Title of dataset | Macronutrient data collected by RRS John Biscoe cruise 04 around South Georgia and in the Antarctic Peninsula (Southern Ocean), July-Sept 1983 |
Narrative summary of dataset | The dataset comprises macronutrient (nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, silicate) data collected on RRS John Biscoe cruise 04 around South Georgia, Elephant Island and the Scotia Sea in the Southern Ocean. The data were collected between 27 July 1983 and 29 September 1983 as part of an integrated ecosystem analysis. They form part of a more extensive dataset collected over 30 years, between 1980 and 2009, by the British Antarctic Survey. |
Summary of processing methodology | Samples for vertical profiles were collected from water bottles attached to a CTD rosette. Chemical analyses were undertaken using a custom-built Segmented-Flow Analyser initially based on Chemlab colorimeters and Ismatec proportioning pumps until 1993 when Technicon colorimeters were adopted. Initially, data were logged to paper chart and processed manually but in the mid-1980s, data extraction was automated and processing was managed with a digitising tablet and associated PC. In 1993 as part of a comprehensive re-build, data were logged to a PC. Data acquisition and subsequent processing was achieved with custom-built software (BAS in-house and Cambridge Beacon Ltd) and this was updated further in the mid-1990s when National Instrument data acquisition programmes were used to collect data, and calibration along with data organisation were switched to commercially available spreadsheets.
For further details see: Whitehouse et al (2023), included in the data package, and referenced in the Documentation section. |
Supporting documentation | Whitehouse, M. J., Hendry, K. R., Tarling, G. A., Thorpe, S. E., and ten Hoopen, P.: A database of marine macronutrient, temperature and salinity measurements made around the highly productive island of South Georgia, the Scotia Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula between 1980 and 2009, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 211-224, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-211-2023, 2023. See also: Heywood, R. B.: RRS John Biscoe Cruise JB04: Offshore Biological Programme, BODC Cruise Inventory, 32 pp., https://www.bodc.ac.uk/resources/inventories/cruise_inventory/reports/john_biscoe4_83.pdf, 1983. |
Cruise | 43_5917 |
Start date | 1983-07-27 |
End date | 1983-09-29 |