North Sea Organosulfur and Halocarbon Measurements from Challenger 45 Cruise

Over 500 discrete measurements of oceanic organosulfur compounds and halocarbons were collected during the RRS Challenger 45 research cruise in January and February 1989. Researchers Sue Turner and David Hydes gathered the data for the North Sea Project, using gas chromatography and cryogenic trapping methods. The cruise covered a spatial area from +51N to +56N latitude and +2W to +8E longitude.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatial distribution of dimethylsulphide (DMS) concentration across 68 sampling points to model marine sulfur emissions.
• Correlate concentrations of halocarbons like dibromomethane (70 measurements) and iodomethane (69 measurements) with water column phases.
• Compare dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) levels from 65 dissolved plus particulate phase samples against 73 particulate-only phase samples.
• Investigate co-occurrence of tetrachloroethene (74 measurements) and carbon tetrachloride (75 measurements) in the North Sea water column.

Strengths

• Dataset contains over 500 individual chemical concentration measurements across 7 distinct compounds.
• Measurements are georeferenced with a defined spatial coverage of +51N to +56N latitude and +2W to +8E longitude.
• Specific analytical methods (gas chromatography, cryogenic trapping) and sample phases (dissolved, particulate GF/C) are documented for each compound.

Limitations

• Sample size is limited to a single 13-day cruise in 1989, providing only a temporal snapshot.
• Row counts for individual compounds vary (e.g., 65 DMSP vs. 75 carbon tetrachloride), indicating potential incomplete sampling for some analytes.
• Data is over 30 years old, which may limit relevance for modeling current ocean-atmosphere interactions.

Provenance

Source

SCIOPS organization, via NASA Earthdata.

Collection Method

Measurements made by filtration, purging, cryogenic trapping, and gas chromatography from water column samples during a research cruise.

Time Range

1989-01-28 to 1989-02-09

Freshness

Data collection ended on 1989-02-09; no updates are expected.

Geography

North Sea, bounded by +51N to +56N latitude and +2W to +8E longitude.