MECCAS II: Microbial and Zooplankton Data from Chesapeake Bay Cruises

Four research cruises collected 96 parameters at drogue stations, including zooplankton biomass and grazing rates, bacterial cell counts, and dissolved free amino acids. The dataset is structured into three file types: underway surface mapping, vertical profiles along routes, and detailed vertical profiles at drogue stations. Data has been processed to the NODC standard Bathythermograph (XBT) C116 format, which records temperature-depth profiles at non-uniform inflection points.

Use Cases

• Modeling coastal microbial food web interactions based on zooplankton grazing rates and bacterial production estimates.
• Analyzing spatial gradients of inorganic nutrients (ammonium, nitrate, phosphate) from underway surface mapping data.
• Studying vertical biogeochemical structure using CTD and nutrient profiles from station casts.
• Investigating dissolved organic nitrogen pools via measurements of dissolved free amino acids like glutamic acid and glycine.

Strengths

• Contains detailed biological measurements from 96 parameters at drogue stations, including specific rates like heterotrophic grazing.
• Provides high-precision nutrient measurements at +/- 0.03-0.1 uM for key inorganic species.
• Covers a defined time range from 1985-06-08 to 1988-03-31 across four dedicated research cruises.
• Data is structured and processed to a recognized oceanographic standard format (NODC C116).

Limitations

• A significant discrepancy is noted between the described abstract and the actual data content in the accession.
• Key metadata is missing, including column names, row counts, file sizes, and specific license information.
• The most recent update date (2026-04-01) conflicts with the temporal coverage ending in 1988, suggesting metadata updates may not reflect data changes.

Provenance

Source

NOAA_NCEI (National Centers for Environmental Information)

Collection Method

Data collected from the R/V Gyre during the MECCAS II (Microbial Exchanges and Coupling in Coastal Atlantic Systems) cruises.

Time Range

1985-06-08 to 1988-03-31

Freshness

Last metadata update recorded as 2026-04-01, though data collection ended in 1988.

Geography

Mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, coastal Atlantic systems.