Aragonite Saturation Profiles from West Florida Shelf Coral Habitats

Seventeen depth profiles document the carbonate chemistry of deep-sea coral habitats on the West Florida Shelf. The data includes aragonite saturation state, total alkalinity, dissolved inorganic carbon, temperature, and salinity, collected during a NOAA-led research expedition in August 2017. It was gathered using a CTD rosette aboard the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster as part of the Southeast Deep Coral Initiative.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical gradient of aragonite saturation state (Ωarag) from 20 to 1000 meters depth.
• Correlating carbonate system parameters (total alkalinity, DIC) with physical oceanographic data (temperature, salinity).
• Assessing the chemical habitat suitability for deep-sea coral communities on the West Florida Shelf.
• Calibrating or validating regional ocean acidification models using in-situ profile data.

Strengths

• Provides 17 discrete depth profiles, offering vertical resolution of chemical conditions.
• Data is linked to a specific, documented NOAA research cruise with a published report (Wagner et al. 2018).
• Focuses on the ecologically important but data-sparse environment of deep-sea coral habitats.

Limitations

• The exact number of data rows and full column schema are unknown from available sources.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' date, reporting both 2017-08-30 and 2026-03-05.
• Spatial coverage is limited to a specific transect along the West Florida Shelf from a single month.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), collected during NOAA Ship Nancy Foster cruise NF-17-08.

Collection Method

Data collected using a CTD rosette system during the Southeast Deep Coral Initiative expedition.

Time Range

2017-08-14 to 2017-08-30

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:15:14.917190

Geography

West Florida Shelf, Gulf of Mexico.