GEOSECS Atlantic: Ocean Chemistry Profiles from 1972-1973

Discrete sample and profile data from the GEOSECS Atlantic cruise aboard the R/V Knorr, covering the North Atlantic Ocean, North Greenland Sea, Norwegian Sea, South Atlantic Ocean, and Southern Oceans. The data include dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity, oxygen, nutrients, and isotopic tracers like carbon-14 and tritium. Data were collected by researchers from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Princeton University between July 1972 and April 1973.

Use Cases

• Calibrating ocean carbon cycle models based on dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity measurements.
• Studying deep ocean ventilation and water mass age using tritium and helium-3 isotope tracers.
• Analyzing historical nutrient distributions (nitrate, phosphate, silicate) in the Atlantic basin.
• Investigating ocean acidification trends by establishing a 1970s baseline for carbonate system parameters.

Strengths

• Includes multiple key variables for ocean carbon cycle studies, such as dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity, and carbon-14.
• Covers a broad geographic range across multiple ocean basins from the North Atlantic to the Southern Ocean.
• Data collection is associated with the well-known GEOSECS program, a foundational oceanographic survey.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data is from a specific historical cruise (1972-1973), limiting temporal analysis to a single period.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale statistical modeling.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Data collected using CTD and bottle instruments during the GEOSECS Atlantic cruise.

Time Range

1972-07-18 to 1973-04-01

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-05 23:53:08.913840; freshness should be verified.

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean, North Greenland Sea, Norwegian Sea, South Atlantic Ocean, Southern Oceans (> 60 degrees South)