Articles | Volume 15, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5701-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5701-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Data description article
| 
18 Dec 2023
Data description article |
| 18 Dec 2023
| 18 Dec 2023
The Western Channel Observatory: a century of physical, chemical and biological data compiled from pelagic and benthic habitats in the western English Channel
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Angus Atkinson
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Ruth L. Airs
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Rachel Brittain
The Marine Biological Association, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK
Ian Brown
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Elaine S. Fileman
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Helen S. Findlay
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Caroline L. McNeill
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Clare Ostle
The Marine Biological Association, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK
Tim J. Smyth
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Paul J. Somerfield
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
deceased
Karen Tait
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Glen A. Tarran
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Simon Thomas
Department of Environment and Geography, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK
Claire E. Widdicombe
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
E. Malcolm S. Woodward
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Amanda Beesley
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
David V. P. Conway
The Marine Biological Association, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK
James Fishwick
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Hannah Haines
Sorbonne University, Paris, France
Carolyn Harris
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Roger Harris
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Pierre Hélaouët
The Marine Biological Association, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK
David Johns
The Marine Biological Association, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK
Penelope K. Lindeque
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Thomas Mesher
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Abigail McQuatters-Gollop
Marine Conservation Research Group, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK
Joana Nunes
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Frances Perry
The Marine Biological Association, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK
Ana M. Queiros
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Andrew Rees
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Saskia Rühl
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
David Sims
The Marine Biological Association, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK
Ricardo Torres
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
Stephen Widdicombe
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK
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Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-215, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-215, 2026
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PlanktoShare offers a large collection of carefully labelled plankton images collected using the Pi-10 Plankton Imager in the North-East Atlantic. It was created to overcome inconsistent naming across datasets and to support reliable classification. By standardizing taxonomic details and storing extra traits separately, the database enables sharing and combining learning sets. This helps expand global monitoring efforts and strengthens future plankton imaging research.
Florence Sarah Atherden, Emily Rowlands, Gareth Flint, Sophie Fielding, Katrin Schmidt, Elaine Fileman, Angus Atkinson, and Clara Manno
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-988, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-988, 2026
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The Southern Ocean influences global climate, in part, through biological production of carbon-rich particles which trap atmospheric carbon in the deep ocean. Our study highlights that krill migrating to 50–100 m and defecting carbon-rich pellets effectively counteracts the ‘typical’ scenario where the quantity of particles rapidly decreases from the surface, ultimately increasing how much atmospheric carbon is stored. These processes are of global benefit, but vulnerable in a changing climate.
Mingxi Yang, Thomas G. Bell, Ian Brooks, Frances Hopkins, Jani Pewter, Katie Read, and Timothy J. Smyth
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-780, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-780, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
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Diurnal sea breeze events can have a strong but uncertain impact on coastal air quality. In this study, using 10 years of observations we show that sea breeze occurs mostly when the sea is cool, wind speeds low, and solar irradiance strong. Surface of gas and particulate pollutants are all higher during sea breeze events than on other days, increasing the rate of air quality regulation exceedance. This may be of concern for beach goers and for people who spend more time outdoors.
Claire Mahaffey, Noelle A. Held, Korinne Kunde, Clare Davis, Neil Wyatt, E. Matthew R. McIlvin, E. Malcolm S. Woodward, Lewis Wrightson, Alessandro Tagliabue, Maeve C. Lohan, and Mak Saito
Biogeosciences, 23, 905–922, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-905-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-905-2026, 2026
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Primary production helps regulate climate and is governed by nutrient availability. We used biogeochemical states and rates with proteomics to study how resource availability shapes metabolism in Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus. Both picocyanobacteria were phosphorus stressed in the western Atlantic, but Prochlorococcus was nitrogen, iron, zinc and cobalamin stressed in the east. Our findings provide species and ecotype level insights into oceanic nutrient acquisition and metabolism.
