Hydrographic, nutrient, and carbonate system data from R/V Janan cruises in the Arabian Gulf in December 2018 and May 2019

Abstract

The data show that the average value of pCO2 in surface seawater in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Qatar is supersaturated with respect to the atmosphere. The excess pCO2 reflects a balance between a source due to the impact of increasing T and S on the carbonate system equilibrium constants and a sink due to CO2 loss due to gas exchange from surface seawater after it enters the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz. Nevertheless, CaCO3 formation was still more important, relative to net biological production, than in the open ocean. The tracer Alk* has values determined by CaCO3 formation and had values suggesting substantial CaCO3 formation.

For a complete list of measurements, refer to the full dataset description in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'. The most current version of this dataset is available at: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/833517