RRS James Clark Ross Cruise JR15003, 17 Dec 2015 - 13 Jan 2016. Hydrographic measurements on GO-SHIP line SR1b and investigations of circulation and isotope cycles in coastal West Antarctica.

This cruise comprised work contributing to five projects. The twenty-first complete occupation of the Drake Passage GO-SHIP section SR1b obtained full-depth temperature, salinity, and lowered ADCP velocity profiles at 28 stations, along with underway measurements, with the objectives of investigating and monitoring interannual variability and trends in Antarctic Circumpolar Current structure and property transports and Southern Ocean water mass properties. Turnarounds of bottom pressure recorder (BPR) moorings contributed to the long time series of bottom pressure in Drake Passage. Biogeochemically-equipped Argo floats were deployed as part of the Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modelling (SOCCOM) project to increase climate-quality observations in the Southern Ocean. Gliders were deployed over the Western Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf to measure properties and circulation with the aim of understanding flow and mixing of warm waters onto the shelf. Hydrographic profiles and water column and sediment samples taken over the continental shelf will be used to investigate stable isotope nutrient cycling processes.