Data Summary

This numeric data package contains six files, originally distributed on magnetic tape: a descriptive file, a FORTRAN data retrieval program, a SAS^TM data retrieval program, and three GEOSECS radiocarbon data files. These radiocarbon data were extracted from the GEOSECS shorebased/shipboard data tape distributed by the STS/Oceanographic Data Faclity at Scripps Instituion of Oceanography in La Jolla, California.

The sampling technique and measurement procedure used in the radiocarbon determinations is described in a paper by Stuiver et al. (1974). The CO₂ was extracted aboard the ship following a method modified from Fonselius and Ostlund (1959). The CO₂ samples were absorbed in excess NaOH, kept in well-sealed bottles, and sent to laboratories for futher processing.

The ¹⁴C scale used for generating the data is basically the same as the one proposed by Broecker and Olson (1961) and follows the recommendations of Stuiver and Polach (1977). Specifically, these recommendations are that the ¹⁴C values are to be recalculated to a standardized state of isotopic fraction euivalent to standard wood (delta¹³C = -25%) and that they relate to activities at the time of sampling.

Each of the three radiocarbon data files contains header information followed by lines of data for each cast and sampling depth. The first header record for each station contains an indicator of whether the station has multiple records (MREC); the originator's nationality (NATION); the Rosette/Naskin ID (ROSID); the Canadian 10-degree, one-degree, two-degree, and five-degree square (SQ, ONESQ, TWOSQ, and FIVESQ); the hemisphere of latitude (HEMLAT); latitude degrees, minutes, and tenths (DEGLAT, MINLAT, and MINTEN); the hemisphere of longitude (HEMLON); the longitude degrees, minutes, and tenths (DEGLON, MINLON, and LONTEN); the year, month, and day of sampling in Greenwich Mean time (YEAR, MONTH, and DAY); the alphanumeric ship code (CODE); the depth to the bottom in meters (BDEPTH); the first observed depth (ODEPTH); and the maximum sampling depth (SDEPTH). These headers are formatted as follows:

     READ(UNIT,10) MREC,NATION,ROSID,SQ,ONESQ,TWOSQ,FIVESQ,HEMLAT,
    1 DEGLAT,MINLAT,MINTEN,HEMLON,DEGLON,MINLON,LONTEN,YEAR 
    2 MONTH,DAY,CODE,BDEPTH,ODEPTH,SDEPTH
 10   FORMAT (1X,I1,A3,9X,I2,2X,I4,I2,I2,I1,A1,I2,I2,I1,A1,I3,
    1 I2,I1,1X,I2,I2,I2,3X,2A3,I5,10X,I4,I4)

The second header record for each station contains the originator's cruise (CRUISE), the station number (STATN), the number of observed depths (NUMOBS), and the number of detail depths (NUMDET).These headers are formatted as follows:

      READ(UNIT,20) CRUISE,STATN,NUMOBS,NUMDET                                  
 20   FORMAT(14X,A3,3A3,35X,I3,2X,I3)                                           

The lines of data which follow the two lines of header information contain the cast number (CAST), bottle number (BOT), sample depth in meters (DEPTH), potential temperature in degrees celsius (TEMP), salinity (SALIN), big delta C-14 measured at the University of Washington (C14), and big delta C-14 measured at the University of Miami (CARB14). The salinity measurements are expressed in g/kg seawater and the delta C-14 measurements are expressed per mil. The data lines are formatted as follows:

      READ(UNIT,30,END=99) CAST,BOT,DEPTH,TEMP,SALIN,C14,CARB14
 30   FORMAT(2X,I2,I2,2X,I5,2X,F6.3,2X,F6.3,2X,F6.1,2X,F6.1)

All missing values in each of the three radiocarbon data files are represented by blank fields.