Description: Multibeam bathymetry raw data using the ship's own Kongsberg EM 122 multibeam echosounder was not continuously recorded during RV MARIA S. MERIAN cruise MSM55. Data were recorded on 8 days between 13.06.2016 and 29.06.2016 at different locations. The data were primarily archived at the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency of Germany (Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie, BSH) and provided to PANGAEA database for data curation and publication. During data acquisition, sound velocity measurements using sound velocity profiles (SVP) was applied on the data for data calibration. SVP raw data are not part of this dataset publication.

Description: The cores show a sediment succession of the late Pleistocene and the Holocene. A core photograph is depicted, followed by a detailed core scetch and a depositional code for the depositional environment and facies. Samples taken for grain size, pollen, foraminifera, diatoms, macrobenthos, radiocarbon dating, XRD analysis and XRF data are marked in the columns right of the plot of the core. In the last column additional notes are given. The cores were taken in the backbarrier tidal flats of the Eastfrisian Island Norderney (central Wadden Sea, German North Sea coast) within the frame of the multidisciplinary national research project 'WASA – Wadden Sea Archive'. WASA has been undertaken to reconstruct submerged palaeo-landscapes in the central Wadden Sea. It was running from 2016 to 2020 (Bittmann et al. 2022). Each of the three cores were collected in the subital with a modified version of the vibrocorer VKG6 (medconsultant GmbH) which was used from aboard the research vessels FK SENCKENBERG (Senckenberg am Meer, SaM, Wilhelmshaven) and BURCHANA (Niedersächsischer Landesbetrieb für Wasserwirtschaft, Küsten- und Naturschutz, NLWKN, Norderney). The vibrocorer was deployed in full-weight load mode (1.1 t gravity weight) and was equipped with PVC liners of 5000 mm length maximum and 100 mm diameter. The cores were described based on the field proven core catalogue by Capperucci et al. (2022), which was developed on the base of all 140 cores taken in the area of Norderney within the WASA project. The core catalogue allows the identification of the local sedimentary sequences and their characteristic facies and depositional environments of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene of the central Wadden Sea.

Description: Multibeam bathymetry raw data using the ship's own Kongsberg (Simrad) EM 1002 multibeam echosounder was almost continuously recorded during RV MARIA S. MERIAN cruise MSM55. Data were recorded on 13 days between 15.06.2016 and 28.06.2016. The data were primarily archived at the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency of Germany (Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie, BSH) and provided to PANGAEA database for data curation and publication. During data acquisition, sound velocity measurements using sound velocity profiles (SVP) was applied on the data for data calibration. SVP raw data are not part of this dataset publication

Description: The cores show a sediment succession of the late Pleistocene and the Holocene. A core photograph is depicted, followed by a detailed core scetch and a depositional code for the depositional environment and facies. Samples taken for grain size, pollen, foraminifera, diatoms, macrobenthos, radiocarbon dating, XRD analysis and XRF data are marked in the columns right of the plot of the core. In the last column additional notes are given. The cores were taken in the backbarrier tidal flats of the Eastfrisian Island Norderney (central Wadden Sea, German North Sea coast) within the frame of the multidisciplinary national research project 'WASA – Wadden Sea Archive'. WASA has been undertaken to reconstruct submerged palaeo-landscapes in the central Wadden Sea. It was running from 2016 to 2020 (Bittmann et al. 2022). Each of the three cores were collected in the subital with a modified version of the vibrocorer VKG6 (medconsultant GmbH) which was used from aboard the research vessels FK SENCKENBERG (Senckenberg am Meer, SaM, Wilhelmshaven) and BURCHANA (Niedersächsischer Landesbetrieb für Wasserwirtschaft, Küsten- und Naturschutz, NLWKN, Norderney). The vibrocorer was deployed in full-weight load mode (1.1 t gravity weight) and was equipped with PVC liners of 5000 mm length maximum and 100 mm diameter. The cores were described based on the field proven core catalogue by Capperucci et al. (2022), which was developed on the base of all 140 cores taken in the area of Norderney within the WASA project. The core catalogue allows the identification of the local sedimentary sequences and their characteristic facies and depositional environments of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene of the central Wadden Sea.

