Processed CTD continuous observations from the Physical-Chemical Oceanography Cruise on the Africana Voyage 067, September 1988

Here we present processed downcast Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) continuous data collected between 14 and 30 September 1988 during Voyage 067 on the FRS Africana, in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) region on the west coast of Southern Africa. Neil Brown MK3 and MK4 CTD instruments were used to measure pressure, temperature and conductivity through the water column during research and monitoring cruises between 1983 and 2000. The Physical-Chemical Oceanography Cruise was divided into two legs with the first leg focusing on physical oceanography and the latter on chemical oceanography. The purpose of the first leg of the cruise was primarily to moor current meters and water-level recorders at various sites, mostly north of the Orange River, and to obtain a precise set of Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) data on a line running normal to the topography from a point in 4200m of water into Conception Bay. The CTD data will be used to calculate water flux along the shelf using inverse techniques. The objectives of the second leg included deploying the Kriel sequential sediment trap west of Walvis Bay, recovering Sea Fisheries Research Institute (SFRI) sediment traps deployed in the first half of the cruise, investigating trends in primary production in the vicinity of the Kriel trap mooring and around upwelling centres using C-14 deck incubations and conducting box coring and hydrological sampling to investigate the high carbon loading of the South West Africa (Namibia) shelf sediments.