Seasonal variation in the difference between observed and calculated particulate fluxes of Th-234 in Funka Bay,Japan

Particulate fluxes were determined by two methods to elucidate the behavior of settling particles in seawater. One method involves direct observation of fluxes with sediment traps, while in the other method flux is indirectly calculated from the radioactive disequilibrium between U-238 and Th-234 in seawater, which gives net flux. Observations were carried out several times throughout a year in Funka Bay. When linearly extrapolated, the observed gross fluxes of Th-234 did not converge to zero at the surface. In the subsurface water the difference between the observed and calculated fluxes showed a seasonal variation. The observed fluxes roughly coincided with the calculated net fluxes in the summer stratified water but the observedfluxes were much larger than the calculated ones in the convective winter water. Conversely the observed fluxes were smaller than the calculated ones in spring when the water was exchanging. These results suggest that we can apply this two approach method to get information not only on the behavior of settling particles in seawater but also on the physical stability of water.