Description: The cores show a sediment succession of the late Pleistocene and the Holocene. A core photograph is depicted, followed by a detailed core scetch and a depositional code for the depositional environment and facies. Samples taken for grain size, pollen, foraminifera, diatoms, macrobenthos, radiocarbon dating, XRD analysis and XRF data are marked in the columns right of the plot of the core. In the last column additional notes are given. The cores were taken in the backbarrier tidal flats of the Eastfrisian Island Norderney (central Wadden Sea, German North Sea coast) within the frame of the multidisciplinary national research project 'WASA – Wadden Sea Archive'. WASA has been undertaken to reconstruct submerged palaeo-landscapes in the central Wadden Sea. It was running from 2016 to 2020 (Bittmann et al. 2022). Each of the three cores were collected in the subital with a modified version of the vibrocorer VKG6 (medconsultant GmbH) which was used from aboard the research vessels FK SENCKENBERG (Senckenberg am Meer, SaM, Wilhelmshaven) and BURCHANA (Niedersächsischer Landesbetrieb für Wasserwirtschaft, Küsten- und Naturschutz, NLWKN, Norderney). The vibrocorer was deployed in full-weight load mode (1.1 t gravity weight) and was equipped with PVC liners of 5000 mm length maximum and 100 mm diameter. The cores were described based on the field proven core catalogue by Capperucci et al. (2022), which was developed on the base of all 140 cores taken in the area of Norderney within the WASA project. The core catalogue allows the identification of the local sedimentary sequences and their characteristic facies and depositional environments of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene of the central Wadden Sea.

Description: Raw multibeam bathymetry data from the Kongsberg EM710 was acquired during the RV Heincke cruise HE576 in the German Bight. The data was generally acquired during calm seas in water depths between ~20 and 50 m. Primarily three different regions were surveyed (Borkumer Reef Ground, Sylt Outer Reef, and Dogger Bank). In some areas, the data is comprehensive and overlapping swaths creating a continuous bathymetry were archived. In other areas the data was acquired complementary to sidescan sonar surveys and individual tracks do not overlap. Data are unprocessed and therefore may contain some incorrect depth measurements (artifacts) without further processing. No tide variations are applied. Sound velocity profiles were acquired regularly. Overall, it appears that the data quality is rather good. The gridded data showed relatively few obstacles.

Description: Marine habitats of shelf seas are in constant dynam- ic change and therefore need regular assessment particularly in areas of special interest. In this study, the single-beam acoustic ground discrimination system RoxAnn served to as- sess seafloor hardness and roughness, and combine these pa- rameters into one variable expressed as RGB (red green blue) color code followed by k-means fuzzy cluster analysis (FCA). The data were collected at a monitoring site west of the island of Helgoland (German Bight, SE North Sea) in the course of four surveys between September 2011 and November 2014. The study area has complex characteristics varying from out- cropping bedrock to sandy and muddy sectors with mostly gradual transitions. RoxAnn data enabled to discriminate all seafloor types that were suggested by ground-truth informa- tion (seafloor samples, video). The area appears to be quite stable overall; sediment import (including fluid mud) was de- tected only from the NW. Although hard substrates (boulders, bedrock) are clearly identified, the signal can be modified by inclination and biocover. Manually, six RoxAnn zones were identified; for the FCA, only three classes are suggested. The latter classification based on ‘hard’ boundaries would sufficefor stakeholder issues, but the former classification based on ‘soft’ boundaries is preferred to meet state-of-the-art scientific objectives.

Description: To determine the spatial resolution of sediment properties and benthic macrofauna communities in acoustic backscatter, the suitability of four acoustic seafloor classification devices (single-beam echosounder with RoxAnn and QTC 5.5 seafloor classification system, sidescan sonar with QTC Swathview seafloor classification, and multi-beam echosounder with QTC Swathview seafloor classification) was compared in a study area of approx. 6 km2 northwest of the island of Helgoland in the German Bight, southern North Sea. This was based on a simple similarity index between simultaneous sidescan sonar, single-beam echosounder and multi-beam echosounder profiling spanning the period 2011–2014. The results show a high similarity between seafloor classifications based on sidescan sonar and RoxAnn single-beamsystems, in turn associated with a lower similarity for the multi-beam echosounder system. Analyses of surface sediment samples at 39 locations along four transects (0.1 m2 Van Veen grab) revealed the presence of sandy mud (southern and western parts), coarse sand, gravel and cobbles. Rock outcrops were identified in the north-eastern and eastern parts. A typical Nucula nitidosa–Abra alba community was found in sandy muds to muddy sands in the northern part, whereas the southern part is characterised by widespread occurrence of the ophiuroid brittle star Amphiura filiformis. A transitional N. nitidosa–A. filiformis community was detected in the central part. Moreover, the southern part is characterised by a high abundance of A. filiformis and its commensal bivalve Kurtiella bidentata. The high number of A. filiformis feeding arms (up to ca. 6,800 per m2) can largely explain the gentle change of backscatter intensity along the tracks, because sediment composition and/or seafloor structures showed no significant variability.