Cruises

Three types of cruise are required to meet the goals set out by the GEOTRACES Science Plan. These are

1. Section cruises - These will measure all the key parameters listed in the Science Plan over the full depth of the water column. The sections are discussed and approved by the International GEOTRACES Scientific Steering Committee at basin workshops and must follow the Criteria for GEOTRACES ocean section cruises document.
2. Process Studies - These will investigate a particular process relevant to the cycling of trace metal and isotopes. They must follow the Criteria for Establishing GEOTRACES Process Studies and be approved by the International GEOTRACES Scientific Steering Committee.
3. Cruises collecting GEOTRACES compliant data - These will collect some trace element or isotope data and must follow the Criteria for establishing GEOTRACES Compliant Data.

Information relating to the cruises, including pre-cruise and post-cruise requirements, metadata forms, the cruise programme, section information and maps and their associated data sets is accessible. To find out more please follow the links below

• Programme - a complete list of known GEOTRACES cruises, past and future.
• GEOTRACES Interactive World Map - visualisation of GEOTRACES cruise tracks and information on endorssed cruises (Section Cruise, Process Study and Compliant Data).
• Documentation - details of (pre and post) cruise metadata and data requirements, access to metadata forms, Cruise Summary Report forms and other guides.