Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from the MARCHAND Cruise

Mechanical bathythermograph data from the MARCHAND cruise captures temperature-depth profiles in the North and South Pacific Ocean. The dataset contains observations from October 15 to November 20, 1945, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center into the standard C128 format. It provides a snapshot of upper-ocean thermal structure from the post-World War II era.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) at 5-meter depth intervals.
• Studying spatial temperature gradients across the North and South Pacific Ocean for a specific time period.
• Using cruise information, date, position, and time metadata to reconstruct historical sampling tracks.
• Providing a baseline for comparing modern upper-ocean temperature profiles with 1945 conditions.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a consistent standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural uniformity.
• Provides precise temporal coverage for a 36-day cruise in late 1945.
• Records temperature at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating comparative analysis.

Limitations

• The mechanical bathythermograph's maximum depth of ~285m limits analysis to the ocean's upper layers only.
• Critical metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from all sources.
• A conflict exists on the 'last updated' date between platforms (2026 vs. 1945), creating provenance uncertainty.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument during the MARCHAND cruise and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1945-10 15 to 1945-11-20

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:37:46.109519

Geography

North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean