A complete review of published and new water column profiles of thorium-230 (230Th) and protactinium-231 (231Pa) concentrations and neodymium (Nd) isotopic compositions collected in the Amerasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean between 1983 and 2015 was performed by Grenier and co-workers (2019, see reference below). This review allowed them to identify regional and temporal variability […]
Mar / 27 / 2020
Joint Science Highlight with US-Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry (OCB). Carbon storage in the ocean is sensitive to the depths at which particulate organic carbon (POC) is respired back to CO2 within the twilight zone (100-1000m). For decades, it has been an oceanographic priority to determine the depth scale of this regeneration process. To investigate this, […]
May / 16 / 2019
The insoluble radiogenic isotopes of thorium (Th) are produced at a known rate in the water column via the decay of soluble uranium (234Th, 230Th) and radium (228Th) isotopes. These three isotopes are radioactive and their half-lives vary from days (234Th) to years (228Th) to tens of thousands of years (230Th). Combining their known production […]
Feb / 07 / 2019
Based on the thorium-234 (234Th) isotopes and the Particulate Organic Carbon/Thorium (POC/Th) ratios measured in small and large particles collected at 11 stations along the GEOVIDE section (GA01) using in situ pumps, exported POC flux relative the surface primary production were determined by Lemaitre and colleagues (2018, see reference below). While a factor of 9 […]
Dec / 12 / 2018
Thorium-230 (230Th) and protactinium-231 (231Pa) are two geochemical tracers extensively used for investigating particle transport in the ocean and reconstructing past ocean circulation. A key feature in reproducing their distributions by modelling is to understand and constrain as good as possible the scavenging processes, which means: 1) having the good adsorption-desorption kinetic rates and 2) describing […]
Dec / 10 / 2018
This timeframe, sometimes called a residence time, ranges from decades for the most reactive trace elements to millions of years for the most unreactive elements such as the major components of sea salt. The residence time is often difficult to constrain and involves estimating how much of an element is presently in the ocean (i.e., […]
Nov / 15 / 2018
Abrupt climate changes in the past have been attributed to variations in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) strength. Knowing the exact timing and magnitude of the AMOC shift is important to understand the driving mechanism of such climate variability. After a thorough selection of 13 sediment cores, the authors show that the proxy Protactinium-231-Thorium-230 (231Pa/230Th) […]
Oct / 19 / 2018
Chemical species are constantly exchanged between seawater (solution, D) and particles (solid material, P). This continuous D-P exchange is a key process determining the chemical composition of the ocean. Particles are heterogeneous materials, made of (i) biological material from the surface ocean, (ii) lithogenic material from external inputs to the ocean, and (iii) authigenic (oxyhydr)oxides […]
Sep / 04 / 2018
In the framework of Indian GEOTRACES cruise GI02, high-resolution sampling was carried out in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean during April–May 2014. The first 234Th-based carbon export flux ever made in the southern Arabian Sea are presented. In contrast to episodic decrease of primary production from 17°N to 16°S, POC export fluxes show […]
Jun / 04 / 2018