WOCE Cruise A21/A12: Ocean Chemistry and Physics from the METEOR

NODC Accession 0115021 contains chemical, physical, and profile data from 94 WOCE Hydrographic Program cruises, covering approximately 23,000 stations. It includes discrete measurements of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC-11, CFC-12), dissolved inorganic carbon, oxygen, nutrients, and water properties collected in the South Atlantic and South Pacific Oceans from January to March 1990. These data were collected by Taro Takahashi of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory using CTD and bottle instruments to study the ocean's role in climate.

Use Cases

• Tracing ocean circulation pathways based on chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) concentrations.
• Modeling oceanic carbon uptake using dissolved inorganic carbon and partial pressure of CO2 measurements.
• Studying marine biogeochemical cycles using nitrate, phosphate, and silicate data.
• Calibrating ocean models with hydrographic profiles of temperature, salinity, and pressure.
• Investigating water mass age and mixing using tritium and helium isotope ratios.

Strengths

• Contains data from a major, coordinated international research program (WOCE).
• Includes a wide suite of co-located chemical and physical measurements from discrete samples.
• Covers a large spatial scale with data from approximately 23,000 stations across 94 cruises.

Limitations

• Specific column names and the exact row count for this accession are not provided in the metadata.
• The last updated date conflicts between platforms (1990-03-08 vs. 2026-03-05), creating uncertainty about metadata freshness.
• License information is not specified.

Provenance

Source

Taro Takahashi of Columbia University; Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

Collection Method

Discrete sample and profile observations collected using CTD and bottle instruments aboard the R/V METEOR.

Time Range

1990-01-23 to 1990-03-08 (for this cruise); the broader WOCE CO2 survey spanned 1990 to 1998.

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:40:00.991398

Geography

South Atlantic Ocean and South Pacific Ocean