Noelle A. Held, Korinna Kunde, Clare E. Davis, Neil J. Wyatt, Elizabeth L. Mann, E. Malcolm S. Woodward, Matthew McIlvin, Alessandro Tagliabue, Benjamin S. Twining, Claire Mahaffey, Mak A. Saito, and Maeve C. Lohan
Biogeosciences, 23, 923–938, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-923-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-923-2026, 2026
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Microbial enzymes are critical to marine biogeochemical cycles, but which microbes are producing those enzymes? We used a targeted proteomics method to quantify how much Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus contribute to surface ocean alkaline phosphatase activity. We find that alkaline phosphatase abundance is limited by the availability of iron, zinc and cobalt (which may substitute for zinc).
Paul Dees, Friederike Fröb, Beatriz Arellano-Nava, David G. Johns, and Christoph Heinze
Ocean Sci., 21, 2397–2417, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-2397-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-2397-2025, 2025
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In this paper we describe a novel methodology to automate the estimation of ecological regime shift probability in a single time series. We have applied this new methodology to the continuous plankton recorder dataset in the North Sea and have shown how the model is able to estimate the likelihood of a regime shift using abundance data of multiple phytoplankton and zooplankton species.
Pearse J. Buchanan, Juan J. Pierella Karlusich, Robyn E. Tuerena, Roxana Shafiee, E. Malcolm S. Woodward, Chris Bowler, and Alessandro Tagliabue
Biogeosciences, 22, 4865–4883, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-4865-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-4865-2025, 2025
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Ammonium is a form of nitrogen that may become more important for growth of marine primary producers (i.e., phytoplankton) in the future. Because some phytoplankton taxa have a greater affinity for ammonium than others, the relative increase in ammonium could cause shifts in community composition. We quantify ammonium enrichment, identify its drivers and isolate the possible effect on phytoplankton community composition under a high-emissions scenario.
Robert J. Wilson, Yuri Artioli, Giovanni Galli, James Harle, Jason Holt, Ana M. Queirós, and Sarah Wakelin
Ocean Sci., 21, 1255–1270, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-1255-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-1255-2025, 2025
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Marine heatwaves are of growing concern around the world. We use a state-of-the-art ensemble of downscaled climate models to project how often heatwaves will occur in the future across northwestern Europe under a high-emission scenario. The projections show that, without emission reductions, heatwaves will occur more than half of the time in the future. We show that the seafloor is expected to experience much more frequent heatwaves than the sea surface in the future.
Thomas M. Jordan, Giorgio Dall'Olmo, Gavin Tilstone, Robert J. W. Brewin, Francesco Nencioli, Ruth Airs, Crystal S. Thomas, and Louise Schlüter
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 493–516, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-493-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-493-2025, 2025
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We present a compilation of water optical properties and phytoplankton pigments from the surface of the Atlantic Ocean collected during nine cruises between 2009 and 2019. We derive continuous Chlorophyll a concentrations (a biomass proxy) from water absorption. We then illustrate geographical variations and relationships for water optical properties, Chlorophyll a, and other pigments. The dataset will be useful to researchers in ocean optics, remote sensing, ecology, and biogeochemistry.
Alex T. Archibald, Bablu Sinha, Maria R. Russo, Emily Matthews, Freya A. Squires, N. Luke Abraham, Stephane J.-B. Bauguitte, Thomas J. Bannan, Thomas G. Bell, David Berry, Lucy J. Carpenter, Hugh Coe, Andrew Coward, Peter Edwards, Daniel Feltham, Dwayne Heard, Jim Hopkins, James Keeble, Elizabeth C. Kent, Brian A. King, Isobel R. Lawrence, James Lee, Claire R. Macintosh, Alex Megann, Bengamin I. Moat, Katie Read, Chris Reed, Malcolm J. Roberts, Reinhard Schiemann, David Schroeder, Timothy J. Smyth, Loren Temple, Navaneeth Thamban, Lisa Whalley, Simon Williams, Huihui Wu, and Mingxi Yang
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 135–164, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-135-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-135-2025, 2025
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Here, we present an overview of the data generated as part of the North Atlantic Climate System Integrated Study (ACSIS) programme that are available through dedicated repositories at the Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA; www.ceda.ac.uk) and the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC; bodc.ac.uk). The datasets described here cover the North Atlantic Ocean, the atmosphere above (it including its composition), and Arctic sea ice.
