Radon-222/Radium-226 profiles Beaurfort Sea
We present 34 profiles of radon-deficit from the ice-ocean boundary layer of the Beaufort Sea. Including these 34, there are presently 58 published radon-deficit estimates of k, the air-sea gas transfer velocity in the Arctic Ocean; 52 of these estimates were derived from water covered by 10% sea ic...
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| Format: | Dataset |
| Language: | English |
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Arctic Data Center
2016
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| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.18739/a2pv6b70j https://arcticdata.io/catalog/#view/doi:10.18739/A2PV6B70J |
| Summary: | We present 34 profiles of radon-deficit from the ice-ocean boundary layer of the Beaufort Sea. Including these 34, there are presently 58 published radon-deficit estimates of k, the air-sea gas transfer velocity in the Arctic Ocean; 52 of these estimates were derived from water covered by 10% sea ice or more. The average value of K collected since 2011 is 4.0 +- 1.2 m d-1 This exceeds the quadratic wind speed prediction of weighted kws = 2.85 m d-1 with mean weighted wind speed of 6.4 m s-1. We show how ice cover changes the mixed-layer radon budget, and yields an “effective gas transfer velocity”. We use these 58 estimates to statistically evaluate the suitability of a wind speed parameterization for k, when the ocean surface is ice covered. Whereas the six profiles taken from the open ocean indicate a statistically good fit to wind speed parameterizations, the same parameterizations could not reproduce k from the sea ice zone. We conclude that techniques for estimating k in the open ocean cannot be similarly applied to determine k in the presence of sea ice. The magnitude of k through gaps in the ice may reach high values as ice cover increases, possibly as a result of focused turbulence dissipation at openings in the free surface. These 58 profiles are presently the most complete set of estimates of k across seasons and variable ice cover; as dissolved tracer budgets, they reflect air-sea gas exchange with no impact from air-ice gas exchange. |
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