Abstract. Several open-ocean mesoscale features -a "young" warm-core (anti-cyclonic) eddy at 52 • S, an "older" warm-core eddy at 57.5 • S and an adjacent cold-core (cyclonic) eddy at 56 • S -were surveyed during a R/V S.A. Agulhas II cruise in April 2014. The main aim of the survey was to obtain hydrographical and biogeochemical profile data for contrasting open-ocean eddies in the Southern Ocean, which will be suitable for comparative study and modelling of their heat, salt and nutrient characteristics, and the changes that occur in these properties as warm-core eddies migrate from the polar front southwards. The major result is that the older warm-core eddy at 57.5 • S is, at its core, 2.7 • C colder than a younger eddy at 52 • S, while its dissolved silicate levels are almost 500 % higher and accompanied by chlorophyll a levels that are more than 200 % higher than that in the younger eddy. A total of 18 CTD stations were occupied in a sector south of the Southwest Indian Ridge, along three transects crossing several mesoscale features identified from satellite altimetry data prior to the cruise. The CTD data, as well as chlorophyll a and dissolved nutrient data (for NO

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Abstract. Several open-ocean mesoscale features, a "young" warm-core (anti-cyclonic) eddy at 52° S, an "older" warm-core eddy at 57.5° S, as well as an adjacent cold-core (cyclonic) eddy at 56° S, were surveyed during a M/V S.A. Agulhas II cruise in April 2014. The main aim of the survey was to obtain hydrographical and biogeochemical profile data for contrasting open-ocean eddies in the Southern Ocean, that will be suitable for comparison and modelling of their heat, salt and nutrient characteristics, and the changes that occur in these properties as warm-core eddies migrate from the polar front southwards into the Southern Ocean. Results show that the older warm-core eddy at 57.5° S is, at its core, 2.7 °C colder than a younger eddy at 52° S, while its dissolved silicate levels are almost 500 % higher and accompanied by chl a levels that are more than 200 % higher than that in the younger eddy. A total of 18 CTD stations were occupied in a sector south of the Southwest Indian Ridge, along three transects crossing several mesoscale features identified from satellite altimetry data prior to the cruise. The CTD data, as well as chl a and dissolved nutrient data (for NO3−, NO2−, PO43− and SiO2) have been processed, quality-controlled and made available via the PANGAEA Data Archiving and Publication database at doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.848875.