in Bones Bay and Turnour Bay between 2001 and 2002. Data sets were compiled and formatted by Meagan Mak.Abstract from the report:This study is a component of a larger project designed to assess potential effects of shrimp trawling gear on epifauna, shrimp, fish, and benthic habitat of Clio Channel located in Broughton Archipelago, British Columbia, Canada. Replicate beam-trawl surveys were carried out on individual transects in both Bones Bay and Turnour Bay located in the northern and southern portions of Clio Channel, respectively. A submersible, towed video-camera surveyed the seabed to enumerate epifauna and fish taxa before and after trawling activities. In regards to the video surveys, fish and epifauna (e.g. common shrimp) were observed across Clio Channel, while sea whips were predominate in the Turnour Bay video transects.

Grain size is the most fundamental physical property of sediment, and these data are widely used in a variety of applications in science. Marine expeditions of the Geological Survey of Canada have been collecting grain size information on seabed and sub-seabed samples for over 50 years. Results have been recorded at 5th phi midpoints since the early 1990's in contrast to the earlier full, half or quarter phi interval end point values. Users of high resolution data must note that the sum of %Silt and %Clay equals the total %Mud makeup and that %Gravel, %Sand, %Silt and %Clay sum to 100%. Summary statistics include percentages of gravel, sand, silt, clay and mud as well as mean, kurtosis, skewness and standard deviation. The quality of these data varies. Results should be used with some caution as they may not be fully representative of seabed grainsize, particularly in areas of sandy and coarser sediment (e.g., sand and mud can leak out of the sampler during recovery). Canada makes no representation or warranty of any kind with respect to the accuracy, usefulness, novelty, validity, scope, completeness or currency of the data and expressly disclaims any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose of the data. For the purpose of the web mapping service, grain size data are sorted by the expedition id. Coarse and detailed grain size distribution plots are shown when a point is chosen. If the sample contains more that one sub-sample ( e.g., as with a piston core sequence), the grain size plots are stacked in the display window from the top of the core downwards.

Monitoring activities have collected bulk suspended sediment samples using continuous flow centrifuges and Phillips Tube samplers in the Lower Athabasca River and tributaries respectively. Further, in the absence of pre-development monitoring for this region, high fidelity dated lake sediment cores were used to assess the natural range in contaminant deposition to this region and to obtain a historical perspective of contaminant loadings. All sediments (suspended river and lake cores) have been analyzed in the laboratory for sediment quality variables as per Appendix B in the Integrated Monitoring Plan (cores were also analyzed for paleo indicators of ecosystem health such as diatoms). In addition, as the Lower Athabasca river bed sediments are known to shift and migrate downstream, bathymetric maps of the bed-channel morphology over time was also completed. This will allow for estimates of bed sediment transport downstream for the period of survey, and be useful in calibration/validation of sediment and contaminant numerical transport models.

Moored instrument time series data include current velocity, temperature, salinity, oxygen, fluorescence, transmissivity, turbidity, and particle capture of carbon, nitrogen, and silicon. Also included are sediment trap, ice drift and ice draft data.These data were collected by researchers from the Institute of Ocean Sciences, Sidney, BC, from locations ranging from the Beaufort Sea, and across the Canadian Arctic Archipelago to Baffin Bay.The data links below are only a representative sample of the entire collection. If you require more data, please send your request to the data contact.

Sponge reefs are constructed by hexactinellid (glass) sponges of the Order Hexactinosida. The sponges trap fine sediments, and over centuries of sponge growth and sediment trapping, form large bioherms or reef mounds. Glass sponge reefs are unique habitats found along the Pacific coast of Canada and the United States and they have significant historic, ecological, and economic value. They link benthic and pelagic environments by playing important roles in filtration and carbon and nitrogen processing, and acting as silica sinks. They also form habitat for diverse communities of invertebrates and fish, including those of economic importance. Thus, accurate and up-to-date information on the location and spatial extent of sponge reefs is important to the management and conservation of many of Canada’s Pacific marine species. We generated a map of known sponge reefs, derived from two source shape files: 1) Sponge_Reef_West_Coast, mapped by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), 2) Howesound_Nine_reef_polygons and 3) HoweSound_Five_reef_polygons, which were mapped by DFO and NRCan. The resultant polygon shapefile is published on the GIS hub as a file geodatabase feature class.