A cruise along the rim of the Scotia Sea that took place from March 15 to April 23, 1999 on the RRS James Clark Ross. The aim of the cruise was to study the influence of the Scotia Sea on global ocean circulation by undertaking a detailed hydrographic survey of a box surrounding the Scotia Sea, with CFCs, oxygen isotopes, tritium, helium and nutrients sampled as well as the traditional temperature, salinity and oxygen. The specific goals of ALBATROSS were:

• to determine the pathways of the Weddell Sea Deep Water (WSDW) as it enters and leaves the Scotia Sea;
• to quantify the cooling and freshening of Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) as it crosses the Scotia Sea;
• to determine the pathway and transport of Southeast Pacific Deep Water (SEPDW) across the Falkland Plateau;
• to measure the transport of the Falkland Current and compare with the transport of the wind stress curl forced western boundary current;
• to compute heat, fresh water and other tracer budgets for the Scotia Sea, southwestern Atlantic and western Weddell Sea;
• the calculate the transport and characterize the fronts associated with the ACC as it enters and leaves the Scotia Sea;
• to determine the interannual variability of the transport and water mass properties of the ACC at Drake Passage; and
• to determine temporal changes to the water masses of the Scotia Sea and the extent to which recently ventilated deep waters may have been affected by climate change.