Dulaiova
Henrieta
Dulaiova
Henrieta
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PreprintPreparation of Mn-fiber standards for the efficiency calibration of the delayed coincidence counting system (RaDeCC)( 2010-04) Scholten, Jan C. ; Pham, Mai Khanh ; Blinova, Oxana ; Charette, Matthew A. ; Dulaiova, Henrieta ; Eriksson, MatsPrecise measurements of the short lived radium isotopes 223Ra and 224Ra by means of the delayed coincidence counting system (RaDeCC) rely on an efficiency calibration of this system using Mn-fiber standards for which radium activities are exactly known. We prepared seventeen different standards by placing Mn-fibers in seawater spiked with various amounts of 227Ac (with 223Ra in radioactive equilibrium), 228Th (in radioactive equilibrium with 232Th and 224Ra) and 226Ra. We tested for quantitative adsorption of 227Ac and 228Th on the Mn-fibers by: (1) measuring 227Ac and 232Th in the residual solutions after preparing the Mn-fiber standards and (2) monitoring their 223Ra and 224Ra activities over a period of ~100 days. In the residual solutions, the activities of 227Ac and 232Th were < 1.0 % and < 5.3 %, respectively, of the activities initially added to the Mn-fibers. Our results indicate that Milli-Q water washing of the Mn-fibers is the major source of our observed losses of thorium. Measurements of 227Ac standards over 1½ years indicate a significant decrease of measurable 223Ra with time prohibiting the long-term use of 227Ac Mn-fiber standards. We found the 224Ra efficiency to be independent of the range of 227Ac, 228Th and 226Ra activities on the Mn-fibers standards used. The efficiency determination for 223Ra, however, may be biased in the case of relatively high 224Ra activities due to insufficient correction of chance of coincidence. Thus we suggest using a single 227Ac Mn-fiber standard for the efficiency determination for 223Ra.
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ArticleShelf-derived iron inputs drive biological productivity in the southern Drake Passage(American Geophysical Union, 2009-10-27) Dulaiova, Henrieta ; Ardelan, M. V. ; Henderson, Paul B. ; Charette, Matthew A.In the Southern Ocean near the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) fronts interact with shelf waters facilitating lateral transport of shelf-derived components such as iron into high-nutrient offshore regions. To trace these shelf-derived components and estimate lateral mixing rates of shelf water, we used naturally occurring radium isotopes. Short-lived radium isotopes were used to quantify the rates of shelf water entrainment while Fe/228Ra ratios were used to calculate the Fe flux. In the summer of 2006 we found rapid mixing and significant lateral iron export, namely, a dissolved iron flux of 1.1 × 105 mol d−1 and total acid leachable iron flux of 1.1 × 106 mol d−1 all of which is transported in the mixed layer from the shelf region offshore. This dissolved iron flux is significant, especially considering that the bloom observed in the offshore region (0.5–2 mg chl a m−3) had an iron demand of 1.1 to 4 × 105 mol Fe. Net vertical export fluxes of particulate Fe derived from 234Th/238U disequilibrium and Fe/234Th ratios accounted for only about 25% of the dissolved iron flux. On the other hand, vertical upward mixing of iron rich deeper waters provided only 7% of the lateral dissolved iron flux. We found that similarly to other studies in iron-fertilized regions of the Southern Ocean, lateral fluxes overwhelm vertical inputs and vertical export from the water column and support significant phytoplankton blooms in the offshore regions of the Drake Passage.