Coastal Ocean Microbiological and Geochemical Measurements from the CARIACO Project

NOAA NCEI provides microbiological and geochemical data from Niskin bottle casts on the Venezuelan continental shelf. The data supports the Carbon Retention in a Colored Ocean (CARIACO) project, with observations collected between May 2013 and November 2014. This dataset captures in-situ measurements from a specific coastal oceanographic time-series station.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal trends in chlorophyll-a concentration and particulate organic carbon to study primary productivity cycles.
• Model relationships between nutrient profiles (e.g., nitrate, phosphate) and microbial community indicators.
• Investigate correlations between geochemical parameters like oxygen concentration and carbon system metrics.
• Assess seasonal variability in water column structure using depth-resolved measurements from bottle casts.

Strengths

• Data collection spans a 1.5-year period (May 2013 to November 2014), enabling seasonal analysis.
• Provides co-located microbiological and geochemical measurements from a defined coastal oceanographic station.
• Collected as part of the long-term CARIACO time-series project, ensuring methodological consistency.

Limitations

• The dataset covers only a single geographic location on the Venezuelan continental shelf, limiting spatial generalizability.
• Temporal coverage is limited to 1.5 years, which may not capture long-term climatic or interannual variability.
• Specific sample sizes, measurement frequencies, and data completeness metrics are not provided.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) under accession 0147704.

Collection Method

Data gathered from Niskin bottle casts deployed from oceanographic vessels.

Time Range

2013-05-12 to 2014-11-11

Freshness

Data collection ended in November 2014; the dataset is not updated.

Geography

Continental shelf of Venezuela, specific station(s) for the CARIACO project.