CARIACO Ocean Time Series: Venezuelan Basin Seasonal Upwelling

CARIACO Ocean Time Series provides a long-term record of biogeochemical processes in the Cariaco Basin, a tectonic depression off Venezuela's coast influenced by seasonal upwelling. The program, run by NASA, began in November 1995 to study how meteorological and hydrographic conditions affect carbon fluxes and primary production. This dataset captures marked seasonal and interannual variations driven by the migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone.

Use Cases

• Modeling seasonal primary production rates (~1.4 gC m-2 d-1 during upwelling vs. half that in rainy season) using ocean chemistry and temperature data.
• Analyzing the relationship between Intertropical Convergence Zone migration and interannual hydrographic variation.
• Studying vertical particle fluxes and dissolved inorganic carbon to understand carbon sequestration in continental margins.
• Correlating surface ocean conditions with high-frequency climate signals stored in the basin's sedimentary record.

Strengths

• Provides a continuous time-series record starting from November 1995, offering over 25 years of observations.
• Captures high-frequency climate signals through detailed measurements of hydrography, chemistry, and particle fluxes.
• Data collection is focused on a specific, well-defined tectonic basin with known seasonal forcing mechanisms.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and dataset size are not provided by any source, limiting precise technical assessment.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' on Data.gov but 'None' on NASA EarthData, creating a conflict.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Ocean time series program involving regular ship-based and mooring measurements.

Time Range

1995-11 to present

Freshness

2026-03-13 06:00:53.432269

Geography

Cariaco Basin, continental shelf of Venezuela