Abstract
Abstract. Tritium and helium isotope data provide key information on ocean circulation, ventilation, and mixing, as well as the rates of biogeochemical processes and deep-ocean hydrothermal processes. We present here global oceanic datasets of tritium and helium isotope measurements made by numerous researchers and laboratories over a period exceeding 60 years. The dataset's DOI is https://doi.org/10.25921/c1sn-9631, and the data are available at https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/ocads/data/0176626.xml (last access: 15 March 2019) or alternately http://odv.awi.de/data/ocean/jenkins-tritium-helium-data-compilation/ (last access: 13 March 2019) and includes approximately 60 000 valid tritium measurements, 63 000 valid helium isotope determinations, 57 000 dissolved helium concentrations, and 34 000 dissolved neon concentrations. Some quality control has been applied in that questionable data have been flagged and clearly compromised data excluded entirely. Appropriate metadata have been included, including geographic location, date, and sample depth. When available, we include water temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen. Data quality flags and data originator information (including methodology) are also included. This paper provides an introduction to the dataset along with some discussion of its broader qualities and graphics.
Highlights
We present here global oceanic datasets of tritium and helium isotope measurements made by numerous researchers and laboratories over a period exceeding 60 years
The global oceanic distributions of tritium (3H, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of 12.3 years), its daughter product 3He, and helium isotopes in general arise from the complicated interplay of ocean ventilation, circulation, and mixing, with the hydrologic cycle, air–sea exchange, and geological volatile input
Observations of the delivery of tritium to the ocean and its redistribution are a useful tool for diagnosing gyre- and basin-scale ventilation and circulation (Doney et al, 1992; Doney and Jenkins, 1994; Dorsey and Peterson, 1976; Dreisigacker and Roether, 1978; Fine and Östlund, 1977; Fine et al, 1987, 1981; Jenkins et al, 1983; Jenkins and Rhines, 1980; Michel and Suess, 1975; Miyake et al, 1975; Östlund, 1982; Sarmiento, 1983; Weiss and Roether, 1980; Weiss et al, 1979)
Summary
The global oceanic distributions of tritium (3H, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of 12.3 years), its daughter product 3He, and helium isotopes in general arise from the complicated interplay of ocean ventilation, circulation, and mixing, with the hydrologic cycle, air–sea exchange, and geological volatile input. The distribution of helium isotopes in the deep sea provides important quantitative constraints on the impact of submarine hydrothermal venting on many elements because the global hydrothermal helium flux is well known (Bianchi et al, 2010; Holzer et al, 2017; Schlitzer, 2016). This makes 3He useful as a flux gauge (German et al, 2016; Jenkins et al, 1978, 2018a; Lupton and Jenkins, 2017; Resing et al, 2015; Roshan et al, 2016).
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