| Title of dataset | Macronutrient data collected by RRS John Biscoe cruise 08 around South Georgia, in the Bransfield Strait and Drake Passage (Southern Ocean), Dec 1987-Mar 1988 |
| Narrative summary of dataset | The dataset comprises macronutrient (nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, silicate, ammonia/ammonium) data collected on RRS John Biscoe cruise 08 around South Georgia, in the Bransfield Strait and Drake Passage in the Southern Ocean. The data were collected between 28 December 1987 and 11 March 1988 as part of an integrated ecosystem analysis. They form part of a more extensive dataset collected over 30 years, between 1980 and 2009, by the British Antarctic Survey. |
| Summary of processing methodology | Samples for vertical profiles were collected from water bottles attached to a CTD rosette. Chemical analyses were undertaken using a custom-built Segmented-Flow Analyser initially based on Chemlab colorimeters and Ismatec proportioning pumps until 1993 when Technicon colorimeters were adopted. Initially, data were logged to paper chart and processed manually but in the mid-1980s, data extraction was automated and processing was managed with a digitising tablet and associated PC. In 1993 as part of a comprehensive re-build, data were logged to a PC. Data acquisition and subsequent processing was achieved with custom-built software (BAS in-house and Cambridge Beacon Ltd) and this was updated further in the mid-1990s when National Instrument data acquisition programmes were used to collect data, and calibration along with data organisation were switched to commercially available spreadsheets.
For further details see: Whitehouse et al (2023), included in the data package, and referenced in the Documentation section. |
| Supporting documentation | Whitehouse, M. J., Hendry, K. R., Tarling, G. A., Thorpe, S. E., and ten Hoopen, P.: A database of marine macronutrient, temperature and salinity measurements made around the highly productive island of South Georgia, the Scotia Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula between 1980 and 2009, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 211-224, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-211-2023, 2023. Priddle, J.: RRS John Biscoe Cruise JB08: South Georgia and Bransfield Strait Marine Biology, BODC Cruise Inventory, 52 pp., https://www.bodc.ac.uk/resources/inventories/cruise_inventory/reports/john_biscoe08.pdf, 1988. |
| Cruise | 43_5921 |
| Start date | 1987-12-28 |
| End date | 1988-03-11 |