Dataset: Zooplankton biomass and species composition and abundance in the southeastern Caribbean Sea (Cariaco Basin) from October 2001 – January 2017 collected by the CARIACO Ocean Time-Series Program

The CARIACO Ocean Time-Series Program (formerly known as CArbon Retention In A Colored Ocean) started on November 1995 (CAR-001) and ended on January 2017 (CAR-232). Monthly cruises were conducted to the CARIACO station (10.50° N, 64.67° W) onboard the R/V Hermano Ginés of the Fundación La Salle de Ciencias Naturales de Venezuela. The program studied the relationship between surface primary production, physical forcing variables like the wind, and the settling flux of particulate carbon in the Cariaco Basin. This depression, located on the continental shelf of Venezuela, shows marked seasonal and interannual variation in hydrographic properties and primary production (carbon fixation rates by photosynthesis of planktonic algae).

The CARIACO Ocean Time-Series study area is the Cariaco Basin, located on the continental shelf of Venezuela, in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. The Cariaco Basin is a large (∼160 km long, 70 km wide) and deep (∼1,400 m) basin, located on the Venezuelan continental shelf, with an area of approximately 11.200 km2; bound to the north by a sill connecting Margarita Island to Cabo Codera, at a mean depth of about 100 m with two channels breaching this sill (La Tortuga: ∼135 m and Centinela: ∼146 m). The basin is divided into two sub-basins, one eastern and one western, separated by a saddle of approximately 900 m deep. The Cariaco Basin region is between 10-11 degrees N and 64-66 degrees W.

The Cariaco Basin shows marked seasonal and interannual variation in hydrographic properties and primary production (carbon fixation rates by photosynthesis of planktonic algae) due to the seasonal coastal upwelling. The Cariaco Basin hydrography is affected by North-Atlantic gyre-scale processes, including dispersal of Subtropical Underwater and western boundary current variability, cross-equatorial flow of water masses, wind-driven upwelling compounded by geostrophic circulation, ventilation forced by Caribbean Sea eddies, and river discharge. Due to its restricted circulation and high primary production, the basin is anoxic below ~250 m.

Zooplankton sampling was done during each CARIACO time-series cruise from October 2001 to January 2017 (cruises CAR071 - CAR232). Oblique BONGO net tow samples from 200 m to the surface were analyzed to determine biomass (dry weight and ash content) and taxonomic composition. Empty values denote that a specific zooplankton group was not found at that cruise.

More information can be found in the following web pages:
Web page of the CARIACO Ocean Time-Series Program: http://imars.usf.edu/cariaco
General description: http://www.imars.usf.edu/cariaco
Methodology: http://imars.usf.edu/publications/methods-cariaco
List of publications: http://imars.usf.edu/view/biblio/803738/year

These data were also funded by the following awards:
- 23914: Ley Orgánica de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, LOCTI (Estación de Investigaciones Marinas), Venezuela.
- 2011000353: Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, IAI (IAI-CRN3094).