Metadata Report for BODC Series Reference Number 2298324

• 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

Public domain data

These data have no specific confidentiality restrictions for users. However, users must acknowledge data sources as it is not ethical to publish data without proper attribution. Any publication or other output resulting from usage of the data should include an acknowledgment.

The recommended acknowledgment is

"This study uses data from the data source/organisation/programme, provided by the British Oceanographic Data Centre and funded by the funding body."

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.

Particulate Organic Carbon, Inorganic Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Silica for cruises Belgica BG9309, BG9322, BG9412 and BG9506

Document History

Converted from CDROM documentation.

Content of data series

Data Originator

Dr Lei Chou ,ULB, Brussels, Belgium.

Sampling strategy and methodology

Samples were obtained using one of two protocols. The protocol used may be identified by the gear code in the EVENT entry for the data (SAP or GPCENT).

SAP collection

Challenger Oceanics in-situ stand-alone pumps (SAPs) were used to sample particulate material. The instruments are operated by a programmable timer to ensure that the pump only operates when in position at the desired depth. Membrane filters with a 0.4 micron pore size were used to collect the particulate material.

On recovery the filters were rinsed and dried in clean conditions.

GPCENT collection.

Suspended particulate matter was collected by continuous flow centrifugation using an Alpha-Laval oil purifier (model MAB 104) specially coated for oceanographic use. Water supply was adjusted to approximately 1 cubic metre per hour. Samples were collected both when the ship was on station and steaming between stations for about 6-10 hours.

Samples were taken from the centrifuge body using a stainless steel spatula, stored in acid-washed PET vials and immediately deep frozen. After weighing (wet weight) the sample was subdivided for C/N, trace metal and isotope analysis.

If sufficient material was available, a sample for carbon and nitrogen determination was acidified to remove carbonates and then assayed in an Interscience NA-2000 elemental particulate analyser.

Inorganic carbon content was determined where sufficient material was available by analysing both acidified and unacidified samples and computing the difference.

Comments on data quality

Comparison of the carbon and nitrogen contents between the centrifuged samples and shallow SAP samples was possible at two stations. The values compared well.

Both ULB and Liege determined organic carbon and total nitrogen content on the centrifuged samples. An intercalibration of the two data sets by BODC showed excellent agreement. Regressing one data set against the other gave the following results:

References

Etcheber, H., 1981. Comparison des diverses méthodes d'evaluation des teneurs en matières en suspension et en carbone organique particulaire des eaux marines du plateau continental aquitan. Journ. Rech. Oceanogr., Paris VI, 2:37-42.

Kattner, G. and Brockmann, U., 1980. Semi-automated methods for the determination of particulate phosphorus in the marine environment. Fresenius Z. anal. Chem., 301, 14-357.

Strickland, J.D.H., Parsons, T.R. (1972). A practical handbook of seawater analysis. Fish. Res. Bd. Can.,.167-311.

Thomsen. L., Graf, G., Martens, V. and Steen, E., 1994. An instrument for sampling water from the bottom nepheloid layer. Contin. Shelf Res., 14, 871-882.

Thomsen, L. and Graf, G., 1995. Benthic boundary layer characteristics of the continental margin of the western Barents Sea. Oceanologica Acta, 17/6, 597-607.

Project Information

Ocean Margin EXchange (OMEX) I

Introduction

OMEX was a European multidisciplinary oceanographic research project that studied and quantified the exchange processes of carbon and associated elements between the continental shelf of western Europe and the open Atlantic Ocean. The project ran in two phases known as OMEX I (1993-1996) and OMEX II - II (1997-2000), with a bridging phase OMEX II - I (1996-1997). The project was supported by the European Union under the second and third phases of its MArine Science and Technology Programme (MAST) through contracts MAS2-CT93-0069 and MAS3-CT97-0076. It was led by Professor Roland Wollast from Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium and involved more than 100 scientists from 10 European countries.

Scientific Objectives

The aim of the Ocean Margin EXchange (OMEX) project was to gain a better understanding of the physical, chemical and biological processes occurring at the ocean margins in order to quantify fluxes of energy and matter (carbon, nutrients and other trace elements) across this boundary. The research culminated in the development of quantitative budgets for the areas studied using an approach based on both field measurements and modeling.

OMEX I (1993-1996)

The first phase of OMEX was divided into sub-projects by discipline:

• Physics
• Biogeochemical Cycles
• Biological Processes
• Benthic Processes
• Carbon Cycling and Biogases

This emphasises the multidisciplinary nature of the research.

The project fieldwork focussed on the region of the European Margin adjacent to the Goban Spur (off the coast of Brittany) and the shelf break off Tromsø, Norway. However, there was also data collected off the Iberian Margin and to the west of Ireland. In all a total of 57 research cruises (excluding 295 Continuous Plankton Recorder tows) were involved in the collection of OMEX I data.

Data Availability

Field data collected during OMEX I have been published by BODC as a CD-ROM product, entitled:

• OMEX I Project Data Set (two discs)

Further descriptions of this product and order forms may be found on the BODC web site.

The data are also held in BODC's databases and subsets may be obtained by request from BODC.

Data Activity or Cruise Information

Data Activity

BODC Sample Metadata Report for CD94_SAP_SAP6

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: CD94_SAP_SAP6

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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