46 voyages power Mallorca's Mediterranean climate check

Forty-six research voyages are now feeding a Mediterranean climate check designed to give firmer readings on shifts in temperature, oxygen and pH. On 26 August, the Oceanographic Centre of the Balearic Islands in Mallorca and the A Coruña centre of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography launched Carimed with marine institutions from Europe and the United States. The database gathers measurements taken between 1976 and 2018 across every Mediterranean sub-basin and throughout the water column.

Lost records brought together

Carimed combines hydrographic readings with data on inorganic carbon, chemical tracers and other supporting information. The tracers can be used to work out the age of water masses and how well they have been ventilated.

A considerable share of the material came from fragmented historical records or local archives that had not previously been accessible. Other data came from international campaigns aboard national and international oceanographic ships, involving staff from the Spanish Institute of Oceanography's Inocen group.

A check for hidden bias

The tool uses a second quality-control process known as 2QC, developed specifically for the Mediterranean. It is intended to reduce systematic bias in biogeochemical measurements.

Researchers built the process around the Mediterranean's particular conditions, including abrupt changes in deep water in both its eastern and western basins. They say the checks produce a more consistent dataset, allowing climate-related trends to be assessed more robustly.

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com