CARINA: North Atlantic Ocean Carbon and Hydrographic Profiles

North Atlantic Ocean data from the CARINA project includes chemical, physical, and profile measurements collected aboard the RRS Discovery from May 15 to June 4, 1990. The dataset contains discrete sample and profile observations for dissolved inorganic carbon, carbon dioxide partial pressure, nutrients, salinity, and temperature. It forms part of a larger international synthesis effort for internally consistent biogeochemical data across the Atlantic, Arctic, and Southern Oceans.

Use Cases

• Calibrating ocean carbon cycle models based on dissolved inorganic carbon and pCO2 measurements.
• Analyzing nutrient co-variability (nitrate, phosphate, silicate) with hydrographic properties like salinity and potential temperature.
• Validating satellite-derived sea surface salinity and temperature products using in-situ CTD and bottle data.
• Investigating historical baseline conditions for ocean acidification in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Strengths

• Data is part of the CARINA synthesis project, which produced an internally consistent, merged dataset for the Atlantic, Arctic, and Southern Oceans.
• Includes a specific suite of co-located variables critical for carbon system studies, directly stated in the descriptions.
• Collection details are precise, including vessel (DISCOVERY), principal investigator (Andrew Watson), and exact date range (1990-05-15 to 1990-06-04).

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, specific column names, and license are unavailable across all sources.
• The dataset's temporal coverage is limited to a three-week cruise in 1990, providing a snapshot rather than a time series.
• Conflicting 'last updated' timestamps exist (1990-06-04 vs. 2026-03-05), creating uncertainty about metadata maintenance.

Provenance

Source

Andrew Watson of Plymouth Marine Laboratory, collected during cruise CARINA/74DI19900515.

Collection Method

Discrete sample and profile observations using CTD and bottle instruments.

Time Range

1990-05-15 to 1990-06-04

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:14:35.636593

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean (collected during the specified cruise), with the broader CARINA project covering the entire Atlantic, Arctic, and Southern Oceans.