Multibeam bathymetry and acoustic-backscatter data collected in 2017 and 2018 of Noyes Submarine Canyon and vicinity, southeast Alaska

This data release provides U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center (PCMSC) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 2017 and 2018 bathymetry and acoustic-backscatter data collected on the Noyes Submarine Canyon and vicinity in southeast Alaska. In 2017 and 2018 the NOAA survey vessel Fairweather collected bathymetry and acoustic-backscatter data using a Kongsberg EM-710 multibeam echosounder (NOAA survey D00208, Report for D00208 (noaa.gov) and NOAA survey D00245, Report for D00245 (noaa.gov)). The surveys were conducted to map the offshore expression of the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault system that runs for approximately 500 kilometers off the coast of southeast Alaska and British Columbia. These surveys were part of a series of surveys to map the entire offshore component of the fault. The fault system has generated numerous powerful earthquakes in the magnitude 7 and 8 range. This new mapping will help understand the fault's slip rate, earthquake recurrence intervals, and paleoseismic history. The data provided in this data release were post-processed by PCMSC for these research studies.