Metadata Report for BODC Series Reference Number 1988340

• Metadata Summary

• Problem Reports

• Data Access Policy

• Narrative Documents

• Project Information

• Data Activity or Cruise Information

• Fixed Station Information

• BODC Quality Flags

• SeaDataNet Quality Flags

Metadata Summary

Problem Reports

No Problem Report Found in the Database

Data Access Policy

Open Data supplied by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)

You must always use the following attribution statement to acknowledge the source of the information: "Contains data supplied by Natural Environment Research Council."

Narrative Documents

Stand Alone Pump (SAP)

A submersible battery powered water pump that sucks water through various filters leaving the materials of interest on the filter for analysis. SAPs are deployed clamped to a hydrographic wire and may be used to sample at depths of up to 6000 m. A SAP can pump thousands of litres of water over a few hours.

JC010 legs 2 and 3 SAPS data processing

Originator's Protocol for Data Acquisition and Analysis

Suspended particles were collected on large (293mm diameter) precombusted (400°C; 4 h) GF/F filters along the Lisbon, Setubal and Nazare Canyons on the Portuguese Margin (Legs 2 and 3) and the Whittard Canyon on the Irish Margin (Leg 3) using stand alone pumping systems (SAPS; Challenger Oceanic, NOCS). Each SAPS carried two stacked filters, the bottom one being used as a DOM adsorption blank. Two SAPS were used on the same deployment; the first was deployed at the Benthic Boundary Layer (BBL; i.e. 10-20 m above bottom (ab)) and the other at selected depths. The choice of the depths was based on the water structure of CTD profiles that were carried out immediately or soon before the SAPS deployments at the same or nearby stations. The pumps were operated for 1-2 hours depending on depth and particle loading as estimated by the BBRTD sensors of the CTD. On recovery, both SAPS filters were folded, wrapped in separate pre-combusted (400°C; 4 h) foil and stored in -80°C for the duration of the cruise. Elemental, chlorophyll, lipid and isotopic analyses were carried out after freeze drying of the filters in the laboratory.

BODC Data Processing Procedures

Data received were loaded into the BODC database using established BODC data banking procedures. Data were loaded into BODC's database without any changes.

Two data points (particulate nitrogen = 0.1 µg/L) were flagged by the orriginator as being close to the detection limit and therefore potentially unreliable. These flags were mapped to the BODC quality control flag 'L'.

Originators parameters were mapped to BODCs parameters as follows:

Project Information

Oceans 2025 Theme 5: Continental Margins and the Deep Ocean

The deep ocean and the seafloor beneath it are the largest yet least known environments on our planet. They profoundly influence the way in which the Earth reacts to climate change, provide vital resources, and can cause natural catastrophes (with significant risks to the UK). A better understanding of the biodiversity and resource potential of the deep ocean, its geophysics and its complex interactions with the global carbon cycle are all urgently required.

The overall aim of Theme 5 is to deliver coordinated, multidisciplinary research on the functioning of the deep ocean from the photic zone to the sub-seabed, encompassing biology, physics, geology, chemistry and mathematical modelling. Such an integrated deep-sea programme is unique in the UK and will ensure the provision of knowledge essential for underpinning UK policy in conserving marine biodiversity, controlling the effects of global change, managing ocean resources in a sustainable manner, and mitigating the effects of geohazards.

The specific objectives of Theme 5 are:

• To understand the processes controlling the vertical flux of carbon between the base of the photic zone and the seabed and to quantify this flux.
• To quantify fluxes of carbon and fluids from the sub-seabed into the deep ocean and their contribution to global carbon budgets.
• To determine how the carbon flow interacts with deep-ocean pelagic and benthic communities in the open ocean and on the continental slope.
• To investigate how benthic ecosystems on continental margins and in the deep ocean respond to spatial and temporal variation in environmental parameters.
• To understand the causes, frequency and predictability of submarine geohazards.
• To apply scientific knowledge to the sustainable management of the ocean and its resources.

Theme 5 combines two Research Units, on Continental Margins and on the Biochemistry of the Deep Ocean. Ultimately the science of the two activities will be combined, but because the methods of study and the resources needed are largely different, the work has been planned within two groups.

In Continental Margins, the physical processes regulating the transport of sediment is investigated as well as the transport of hydrocarbons and aqueous fluids from the seafloor. The effect of both of these major processes on the landscape ecology of the continental slope will be assessed. In addition, the causes, mechanisms and frequency of submarine geohazards will be studied, particularly those that potentially could have a devastating effect on coastal communities, such as earthquake and landslide-induced tsunamis. Carbon flux from the geosphere into the ocean will be assessed. The information will be used to advise on whole ecosystem management strategies, including policy issues relating to Marine Protected Areas and international treaties on the development of open ocean resources.

In Biogeochemistry of the Deep Ocean, the flux of particles through the 'twilight zone' in order to reduce the large uncertainties in our knowledge of the magnitude of the downward flux in various biogeochemical provinces of the global ocean will be studied. The twilight zone is a large biogeochemical reactor influencing the supply of nutrients to the euphotic zone and the fate of materials consigned to the deep seafloor. Theme 5 will study how zooplankton and microbes repackage and breakdown particles, and how these processes influence carbon transfer. Direct observations and experimental approaches will provide data to drive stoichiometric models of heterotrophic OM utilisation. The impact on the deep-sea benthos of repackaged OM, and the of part of surface production that by-passes twilight zone processes, will be assessed by analysing global patterns and through ROV in situ experimentation. Proven modelling expertise in upper ocean systems will be extended to benthic ecosystems utilising the information generated by bentho-pelagic coupling observations and experimental approaches.

The official Oceans 2025 documentation for this Theme is available from the following link: Oceans 2025 Theme 5

Weblink: http://www.oceans2025.org/

Data Activity or Cruise Information

Data Activity

BODC Sample Metadata Report for JC010_2_SAP_JC10/2-125

Please note:the supplied parameters may not have been sampled from all the bottle firings described in the table above. Cross-match the Sample Reference Number above against the SAMPRFNM value in the data file to identify the relevant metadata.

Related Data Activity activities are detailed in Appendix 1

Cruise

Complete Cruise Metadata Report is available here

Fixed Station Information

No Fixed Station Information held for the Series

BODC Quality Control Flags

The following single character qualifying flags may be associated with one or more individual parameters with a data cycle:

SeaDataNet Quality Control Flags

The following single character qualifying flags may be associated with one or more individual parameters with a data cycle:

Appendix 1: JC010_2_SAP_JC10/2-125

Related series for this Data Activity are presented in the table below. Further information can be found by following the appropriate links.

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