Processes controlling radon-222 and radium-226 on the southeastern Bering Sea shelf
An investigation was made into the use of /sup 222/Rn and /sup 226/Ra as tracers of air-sea gas exchange, water column mixing and sediment-water exchange on the southeastern Bering Sea shelf. Furthermore, a two-dimensional model was developed to unify these three processes into a coherent picture of /sup 222/Rn flux out of the sediments, through the water column and into the atmosphere. A statistically significant relationship between averaged wind speed and transfer coefficients was found at the 80% confidence level. Gas transfer coefficients were found to be obscured in shallow waters by radon flux from the sediments. Two-dimensional mixing in these continental shelf waters rendered the traditional one-dimensional vertical mixing model of excess /sup 222/Rn unable to obtain reliable vertical eddy diffusivities. Exchange across the sediment-water interface was calculated from the deficiency of /sup 222/Rn measured in sediment cores, the standing crop of excess /sup 222/Rn in the overlying water column and the /sup 222/Rn production rate of sediment surface grab samples. The flux of radon out of the sediments was found to increase in the onshore direction. Biological irrigation appears to be the primary exchange mechanism between the sediment and water columns on the shelf. Distributions in the water column show finestructure reported previously as well as biological removal of /sup 226/Ra.
- Research Organization:
- Alaska Univ., Fairbanks (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 5025757
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
AIR-WATER INTERACTIONS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
BERING SEA
CONTINENTAL SHELF
MIXING
RADIUM 226
RADON 222
SEDIMENTS
TRACER TECHNIQUES
WIND
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
NUCLEI
PACIFIC OCEAN
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIUM ISOTOPES
RADON ISOTOPES
SEAS
SURFACE WATERS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
500101* - Environment
Atmospheric- Basic Studies- Radiometric Techniques- (-1989)
520101 - Environment
Aquatic- Basic Studies- Radiometric Techniques- (-1989)