The Potential of 233U/236U as a Water Mass Tracer in the Arctic Ocean
This study explores for the first time the possibilities that the 233U/236U atom ratio offers to distinguish waters of Atlantic or Pacific origin in the Arctic Ocean. Atlantic waters entering the Arctic Ocean often carry an isotopic signature dominantly originating from European reprocessing facilit...
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ftethz:oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/541798 2023-05-15T14:36:55+02:00 The Potential of 233U/236U as a Water Mass Tracer in the Arctic Ocean Chamizo, Elena Christl, Marcus López-Lora, Mercedes Casacuberta, Núria Wefing, Anne-Marie Kenna, Timothy C. 2022-03 application/application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/541798 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000541798 en eng American Geophysical Union info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1029/2021JC017790 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000776507900003 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/SNF/PRIMA/193091 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/541798 doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000541798 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International CC-BY-NC Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 127 (3) info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2022 ftethz https://doi.org/20.500.11850/541798 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000541798 https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017790 2023-02-20T00:40:23Z This study explores for the first time the possibilities that the 233U/236U atom ratio offers to distinguish waters of Atlantic or Pacific origin in the Arctic Ocean. Atlantic waters entering the Arctic Ocean often carry an isotopic signature dominantly originating from European reprocessing facilities with some smaller contribution from global fallout nuclides, whereas northern Pacific waters are labeled with nuclides released during the atmospheric nuclear testing period only. In the Arctic Ocean, 233U originates from global fallout while 236U carries both, a global fallout and a prominent nuclear reprocessing signal. Thus, the 233U/236U ratio provides a tool to identify water masses with distinct U sources. In this work, 233U and 236U were analyzed in samples from the GN01 GEOTRACES expedition to the western Arctic Ocean in 2015. The study of depth profiles and surface seawater samples shows that: (a) Pacific and Atlantic waters show enhanced signals of both radionuclides, which can be unraveled based on their 233U/236U signature; and (b) Deep and Bottom Waters show extremely low 233U and 236U concentrations close to or below analytical detection limits with isotopic ratios distinct from known anthropogenic U sources. The comparably high 233U/236U ratios are interpreted as a relative increase of naturally occurring 233U and 236U and thus for gradually reaching natural 233U/236U levels in the deep Arctic Ocean. Our results set the basis for future studies using the 233U/236U ratio to distinguish anthropogenic and pre-anthropogenic U in the Arctic Ocean and beyond. ISSN:0148-0227 ISSN:2169-9275 Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ocean ETH Zürich Research Collection Arctic Arctic Ocean Pacific |
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ETH Zürich Research Collection |
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English |
description |
This study explores for the first time the possibilities that the 233U/236U atom ratio offers to distinguish waters of Atlantic or Pacific origin in the Arctic Ocean. Atlantic waters entering the Arctic Ocean often carry an isotopic signature dominantly originating from European reprocessing facilities with some smaller contribution from global fallout nuclides, whereas northern Pacific waters are labeled with nuclides released during the atmospheric nuclear testing period only. In the Arctic Ocean, 233U originates from global fallout while 236U carries both, a global fallout and a prominent nuclear reprocessing signal. Thus, the 233U/236U ratio provides a tool to identify water masses with distinct U sources. In this work, 233U and 236U were analyzed in samples from the GN01 GEOTRACES expedition to the western Arctic Ocean in 2015. The study of depth profiles and surface seawater samples shows that: (a) Pacific and Atlantic waters show enhanced signals of both radionuclides, which can be unraveled based on their 233U/236U signature; and (b) Deep and Bottom Waters show extremely low 233U and 236U concentrations close to or below analytical detection limits with isotopic ratios distinct from known anthropogenic U sources. The comparably high 233U/236U ratios are interpreted as a relative increase of naturally occurring 233U and 236U and thus for gradually reaching natural 233U/236U levels in the deep Arctic Ocean. Our results set the basis for future studies using the 233U/236U ratio to distinguish anthropogenic and pre-anthropogenic U in the Arctic Ocean and beyond. ISSN:0148-0227 ISSN:2169-9275 |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Chamizo, Elena Christl, Marcus López-Lora, Mercedes Casacuberta, Núria Wefing, Anne-Marie Kenna, Timothy C. |
spellingShingle |
Chamizo, Elena Christl, Marcus López-Lora, Mercedes Casacuberta, Núria Wefing, Anne-Marie Kenna, Timothy C. The Potential of 233U/236U as a Water Mass Tracer in the Arctic Ocean |
author_facet |
Chamizo, Elena Christl, Marcus López-Lora, Mercedes Casacuberta, Núria Wefing, Anne-Marie Kenna, Timothy C. |
author_sort |
Chamizo, Elena |
title |
The Potential of 233U/236U as a Water Mass Tracer in the Arctic Ocean |
title_short |
The Potential of 233U/236U as a Water Mass Tracer in the Arctic Ocean |
title_full |
The Potential of 233U/236U as a Water Mass Tracer in the Arctic Ocean |
title_fullStr |
The Potential of 233U/236U as a Water Mass Tracer in the Arctic Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Potential of 233U/236U as a Water Mass Tracer in the Arctic Ocean |
title_sort |
potential of 233u/236u as a water mass tracer in the arctic ocean |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/541798 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000541798 |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Pacific |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
op_source |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 127 (3) |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1029/2021JC017790 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000776507900003 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/SNF/PRIMA/193091 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/541798 doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000541798 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.11850/541798 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000541798 https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC017790 |
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1766309441679917056 |