John Prytherch, Sonja Murto, Ian Brown, Adam Ulfsbo, Brett F. Thornton, Volker Brüchert, Michael Tjernström, Anna Lunde Hermansson, Amanda T. Nylund, and Lina A. Holthusen
Biogeosciences, 21, 671–688, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-671-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-671-2024, 2024
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We directly measured methane and carbon dioxide exchange between ocean or sea ice and the atmosphere during an icebreaker-based expedition to the central Arctic Ocean (CAO) in summer 2021. These measurements can help constrain climate models and carbon budgets. The methane measurements, the first such made in the CAO, are lower than previous estimates and imply that the CAO is an insignificant contributor to Arctic methane emission. Gas exchange rates are slower than previous estimates.
Clare Lewis, Tim Smyth, Jess Neumann, and Hannah Cloke
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 121–131, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-121-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-121-2024, 2024
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Meteotsunami are the result of atmospheric disturbances and can impact coastlines causing injury, loss of life, and damage to assets. This paper introduces a novel intensity index to allow for the quantification of these events at the shoreline. This has the potential to assist in the field of natural hazard assessment. It was trialled in the UK but designed for global applicability and to become a widely accepted standard in coastal planning, meteotsunami forecasting, and early warning systems.
Clare Lewis, Tim Smyth, David Williams, Jess Neumann, and Hannah Cloke
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 2531–2546, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-2531-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-2531-2023, 2023
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Meteotsunami are globally occurring water waves initiated by atmospheric disturbances. Previous research has suggested that in the UK, meteotsunami are a rare phenomenon and tend to occur in the summer months. This article presents a revised and updated catalogue of 98 meteotsunami that occurred between 1750 and 2022. Results also demonstrate a larger percentage of winter events and a geographical pattern highlighting the
hotspotregions that experience these events.
Peter Edward Land, Helen S. Findlay, Jamie D. Shutler, Jean-Francois Piolle, Richard Sims, Hannah Green, Vassilis Kitidis, Alexander Polukhin, and Irina I. Pipko
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 921–947, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-921-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-921-2023, 2023
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Measurements of the ocean’s carbonate system (e.g. CO2 and pH) have increased greatly in recent years, resulting in a need to combine these data with satellite measurements and model results, so they can be used to test predictions of how the ocean reacts to changes such as absorption of the CO2 emitted by humans. We show a method of combining data into regions of interest (100 km circles over a 10 d period) and apply it globally to produce a harmonised and easy-to-use data archive.
