Deployment: Global_POM

Text below extracted from:
Adam C. Martiny, Jasper A. Vrugt, and Michael W. Lomas. Concentrations and ratios of particulate organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in the global ocean. In review. 2014.

To address this issue, we here present a compilation of measurements of marine particulate organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus from 70 cruises or time-series during the last 40 years (Table 1). The dataset includes a total 60811 measurements of particulate organic nutrients and covers 5365 unique stations from all major ocean regions (Figure 1). 89% of the samples originate from the top 200m of the water and thus the dataset is skewed towards processes occurring in or near the euphotic zone (Figure 2A). The data is also biased towards regions of oceanographic research. This includes samples near the Palmer Station in the Southern Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and Eastern North Pacific Ocean (including HOT station and California Current) (Figure 2B,C). Thus, this compilation of data also identifies regions where we currently have sparse data (e.g., the South Pacific, South Atlantic, and Eastern Indian Ocean). Overall, the median C:P, N:P, and C:N ratios are 163, 22, and 6.6, respectively, in this dataset but the data covers a wide range for all three ratios (Figure 2D-F). Combined with the wide geographic extent of the data, this compilation will enable a range of studies of elemental ratios in particulate organic matter.