/sup 14/C in the deep water of the east Atlantic

Journal Article · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1986 · Radiocarbon; (United States)

OSTI ID:6026070

Schlitzer, R

The renewal of east Atlantic deep water and its large-scale circulation and mixing have been studied in observed distributions of temperature, silicate, ..sigma..CO/sub 2/, and /sup 14/C. /sup 14/C variations in northeast Atlantic deep water below 3500m depth are small. ..delta../sup 14/C values range from - 100 per thousand to - 125 per thousand. /sup 14/C bottom water concentrations decrease from ..delta../sup 14/C = -117 per thousand in the Sierra Leone Basin to ..delta../sup 14/C = -123 per thousand in the Iberian Basin and are consistent with a mean northward bottom water flow. The characteristic of the water that flows from the west Atlantic through the Romanche Trench into the east Atlantic was determined by inspection of theta/..delta../sup 14/C and theta/SiO/sub 2/ diagrams. A mean potential temperature of theta = 1.50 +/- .05/sup 0/C was found for the inflowing water. A multi-box model including circulation, mixing, and chemical source terms in the deep water has been formulated. Linear programming and least-squares techniques have been used to obtain the transport and source parameters of the model from the observed tracer fields. Model calculations reveal an inflow through the Romanche Trench from the west Atlantic, which predominates over any other inflow (5 +/- 2) Sv (potential temperature 1.50/sup 0/C), a convective turnover of (150 +/- 50) years and a vertical apparent diffusivity of (4 +/- 1) cm/sup 2//s. Chemical source terms are in the expected ranges.

• Research Organization: Universitaet Heidelberg, West Germany
• OSTI ID: 6026070
• Journal Information: Radiocarbon; (United States), Journal Name: Radiocarbon; (United States) Vol. 28:2A; ISSN RACAA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ATLANTIC OCEAN
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CARBON 14
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON ISOTOPES
CARBON OXIDES
CARBON SOURCES
CHALCOGENIDES
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MASS TRANSFER
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MIXING
NUCLEI
OCEANIC CIRCULATION
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
SEAS
SILICATES
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SURFACE WATERS
TRACER TECHNIQUES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES