The Cariaco Basin: CARIACO Oceanographic Time Series.

As we enter the new millennium, only a handful of multiyear time series of observations are available to study the connection between surface primary production; the nutrient cycles of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus; and the settling flux of particulate matter to the bottom of the ocean. The CArbon Retention In A Colored Ocean (CARIACO) ocean time series program, established in November 1995 in the eastern Cariaco Basin off the coast of Venezuela, was established to address these issues in a tropical continentalshelf setting affected by coastal upwelling (Muller-Karger et al., 2000). Here we provide an overview of the results from the CARIACO program and develop a simple carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus budget for the Cariaco Basin (Table 8.5.1).