André Valente, Shubha Sathyendranath, Vanda Brotas, Steve Groom, Michael Grant, Thomas Jackson, Andrei Chuprin, Malcolm Taberner, Ruth Airs, David Antoine, Robert Arnone, William M. Balch, Kathryn Barker, Ray Barlow, Simon Bélanger, Jean-François Berthon, Şükrü Beşiktepe, Yngve Borsheim, Astrid Bracher, Vittorio Brando, Robert J. W. Brewin, Elisabetta Canuti, Francisco P. Chavez, Andrés Cianca, Hervé Claustre, Lesley Clementson, Richard Crout, Afonso Ferreira, Scott Freeman, Robert Frouin, Carlos García-Soto, Stuart W. Gibb, Ralf Goericke, Richard Gould, Nathalie Guillocheau, Stanford B. Hooker, Chuamin Hu, Mati Kahru, Milton Kampel, Holger Klein, Susanne Kratzer, Raphael Kudela, Jesus Ledesma, Steven Lohrenz, Hubert Loisel, Antonio Mannino, Victor Martinez-Vicente, Patricia Matrai, David McKee, Brian G. Mitchell, Tiffany Moisan, Enrique Montes, Frank Muller-Karger, Aimee Neeley, Michael Novak, Leonie O'Dowd, Michael Ondrusek, Trevor Platt, Alex J. Poulton, Michel Repecaud, Rüdiger Röttgers, Thomas Schroeder, Timothy Smyth, Denise Smythe-Wright, Heidi M. Sosik, Crystal Thomas, Rob Thomas, Gavin Tilstone, Andreia Tracana, Michael Twardowski, Vincenzo Vellucci, Kenneth Voss, Jeremy Werdell, Marcel Wernand, Bozena Wojtasiewicz, Simon Wright, and Giuseppe Zibordi
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 5737–5770, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-5737-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-5737-2022, 2022
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A compiled set of in situ data is vital to evaluate the quality of ocean-colour satellite data records. Here we describe the global compilation of bio-optical in situ data (spanning from 1997 to 2021) used for the validation of the ocean-colour products from the ESA Ocean Colour Climate Change Initiative (OC-CCI). The compilation merges and harmonizes several in situ data sources into a simple format that could be used directly for the evaluation of satellite-derived ocean-colour data.
Benjamin R. Loveday, Timothy Smyth, Anıl Akpinar, Tom Hull, Mark E. Inall, Jan Kaiser, Bastien Y. Queste, Matt Tobermann, Charlotte A. J. Williams, and Matthew R. Palmer
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 3997–4016, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3997-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3997-2022, 2022
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Using a new approach to combine autonomous underwater glider data and satellite Earth observations, we have generated a 19-month time series of North Sea net primary productivity – the rate at which phytoplankton absorbs carbon dioxide minus that lost through respiration. This time series, which spans 13 gliders, allows for new investigations into small-scale, high-frequency variability in the biogeochemical processes that underpin the carbon cycle and coastal marine ecosystems in shelf seas.
James P. J. Ward, Katharine R. Hendry, Sandra Arndt, Johan C. Faust, Felipe S. Freitas, Sian F. Henley, Jeffrey W. Krause, Christian März, Allyson C. Tessin, and Ruth L. Airs
Biogeosciences, 19, 3445–3467, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3445-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3445-2022, 2022
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The seafloor plays an important role in the cycling of silicon (Si), a key nutrient that promotes marine primary productivity. In our model study, we disentangle major controls on the seafloor Si cycle to better anticipate the impacts of continued warming and sea ice melt in the Barents Sea. We uncover a coupling of the iron redox and Si cycles, dissolution of lithogenic silicates, and authigenic clay formation, comprising a Si sink that could have implications for the Arctic Ocean Si budget.
Richard P. Sims, Michael Bedington, Ute Schuster, Andrew J. Watson, Vassilis Kitidis, Ricardo Torres, Helen S. Findlay, James R. Fishwick, Ian Brown, and Thomas G. Bell
Biogeosciences, 19, 1657–1674, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1657-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1657-2022, 2022
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The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) being absorbed by the ocean is relevant to the earth's climate. CO2 values in the coastal ocean and estuaries are not well known because of the instrumentation used. We used a new approach to measure CO2 across the coastal and estuarine zone. We found that CO2 and salinity were linked to the state of the tide. We used our CO2 measurements and model salinity to predict CO2. Previous studies overestimate how much CO2 the coastal ocean draws down at our site.
Darren R. Clark, Andrew P. Rees, Charissa M. Ferrera, Lisa Al-Moosawi, Paul J. Somerfield, Carolyn Harris, Graham D. Quartly, Stephen Goult, Glen Tarran, and Gennadi Lessin
Biogeosciences, 19, 1355–1376, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1355-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1355-2022, 2022
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Measurements of microbial processes were made in the sunlit open ocean during a research cruise (AMT19) between the UK and Chile. These help us to understand how microbial communities maintain the function of remote ecosystems. We find that the nitrogen cycling microbes which produce nitrite respond to changes in the environment. Our insights will aid the development of models that aim to replicate and ultimately project how marine environments may respond to ongoing climate change.
