SAZ Project 1997-1998: Subantarctic Zone Arsenic Species Measurements

March 1998 shipboard measurements of arsenic species concentrations in the Southern Ocean south of Australia. The Antarctic Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) organized the multidisciplinary SAZ Project during the 1997-1998 austral summer. Data includes distributions of arsenite, arsenate, monomethyl arsenic, and dimethyl arsenic along a surface transect from 42 to 55 degrees S.

Use Cases

• Modeling arsenic speciation and cycling based on measured concentrations of As(III), As(V), MMA, and DMA.
• Analyzing relationships between methyl arsenic concentrations and biological production or water temperature gradients mentioned in the description.
• Studying spatial biogeochemical gradients across ocean fronts like the Subantarctic Front and Polar Front based on the meridional transect data.
• Benchmarking automated analytical methods for shipboard trace metal analysis based on the described semi-automated HG-AFS procedure.

Strengths

• Focus on a specific, crucial biogeochemical element (arsenic) in a globally important climate region.
• Methodology described as having increased precision and ease of use under shipboard conditions compared to prior manual methods.
• Provides species-specific data (As(III), As(V), MMA, DMA) allowing for analysis of chemical transformation and cycling.

Limitations

• Last updated 1998-03 31 23:59:59.999000; freshness should be verified.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Antarctic Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), collected via the SAZ Project.

Collection Method

Shipboard measurements using a semi-automated batch hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HG-AFS) method on the RSV Aurora Australis.

Time Range

March 1998 (austral autumn).

Freshness

Last updated 1998-03-31 23:59:59.999000

Geography

Subantarctic Zone of the Southern Ocean, south of Australia, along a meridional transect 42-55°S, 141°30'E.