Physical oceanographic profiles of 14 CTD casts during Poseidon cruise POS366/2 from the Northeast Atlantic in 2008

In the study region wind transport forms the major transport mechanism by episodically transporting large amounts of particles into the upper water column. Recent studies have revealed that these particles are most probably not transported down through the water column immediately but that there are several layers within the water column where these particles remain in suspension.

It is suggested that the residence time of these particles within these so called nepheloid layers might be up to several thousands of years. For adequate subsampling of these layers with the help of in-situ pumps and a Rosette containing 18 Niskin bottles (10 l volume), the temperature, density, chlorophyll and oxygen differences of the upper 600m of the water column was determined using a CTD (seabird 911+).