Astonishing protactinium and thorium profiles in the Mediterranean Sea

In the framework of the GEOTRACES cruise along the GA04 section in the Meditterranean Sea, Gdaniec et al. (2018, see reference below) measured thorium (Th) and protactinium (Pa) isotope distributions on 8 profiles across the Mediterranean Sea. Contrasting with what is observed in the open ocean:

  • Depth profiles of these tracers are non linear, indicating that these profiles are overprinted by deep water circulation. These bended shapes allow identifying convection processes in the NW basin and occurrence of depleted Aegean and enriched Adriatic waters.
  • 99% of the 230Th and 94% of the (although more soluble) 231Pa in situ produced are scavenged and deposited within the Mediterranean Sea.
  • The fractionation factors between Th and Pa (FTh/Pa) are low, reflecting the important removal of the 231Pa compare to the open ocean.
  • The 232Th distribution mainly reflects the input of lithogenic material from rivers and/or sediment resuspension.

Figure: Map of (a) Pa-Th sampling sites and and section plots of (b) 231Pa, (c) 230Th, and (d) 232Th measured in unfiltered seawater sampled along the GEOTRACES GA04 section in the Mediterranean Sea. SABB: Southern Algero-Balearic Basin, CABB: Central Algero-Balearic Basin and NABB: Northern Algero-Balearic Basin.

Reference:

Gdaniec, S., Roy-Barman, M., Foliot, L., Thil, F., Dapoigny, A., Burckel, P., Garcia-Orellana, J., Masqué, P., Mörth, C-M., Andersson, P. S. (2018). Thorium and protactinium isotopes as tracers of marine particle fluxes and deep water circulation in the Mediterranean Sea. Marine Chemistry, 199, 12–23. http://doi.org/10.1016/J.MARCHEM.2017.12.002

Latest highlights

Dissolved nickel sources: transformation and sinks in the Arabian Sea

Malla and co-authors present an extensive study of the distribution of dissolved nickel in the Arabian Sea.

Linking cadmium cycling to phosphate dynamics in the Indian Ocean: Evidence from GEOTRACES transects

Mishra and Singh determined cadmium and phosphate concentrations along 34 complete vertical profiles in the Indian Ocean.

New software enables global ocean biogeochemical modeling in Python

The newly designed tmm4py software makes biogeochemical modelling more widely accessible.

Aerosol dissolution and iron isotope fractionation during atmospheric transport

Camin and co-authors present the iron concentrations and isotopic compositions of aerosols in previously undocumented areas of the Pacific Ocean.

Rechercher