Metadata Report for BODC Series Reference Number 2099583

• 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

Costech International Elemental Combustion System (ECS) 4010

The ECS 4010 Nitrogen / Protein Analyzer was designed as an advanced analytical platform for CHNSO elemental analysis and Nitrogen / Protein determination. It is based on an automatic analytical unit whose operation - from sampling up to signal detection - is microprocessor controlled.

Starting from the basic furnace design; the ECS 4010 has two, large capacity (up to a 26 mm OD reactor) furnaces. Optional fittings let you quickly and easily switch between combustion/reduction reactors of different diameters. You can work with reactors from 10,5 mm to 26 mm OD. The furnaces are mounted in a specially designed SS enclosure with an extremely efficient insulating material. This keeps the entire cabinet 'cool to the touch' and allows the furnaces to heat from ambient to operating temperature in 1.5 hours. The electronics and power supplies are completely isolated from the furnace compartment and have their own separate cooling fan. The ECS monitors, and can display, the temperatures of the power supply, and electronics. It will also display the input line voltage supply.

The ECS 4010 consists of three modules: The first module is the combustion system, the second is the detector system, and the third is the data handling system. When the three systems are combined the user can choose the required analytical configuration.

During normal system operation, helium carrier gas circulates within the analytical circuit which consists of a combustion reactor for CHNS and N/Protein, or a pyrolysis reactor for Oxygen. The carrier gas brings the products of combustion, or pyrolysis to a gas chromatographic separation column and TCD detector for CHNSO analysis, or a multidetector system for N/Protein determination.

ECS 4010 Features

Sampling options -

• 'Zero Blank' sampler, 32 or 50 positions
• 150 position open carousel sampler
• Direct injection (syringe) of gases

G.C. Oven and Separation Column -

• Temperature range 30-110 °C
• Temperature control +/- 0.1 °C
• Standard and custom column lengths for different applications

Dual filament TCD -

• No reference gas required
• Pre-heating of combustion gases

Combustion and Reduction Tubes -

• Diameters (OD) 10.5 mm, 18 mm, 20 mm, 26 mm
• Simple, easy fittings to change tube diameters.
• Inserts for ash removal

EAS Software -

• Windows 95/98/NT
• Instrument control via RS232
• Export data to Excel or LIMS
• Actualizes results

For more information about this model see the manufactures ECS Costech Brochure.

Niskin Bottle

The Niskin bottle is a device used by oceanographers to collect subsurface seawater samples. It is a plastic bottle with caps and rubber seals at each end and is deployed with the caps held open, allowing free-flushing of the bottle as it moves through the water column.

Standard Niskin

The standard version of the bottle includes a plastic-coated metal spring or elastic cord running through the interior of the bottle that joins the two caps, and the caps are held open against the spring by plastic lanyards. When the bottle reaches the desired depth the lanyards are released by a pressure-actuated switch, command signal or messenger weight and the caps are forced shut and sealed, trapping the seawater sample.

Lever Action Niskin

The Lever Action Niskin Bottle differs from the standard version, in that the caps are held open during deployment by externally mounted stainless steel springs rather than an internal spring or cord. Lever Action Niskins are recommended for applications where a completely clear sample chamber is critical or for use in deep cold water.

Clean Sampling

A modified version of the standard Niskin bottle has been developed for clean sampling. This is teflon-coated and uses a latex cord to close the caps rather than a metal spring. The clean version of the Levered Action Niskin bottle is also teflon-coated and uses epoxy covered springs in place of the stainless steel springs. These bottles are specifically designed to minimise metal contamination when sampling trace metals.

Deployment

Bottles may be deployed singly clamped to a wire or in groups of up to 48 on a rosette. Standard bottles and Lever Action bottles have a capacity between 1.7 and 30 L. Reversing thermometers may be attached to a spring-loaded disk that rotates through 180° on bottle closure.

JC086 discrete sampling for POC, PON, Total Carbon, Total Nitrogen sampling document

Originator's data acquisition and analysis

The following information contains extracts from the JC086 cruise report.

To determine the transfer of organic and inorganic carbon from the chlorophyll maximum to mid water depths along the Extended Ellett Line transect all water samples were collected from the CTD and filtered. Water samples were taken from the chlorophyll maxima, 75 m and 100 m, 200 m and 500 m.

Samples were collected from the CTD in 2 L polythene bottles between 1 and 2 L of each sample were filtered through pre-combusted 13 mm diameter Gelman A/D glass fiber filters. 1 L of the sample was filtered if taken from the chlorophyll maxima and 2 L for those samples taken from below this depth. A maximum of five depths were sampled from 51 casts along the transect. Samples, once collected and filtered, were stored in plastic 30 mm diameter petri dishes in the -20 °C freezer. Analysis took place at the Scottish Association for Marine Science laboratories using a Costech Elemental Analyser. Prior to analysis the organic carbon filter samples undergo 24 hours of hydrochloric acid fuming to remove the inorganic carbon.

BODC data processing procedures

The data were supplied to BODC in Microsoft Excel format and the values were extracted for loading into BODC's ocean database under the ORACLE Relational Database Management System. Data were converted from mg l-1 to µmol l-1 prior to being loaded into the BODC database. To convert from mg l-1 to µmol l-1 each parameter was multiplied by 1000 and then divided by its atomic weight. For Carbon this is 12.0107 and for Nitrogen this is 14.00674 (Hammond, 1975).

Data that were considered unrealistic were flagged suspect. Metadata collected from the various data files were favoured by BODC over the metadata recorded in the cruise report logs in the JC086 cruise report.

Content of data series

A mapping of the originators variables to BODC's parameter codes is provided below;

Data quality report

No problems were reported and no significant issues encountered during BODC data banking procedures.

References cited

Griffiths C. R. et al., (2013). RRS James Cook Cruise JC086, 06 May 2013 - 26 May 2013. Govan to Govan, Scotland - the Extended Ellett Line. Scottish Association for Marine Science. (Scottish Marine Institute, Oban).

Available - Cruise JC086 Internal Report

Hammond C.R., 1975. The Elements. In: CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. CRC Handbook CRC Press, Cleveland, OH, 4-157.

Project Information

Oceans 2025 Theme 10, Sustained Observation Activity 4: The Extended Ellett Line

The Ellett Line (begun in 1975 and since 1996 the Extended Ellett Line from Scotland to Iceland) crosses important north Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) components and thus provides an additional contribution to understanding the north Atlantic response to climate change. Sustained Observation Activity (SO) 4 will repeat this section annually collecting a wide variety of physical and biogeochemical measurements, and will, to enhance the time variable component, make use of Argo floats and gliders. SO 4 will be implemented by physical, biological and chemical scientists at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) and the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS).

SO 4 formally contributes to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)-funded Marine Environmental Change Network (MECN). Established in 2002 to coordinate and promote the collection and utilisation of marine time-series and long-term data sets, the goal of the network is to use long-term marine environmental data from around the British Isles and Ireland to separate natural fluctuations from global, regional and local anthropogenic impacts.

The specific deliverables for SO 4 are:

• A time series of the evolution of the hydrography of the northeast Atlantic, together with a more formal understanding of the causes of any changes observed
• An archived data set available to the international community via the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC)
• A platform for further scientific research

More detailed information on this Work Package is available at pages 15 - 16 of the official Oceans 2025 Theme 10 document: Oceans 2025 Theme 10

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

Data Activity or Cruise Information

Data Activity

BODC Sample Metadata Report for JC086_CTD_C008

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: JC086_CTD_C008

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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