Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-xfwgj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-27T06:26:18.895Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

14C Profiles in the Norwegian and Greenland Seas by Conventional and AMS Measurements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Reidar Nydal ,
Jorunn Gislefoss ,
Ingunn Skjelvan ,
Fred Skogseth ,
A. J. T. Jull  and
D. J. Donahue
Reidar Nydal
Affiliation:
Radiological Dating Laboratory, The Norwegian Institute of Technology, N-7034 Trondheim NTH Norway
Jorunn Gislefoss
Affiliation:
Radiological Dating Laboratory, The Norwegian Institute of Technology, N-7034 Trondheim NTH Norway
Ingunn Skjelvan
Affiliation:
Radiological Dating Laboratory, The Norwegian Institute of Technology, N-7034 Trondheim NTH Norway
Fred Skogseth
Affiliation:
Radiological Dating Laboratory, The Norwegian Institute of Technology, N-7034 Trondheim NTH Norway
A. J. T. Jull
Affiliation:
Arizona-NSF Accelerator Facility for Radioisotope Analysis, The University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
D. J. Donahue
Affiliation:
Arizona-NSF Accelerator Facility for Radioisotope Analysis, The University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

CO2 in the atmosphere is an important climate gas because of its absorption of infrared radiation. More knowledge about CO2 uptake in the ocean is of critical significance in predicting future climate development. For a period of approximately 30 years, radioactive carbon from nuclear tests has been a very useful tracer in CO2 exchange studies. Up to now, the measurements have been based mainly on the conventional counting technique with large CO2 samples (ca. 5 liters). Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) with small CO2 samples (1–2 ml) has made sampling much easier, and has especially stimulated the use of 14C as a tracer in the ocean.

At higher latitudes, the ocean acts as a sink for CO2. In addition to Δ14C measurements, we are concerned here with dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and δ13C in the Norwegian and Greenland Seas. During cruises in 1989 and 1990, we obtained several Δ14C profiles, and also repeated a few GEOSECS profiles taken in 1972. The shape of these profiles changes with time, and provides information about the mixing rate and the age of the deep water. From changes in the profiles, it appears that the deep water in the Greenland Sea has obtained about 25% of the 14C concentration in the ocean surface over a period of 25 years. The Norwegian Sea deepwater is estimated to be 50–100 years older than that of the Greenland Sea.

Type
III. Global 14C Production and Variation
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 34 , Issue 3: Proceedings of the 14th International Radiocarbon Conference , 1992 , pp. 717 - 726
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

References

Aagaard, K., Swift, J. H. and Carmack, E. C. 1985 Thermohaline circulation in the Arctic Mediterranean Sea. Journal of Geophysical Research 90: 4833–4846.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bard, E., Arnold, M., Maurice, P. and Duplessy, J. C. 1987 Measurements of radiocarbon in the ocean by means of accelerator mass spectrometry: Technical aspects. Nuclear Instruments and Methods B21: 297–301.Google Scholar
Donahue, D. J., Linick, T. W. and Jull, A. J. T. 1990 Isotope ratio and background corrections for accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon measurements. Radiocarbon 32(2): 135–142.Google Scholar
Druffel, E. R. M., Williams, P. M., Robertson, K., Griffin, S., Jull, A. J. T., Donahue, D., Toolin, L. and Linick, T. W. 1989 Radiocarbon in dissolved organic and inorganic carbon from the central north Pacific. In Long, A. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the 13th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 31(3): 523–532.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinze, C., Schlosser, P., Koltermann, K. P. and Meincke, J. 1990 A tracer study of the deep water renewal in the European polar seas. Deep-Sea Research 37(9): 1425–1453.Google Scholar
Linick, T. W., Jull, A. J. T., Toolin, L. J. and Donahue, D. J. 1986 Operation of the NSF-Arizona Accelerator Facility for Radioisotope Analysis and results from selected collaborative research projects. In Stuiver, M. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the 12th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 28(2A): 522–533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nydal, R. 1991 Exchange of CO2 between the atmosphere and the ocean. Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift 71: 199–201.Google Scholar
Nydal, R., Gislefoss, J., Skjelvan, I., Blindheim, J., Foldvik, A., Vinje, T. and Østerhus, S. 1991 Measurements of carbon profiles in the Nordic seas. Norsk Polarinstitutt Rapportserie (Datareport) 75: 1–43, Oslo, 1991.Google Scholar
Nydal, R., Gulliksen, S. and Løvseth, K. 1980 An analysis of shielding efficiency for 14C counters. Radiocarbon 22(2): 470–478.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nydal, R., Gulliksen, S., Løvseth, K. and Skogseth, F. H. 1984 Bomb 14C in the ocean surface 1966–1981. Radiocarbon 26(1): 7–45.Google Scholar
Nydal, R. and Løvseth, K. 1983 Tracing bomb 14C in the atmosphere 1962–1980. Journal of Geophysical Research 88(C6): 3621–3635.Google Scholar
Östlund, H. G., Dorsey, H. G. and Brecher, R. (ms.) 1976 GEOSECS Atlantic, radiocarbon and tritium results. Data report from Rosenstiel School of Marine and atmospheric sciences, University of Miami, Florida.Google Scholar
Östlund, H. G., Possnert, G. and Swift, J. H. 1987 Ventilation rate of the deep Arctic Ocean from 14C data: Journal of Geophysical Research 92(C4): 3769–3777.Google Scholar
Schlosser, P., Boenich, G., Rhein, M. and Bayer, R. 1991 Reduction of deepwater formation in the Greenland sea during the 1980's: Evidence from tracer data. Science 251: 1054–1056.Google Scholar
Slota, P. J. Jr., Jull, A. J. T., Linick, T. W. and Toolin, L. J. 1987 Preparation of small samples for 14C accelerator targets by catalytic reduction of CO. Radiocarbon 29(2): 303–306.Google Scholar
Smethie, W. M. Jr., Östlund, H. G. and Loosli, H. H. 1986 Ventilation or the deep Greenland and Norwegian seas: Evidence from krypton-85, tritium, carbon-14 and argon-39. Deep Sea Research 33: 675–703.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. and Polach, H. A. 1977 Discussion: Reporting of 14C data. Radiocarbon 19(3): 355–363.Google Scholar
Sverdrup, H. U., Johnsen, M. W. and Fleming, R. H. 1946 The water masses and currents of the oceans. In Sverdrup, H. U., Johnsen, M. W. and Fleming, R. H., eds. The Oceans, Their Physics, Chemistry and General Biology, 2nd edition. New York, Prentice Hall, Inc: 605–761.Google Scholar