Limitations and Restrictions

The accuracy of the delta ¹⁴C estimates is actually ±4 parts/thousand and the precision is ±3.5 parts/thousand. In the header records preceding each station's data, the position of the ship is given in degrees and minutes, however the ship frequently drifted during station time, so the position is defined to no better than ± a few minutes.

According to Stuiver and Ostlund (1983) a small number of anomalous results are observed in the data for the Indian Ocean. Specifically, the 4611 meter sample of station 435 appears to be anomalous, and the sample depths 89, 396, and 595 for station 442 are probably mislabeled. The user should also be aware that the TCO₂ (total amount of inorganic carbon) data listed in the pertinent literature section of this document were still preliminary at the time of publication and should be treated as such. However, because the GEOSECS shipboard/shore based data tapes distributed by SIO do not contain revised or finalized total CO₂ estimates, these preliminary estimates are still the best available.