Abstract:
The Atlantic Meridional Transect – AMT is a multidisciplinary programme which undertakes
biological, chemical and physical oceanographic research during an annual voyage between the UK and
destinations in the South Atlantic - previously the Falkland Islands and South Africa, and for this cruise Punta
Arenas Chile. This transect crosses a range of ecosystems from sub-polar to tropical and from euphotic shelf
seas and upwelling systems to oligotrophic mid-ocean gyres.
The programme was established in 1995 and this was the 19th in the series of research cruises which have
involved over 200 scientists from 11 countries. AMT has proved to be a long-term multidisciplinary ocean
observation programme, which is a platform for national and international scientific collaboration, a training arena
for the next generation of oceanographers and an ideal facility for validation of novel technology. AMT continues
to contribute to science and policy development including the social and economic understanding of the marine
environment and services it delivers.
The main deliverable of AMT is an unique time series (1995-2012) of spatially extensive and internally consistent
observations on the structure and biogeochemical properties of planktonic ecosystems in the Atlantic Ocean that
are required to validate models addressing questions related to the global carbon cycle. Data sets include:
Vertical CTD profiles and continuous underway data
Optical characteristics of the water column
Biogeochemical measurements on water samples including nutrients, pigments, dissolved gases and
particulate carbon and nitrogen
Primary, new production and respiration measurements