Clare Ostle, Kevin Paxman, Carolyn A. Graves, Mathew Arnold, Luis Felipe Artigas, Angus Atkinson, Anaïs Aubert, Malcolm Baptie, Beth Bear, Jacob Bedford, Michael Best, Eileen Bresnan, Rachel Brittain, Derek Broughton, Alexandre Budria, Kathryn Cook, Michelle Devlin, George Graham, Nick Halliday, Pierre Hélaouët, Marie Johansen, David G. Johns, Dan Lear, Margarita Machairopoulou, April McKinney, Adam Mellor, Alex Milligan, Sophie Pitois, Isabelle Rombouts, Cordula Scherer, Paul Tett, Claire Widdicombe, and Abigail McQuatters-Gollop
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 5617–5642, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5617-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5617-2021, 2021
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Plankton form the base of the marine food web and are sensitive indicators of environmental change. The Plankton Lifeform Extraction Tool brings together disparate plankton datasets into a central database from which it extracts abundance time series of plankton functional groups, called
lifeforms, according to shared biological traits. This tool has been designed to make complex plankton datasets accessible and meaningful for policy, public interest, and scientific discovery.
Sebastian Landwehr, Michele Volpi, F. Alexander Haumann, Charlotte M. Robinson, Iris Thurnherr, Valerio Ferracci, Andrea Baccarini, Jenny Thomas, Irina Gorodetskaya, Christian Tatzelt, Silvia Henning, Rob L. Modini, Heather J. Forrer, Yajuan Lin, Nicolas Cassar, Rafel Simó, Christel Hassler, Alireza Moallemi, Sarah E. Fawcett, Neil Harris, Ruth Airs, Marzieh H. Derkani, Alberto Alberello, Alessandro Toffoli, Gang Chen, Pablo Rodríguez-Ros, Marina Zamanillo, Pau Cortés-Greus, Lei Xue, Conor G. Bolas, Katherine C. Leonard, Fernando Perez-Cruz, David Walton, and Julia Schmale
Earth Syst. Dynam., 12, 1295–1369, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-1295-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-1295-2021, 2021
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The Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition surveyed a large number of variables describing the dynamic state of ocean and atmosphere, freshwater cycle, atmospheric chemistry, ocean biogeochemistry, and microbiology in the Southern Ocean. To reduce the dimensionality of the dataset, we apply a sparse principal component analysis and identify temporal patterns from diurnal to seasonal cycles, as well as geographical gradients and
hotspotsof interaction. Code and data are open access.
Neil J. Wyatt, Angela Milne, Eric P. Achterberg, Thomas J. Browning, Heather A. Bouman, E. Malcolm S. Woodward, and Maeve C. Lohan
Biogeosciences, 18, 4265–4280, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4265-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4265-2021, 2021
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Using data collected during two expeditions to the South Atlantic Ocean, we investigated how the interaction between external sources and biological activity influenced the availability of the trace metals zinc and cobalt. This is important as both metals play essential roles in the metabolism and growth of phytoplankton and thus influence primary productivity of the oceans. We found seasonal changes in both processes that helped explain upper-ocean trace metal cycling.
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Short summary
Western Channel Observatory is an oceanographic time series and biodiversity reference site within 40 km of Plymouth (UK), sampled since 1903. Differing levels of reporting and formatting hamper the use of the valuable individual datasets. We provide the first summary database as monthly averages where comparisons can be made of the physical, chemical and biological data. We describe the database, illustrate its utility to examine seasonality and longer-term trends, and summarize previous work.
Western Channel Observatory is an oceanographic time series and biodiversity reference site...
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