Distribution of ~(226)Ra in the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea and its hydrologic implications

The Arctic Ocean, the northernmost parts of the earth, covers the total surface area of 14.79 million square kilometers and amounts to only about 4% of global ocean surface area. Although its surface area is the smallest in the four major oceans, the Arct…

Distribution of 226Ra in the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea and its hydrologic implications

Radium-226 (226Ra) activities were measured in the surface water samples collected from the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea during the First Chinese National Arctic Research Ex-pedition. The results showed that 226Ra concentrations in the surface water ranged from 0.28 to 1.56 Bq/m3 with an average of 0.76 Bq/m3 in the Arctic Ocean, and from 0.25 to 1.26 Bq/m3 with an average of 0.71 Bq/m3 in the Bering Sea. The values were obviously lower than those from open oceans in middle and low latitudes, indicating that the study area may be partly influenced by sea ice meltwater. In the Bering Sea, 226Ra in the surface water decreased northward, probably as a result of the exchange between the 226Ra-deficient sea ice meltwater and the 226Ra-rich Pacific water. In the Arctic Ocean, 226Ra in the surface water increased northward and eastward. This spa-tial distribution of 226Ra reflected the variation of the 226Ra-enriched river component in the water mass of the Arctic Ocean. The vertical profiles of 226Ra in the Canadian Basin showed a concen-tration maximum at 200 m, which could be attributed to the inputs of the Pacific water or/and the bottom shelf water with high 226Ra concentration. This conclusion was consistent with the results from 2H, 18O tracers.