Particulate Organic Matter data (stable isotope) for the Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB): May 2017.IEP:SB focuses on the biologically productive, cold waters of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem, which are inherently variable on short time-scales and responsive to changing weather patterms. The research aims to provide relevant, reliable and improved assessment of the ecosystem, in support of its effective management, preservation and conservation, so that South Africans can benefit from a healthy and well-functioning ocean environment. The overarching objective is to enhance understanding in process studies by assessing the importance, timing and magnitude of mechanisms and processes that influence the Southern Benguela ecosystem structure and functioning, including the climate variability.

World Ocean Atlas 2018 (WOA18) is a set of objectively analyzed (one degree grid and quarter degree grid) climatological fields of in situ temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, Apparent Oxygen Utilization (AOU), percent oxygen saturation, phosphate, silicate, and nitrate at standard depth levels for annual, seasonal, and monthly compositing periods for the World Ocean. Quarter degree fields are for temperature and salinity only. It also includes associated statistical fields of observed oceanographic profile data interpolated to standard depth levels on quarter degree, one degree, and five degree grids. Temperature and salinity fields are available for six decades (1955-1964, 1965-1974, 1975-1984, 1985-1994, 1995-2004, and 2005-2017) an average of all decades representing the period 1955-2017, as well as a thirty year "climate normal" period 1981-2010. Oxygen fields (as well as AOU and percent oxygen saturation) are available using all quality controlled data 1960-2017, nutrient fields using all quality controlled data from the entire sampling period 1878-2017. This accession is a product generated by the National Centers for Environmental Information's (NCEI) Ocean Climate Laboratory Team. The analyses are derived from the NCEI World Ocean Database 2018.