Influence of particle composition on thorium scavenging in the marginal China seas

Thorium-234 and particle composition (organic matter, biogenic silica, carbonate and lithogenic component) were examined in the East China Sea (ECS) and the northern South China Sea (NSCS)in order to constrain the particle types scavenging thorium isotopes. Good positive correlations between particulate organic matter (POM) or carbonate and thorium-234 in suspended particulate matter (SPM) indicates that POM and carbonate are efficient to scavenge thorium-234. No relationship between biogenic silica and thorium-234 suggests that geochemical behavior of thorium-234 may be not influenced by biogenic silica. A simple model was used to evaluate the affinity of thorium-234 to different particle components. The results show that POM is the most efficient scavenger for thorium-234 in the ECS and the NSCS, followed by carbonate. The authors' results lend support to the utility of thorium-234 as a proxy of POC and carbonate in the upper layer. However, the strong dependence of thorium scavenging on particle composition challenges thorium-230 as a constant flux proxy.