WOCE Ocean Carbon and Hydrographic Data from the THOMAS WASHINGTON, 1991

Over 23,000 stations from 94 global cruises form the World Ocean Circulation Experiment's CO2 survey, which aimed to understand the ocean's role in climate. This specific dataset includes 18 chemical and physical variables like dissolved inorganic carbon, alkalinity, and chlorofluorocarbons, collected via CTD and bottle casts from the THOMAS WASHINGTON in the Pacific Ocean during a 1991 cruise. It was collected by Catherine Goyet of the University of Perpignan Via Domita as part of the WOCE_P17C dataset.

Use Cases

• Calibrating ocean carbon cycle models based on dissolved inorganic carbon and alkalinity measurements.
• Studying anthropogenic tracer dispersion using chlorofluorocarbon (CFC-11, CFC-12) and tritium data.
• Analyzing water mass age and circulation using helium isotopes (Delta Helium-3, Helium).
• Investigating nutrient dynamics and biological productivity based on nitrate, phosphate, and silicate concentrations.

Strengths

• Part of the major World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE), which includes data from approximately 23,000 stations.
• Includes 18 distinct chemical, physical, and isotopic variables per observation.
• Data collection spans specific cruises (TUNES_1, WOCE_P17C) with a clear temporal range from 1991-05-31 to 1991-07-11.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count for this specific cruise is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect temporal bias inherent to its 1991 collection period.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Discrete sample and profile observations using CTD, bottle and other instruments.

Time Range

1991-05-31 to 1991-07-11

Freshness

Metadata was last updated 2026-03-05 22:27:38.551277; data itself is from 1991.

Geography

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, North Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean