The dataset contains hydrographic, biogeochemical and biological measurements of ocean and seabed sediment properties. Hydrographic profiles provided measurements of temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and fluorescence to accompany biogeochemical and biological samples, including concentrations of nutrients, particulate organic carbon (POC) and particulate organic nitrogen (PON). Emphasis was placed on the collection of benthic data, with numerous core samples being collected and analysed for pigments, biomarkers, lipids and other organic compounds. Samples were also collected and analysed for Holothurian species, while a large volume in situ filtration system was used to measure biogeochemical variables including POC and PON, and particulate iron. Station data were supplemented by continuous underway measurements of bathymetry, current velocities, sea surface salinity, temperature, fluorescence and beam attenuation across the survey area. These were accompanied by underway measurements of surface meteorological parameters including irradiance, air temperature, humidity, sea level pressure and wind velocities. The data were collected across the Crozet Plateau in the Southern Indian Ocean between 1st December 2005 and 14th January 2006 on RRS Discovery cruise D300. Data collection focused on four sites, with repeated hydrographic profiles, water and sediment samples collected at each location. In total, 89 instrumentation deployments were carried out at the four stations, including a conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) package and a Megacorer (for sediment sampling). The underway system utilised a hull-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) as well as a thermosalinograph and other standard surface hydrographic and meteorological instruments. Further data were collected using a variety of equipment including an otter trawl (net) and submersible cameras but these data are currently held by the data originators and are undergoing processing so are not included in the parameter and instrument lists above. The principal objective of Benthic CROZEX was to assess the manner in which biogeochemical composition and flux of organic matter to the deep-sea floor drives benthic community structure, dynamics and diversity at sites with contrasting primary production regimes. Investigators from British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Natural History Museum (NHM), National Oceanographic Centre (NOC) and the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) were involved. Data management is being undertaken by the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) but data processing is ongoing and various data are yet to be submitted to BODC.

The Shelf Sea Biogeochemistry (SSB) data set comprises hydrographic data, including measurements of temperature, salinity and currents, complemented by bathymetric and meteorological data. The study area is located in the Celtic Sea, shelf seas and shelf-edges around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The data were collected by a combination of research cruises that spanned from March 2014 to September 2015. Shipboard data collection involved the deployment of conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) packages in the study area. Continuous measurements of current velocities (using vessel mounted ADCPs, VMADCPs), bathymetry and surface ocean and meteorological properties were collected throughout each cruise. Moorings were deployed in the Celtic Sea in early 2014 and provided approximately two years worth of hydrographic time series data. The SSB programme aims to increase the understanding of the cycling of nutrients and carbon and the controls on primary and secondary production, and their role in wider biogeochemical cycles, which in turn will significantly improve predictive marine biogeochemical and ecosystem models over a range of scales. SSB brings together UK researchers from Bangor University, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), Meteorological Office, National Oceanography Centre (NOC), Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), University of Aberdeen, University of East Anglia (UEA), University of Edinburgh, University of Liverpool, University of Oxford, University of Portsmouth and University of Southampton. It also has UK and Irish partners, as Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), Marine Institute and Marine Scotland Science. The programme was divided into five work packages, having Jonathan Sharples as the Principal Investigator for work package 1 (CANDYFLOSS), Martin Solan as Principal Investigator for work package 2 (Biogeochemistry, macronutrient and carbon cycling in the benthic layer), Peter J. Statham as Principal Investigator for work package 3 (Supply of iron from shelf sediments to the ocean), Icarus Allen as Principal Investigator for work package 4 (Integrative Modelling for Shelf Seas Biogeochemistry) and Keith Weston as Principal Investigator for work package 5 (Blue Carbon – How much carbon is stored in UK shelf seas, what influences storage and could it be used in carbon trading?). All data will be managed by the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC).

The cross-disciplinary themes will result in a diverse data catalogue. The ship collected data will be in the form of sea surface meteorology (2-D wind speed and direction, total irradiance, Photosynthetically Active Radiation/PAR, air temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity); atmospheric carbon dioxide (pCO2); biological, chemical and physical properties and processes in the marine photic zone (carbonate chemistry - pCO2, total alkalinity, pH, DIC; dissolved gases - oxygen; nutrient concentrations, ammonium regeneration, nitrification, nitrogen fixation, zooplankon ecology, chlorophyll concentration, photosynthetic pigment composition, bacterial production, phytoplankton and bacterial speciation, concentrations of biogenic trace compounds such as dimethyl sulphide/DMS and dimthylsulphoniopropionate/DMSP, salinity, temperature, zooplankon ecology) and bioassays of these same parameters under different future IPCC CO2 and temperature scenarios. The long-term (18 month) laboratory based mesocosm experiments will include data on individual organism response (growth, immune response, reproductive fitness) under different future IPCC CO2 and temperature scenarios in rocky intertidal, soft sediment and calcareous biogenic habitats, as well as the effects on commercially important species of fish and shellfish. The analysis of sediment cores will provide greater resolution of the paleo record during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). Data will be used to aid the parameterisation of coastal and continental shelf seas (Northern Europe and the Arctic) model runs as well as larger scale global models. The shipboard fieldwork will take place around the UK, in the Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean. The mesocosms will look at temperate marine species common to UK shelf seas. Sediment cores have been collected from Tanzania. The models will look from the coastal seas of Northern Europe to the whole globe. Data to be generated will include data collected at sea, short-term (2-3 day) ship-board bioassays, from long-term (18 month) laboratory based mesocosm experiments and reconstructed paleo records from sediment cores. The 5 year UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme is the UK’s response to growing concerns over ocean acidification. Aims: 1 - to reduce uncertainties in predictions of carbonate chemistry changes and their effects on marine biogeochemistry, ecosystems and other components of the Earth System; 2 - to understand the responses to ocean acidification, and other climate change related stressors, by marine organisms, biodiversity and ecosystems and to improve understanding of their resistance or susceptibility to acidification; 3 - to provide data and effective advice to policy makers and managers of marine bioresources on the potential size and timescale of risks, to allow for development of appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies. The study unites over 100 marine scientists from 27 institutions across the UK. It is jointly funded by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).