Surface water mixing estimated from 228Ra and 226Ra in the northwestern North Pacific. 2008

Hajime Kawakami, and Masashi Kusakabe
Mutsu Institute for Oceanography, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 690 Aza-kitasekine Oaza-sekine, Mutsu, Aomori, Japan. kawakami@jamstec.go.jp

We investigated the horizontal distributions of (228)Ra and (226)Ra in surface waters of the northwestern North Pacific Ocean and Okhotsk Sea. Ratios of (228)Ra/(226)Ra were relatively large in the Tsugaru Current (0.6-0.8) and Okhotsk Sea (0.4-0.5), and small in the Western Subarctic Gyre (<0.2) and the Oyashio (0.25-0.3). (228)Ra/(226)Ra ratios in western Subarctic Water (SAW) rose slightly upon mixing with Okhotsk Water (OKW), before becoming the Oyashio Water (OYW). Also, ratios in the OYW increased during mixing with Tsugaru Current Water (TCW). Estimating from (228)Ra/(226)Ra ratios and (226)Ra activities with a simple two-end members-mixing model, we assumed that approximately 23% of the OYW originated from the OKW and the coastal region off northern Honshu (Japan) was strongly influenced by the TCW. From a diagram of (228)Ra activities against salinity, we could roughly divide surface seawater in the study area into the five water masses, which were SAW, OYW, OKW, TCW, and Subtropical Water (STW).

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D010140 Pacific Ocean Body of water between Asia and South America, extending from the Arctic circle to the Equator and from the Equator to the Antarctic.
D011886 Radon A naturally radioactive element with atomic symbol Rn, and atomic number 86. It is a member of the noble gas family found in soil, and is released during the decay of RADIUM. Actinon,Thoron (Element)
D014875 Water Pollutants, Radioactive Pollutants, present in water or bodies of water, which exhibit radioactivity. Pollutants, Radioactive Water,Radioactive Water Pollutants

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