Aerosol and seawater beryllium-7 concentrations from the US GEOTRACES GP17-OCE cruise on R/V Roger Revelle (RR2214) in the South Pacific and Southern Oceans from December 2022 to January 2023

Abstract

Beryllium-7, a radioactive isotope with a half-life of 53.3 days, is formed in the atmosphere, attaches to aerosol particles, and is deposited on the earth’s surface through wet and dry processes. In this project, we measured Be-7 concentrations in aerosol particles and in seawater samples (depths < 200 meters) collected on the GEOTRACES GP17-OCE cruise aboard R/V Roger Revelle. The cruise originated in Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia on 1 December 2022 and concluded on 25 January 2023 in Punta Arenas, Chile. Sixteen aerosol samples and seawater from twelve stations in the South Pacific and Southern Oceans were collected. The dataset will be used to study the deposition of trace elements and isotopes (TEIs) and upper ocean mixing processes. Aerosol deposition is an important source of TE micronutrients to open ocean areas that are far removed from riverine sources. But, while the collection aerosol of samples for TEI analysis is straightforward, estimating the deposition flux also requires an appropriate deposition velocity (i.e. deposition flux is the product of the aerosol concentration and deposition velocity). Because Be-7 is supplied to the open ocean exclusively through aerosol deposition and it is removed through radioactive decay, the water column inventory and aerosol concentration of Be-7 can be used to derive the deposition velocity applicable to aerosol TEIs. The penetration of dissolved Be-7 below the ocean mixed layer is limited by the isotope's half-life and the rate of vertical diffusive mixing. Through modeling, the shape of the Be-7 profile below the mixed layer provides an estimate for the vertical diffusivity coefficient (Kz), which can be used to calculate fluxes of chemical species (e.g. oxygen) and physical properties (e.g. heat).

For a complete list of measurements, refer to the full dataset description in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'. The most current version of this dataset is available at: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/927107