Benthic Fauna and Sediment Surveys Near a Hawaiian Ocean Outfall

Annual surveys from 2001 to 2010 sampled bottom sediments at six stations near the Waianae Ocean Outfall in Oahu, Hawaii. Data includes species abundance and richness for multiple faunal groups and geochemical measurements like oxidation-reduction-potential. The dataset was compiled by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.

Use Cases

• Analyze trends in species abundance and richness for nonmollusks, crustaceans, and polychaetes over the 2001-2010 period.
• Correlate sediment geochemistry measurements like oxidation-reduction-potential (ORP) with faunal community composition across six stations.
• Assess benthic environmental conditions using total-volatile-solids data and sediment fraction percentages (e.g., >90% sand).
• Model the spatial distribution of nematode, oligochaete, and molluscan faunas relative to the outfall diffuser location.
• Compare annual summaries from 2001-2010 with the more detailed station data available for 2006-2009.

Strengths

• Ten years of annual survey data from 2001 to 2010.
• Sampling at six distinct stations provides spatial context.
• Includes multiple data types: biological species counts and geochemical sediment measurements.

Limitations

• Core data files cover only a subset of the total time range (2006-2009).
• Limited to a specific geographic area near a single outfall, reducing generalizability.
• Specific sample sizes (row counts) and file formats are not provided.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI Accession 0084994).

Collection Method

Annual field surveys collecting sediment samples for biological and geochemical laboratory analysis.

Time Range

2001-2010

Freshness

Data collection concluded in 2010; no ongoing updates.

Geography

Six stations at ~34 m depth adjacent to the Waianae Ocean Outfall, leeward coast of Oahu, Hawaii.