234Th and particulate fluxes in the Kara Sea in October 1993

The mean residence time of 234Th associated with suspended matter in the Kara Sea was calculated from distributions of dissolved and suspended 234Th. Integral particulate fluxes at different levels were estimated for two stations. The flux increases only in the pycnocline; below it changes insignificantly. Two maxima of differential fluxes are noted in vertical profiles: in the surface layer where primary production is maximal, and in the interface layer where zooplankton realizing active transport of suspended matter is usually concentrated. Differential fluxes were determined at 10 stations; their space distribution is controlled by primary production, which depends usually on turbidity of river water in estuaries.

Global database of surface ocean particulate organic carbon export fluxes diagnosed from the 234Th technique

Through the processes of the biological pump, carbon is exported to the deep ocean in the form of dissolved and particulate organic matter. There are several ways by which downward export fluxes can be estimated. The great attraction of the 234Th technique is that its fundamental operation allows a downward flux rate to be determined from a single water column profile of thorium coupled to an estimate of POC/234Th ratio in sinking matter. We present a database of 723 estimates of organic carbon export from the surface ocean derived from the 234Th technique. Data were collected from tables in papers published between 1985 and 2013 only. We also present sampling dates, publication dates and sampling areas. Most of the open ocean Longhurst provinces are represented by several measurements. However, the Western Pacific, the Atlantic Arctic, South Pacific and the South Indian Ocean are not well represented. There is a variety of integration depths ranging from surface to 220m. Globally the fluxes ranged from -22 to 125 mmol of C/m**2/d. We believe that this database is important for providing new global estimate of the magnitude of the biological carbon pump.

用二-2-乙基己基磷酸从盐酸溶液中萃取Th(Ⅳ)

用二-2-乙基己基磷酸(HDEHP)做萃取剂,Na2CO3做反萃剂,234Th为示踪剂,完成了从盐酸溶液中液-液萃取Th(IV)的实验研究。在不同萃取条件下(包括HDEHP和Na2CO3溶液浓度、震荡时间、有机相和水相比值等)对234Th百分萃取(或反萃取)作了一系列实验。发现,随HDEHP浓度的增加,234Th的萃取效率明显增加。当HDEHP的浓度≥20%时,234Th的萃取效率>97%;用Na2CO3溶液能有效地从有机相中反萃出234Th,当Na2CO3溶液的浓度≥0.5mol/L时,234Th的反萃效率>96%;反萃时,震荡周期长于4min时,两相能达到反萃平衡;随有机相和水相比值的增加,234Th的萃取效率也明显地增加,在合适的萃取条件下,有机相与水相比值≥4:1时,高达97%的234Th进入有机相。

用1-苯基-3-甲基-4-苯甲酰基-5-吡唑啉酮萃取~(46)Sc的研究

用1-苯基-3-甲基-4-苯甲酰基-5-吡唑啉酮(PMBP)做萃取剂,氯仿和环己烷为稀释剂,观察了在HCl溶液46Sc的溶剂萃取行为。实验结果表明,从10-3~10-2mol/L的HCl溶液中用PMBP-氯仿(或环己烷)能有效地萃取46Sc,萃取率可达95%以上。另外,对PMBP从HCl溶液中萃取46Sc和234Th的结果也做了比较,结果表明,通过控制水溶液中HCl的浓度,能实现234Th与46Sc的分离。

液-液萃取从Th中分离Ac

用234Th、228Ac和139Ce+3做示踪剂,二(2-乙基己基)磷酸做萃取剂,研究了初始HNO3浓度对234Th、228Ac和139Ce+3萃取效率的影响。发现在广泛的酸度范围内,234Th均能被定量地萃取;当HNO3浓度大于2.0mol/L时,228Ac和139Ce3+的萃取效率下降到2%以下。研究了震荡时间对234Th萃取效率的影响,数据显示,1min便可达到萃取平衡。从含大量钍的溶液中分离痕量Ac的实验结果显示,用二(2-乙基己基)磷酸-苯的萃取流程,可使Ac与大量的钍分离,同时Ac的损失又较小。

Measurements of environmental background radiation in the surrounding area of a coal-fired power plant

Certain materials used and produced in a wide range of non-nuclear industries contain enhanced activity concentrations of natural radionuclides. In particular, electricity production from coal is one of the major sources of increased exposure to man from enhanced naturally occurring materials. Over the past decades there has been some discussion about the elevated natural background radiation in the area near coal-fired power plants due to high uranium and thorium content present in coal. This work describes the methodology developed to assess the radiological impact due to natural radiation background increasing levels, potentially originated by a coal-fired power plant’s operation. Gamma radiation measurements have been done with two different instruments: a scintillometer (SPP2 NF, Saphymo) and a gamma ray spectrometer with energy discrimination (Falcon 5000, Canberra). A total of 40 relevant sampling points were established at locations within 20 km from the power plant: 15 urban and 25 suburban measured stations. The highest values were measured at the sampling points near to the power plant and those located in the area within the 6 and 20 km from the stacks. This may be explained by the presence of a huge coal pile (1.3 million tons) located near the stacks contributing to the dispersion of unburned coal and, on the other hand, the height of the stacks (225 m) which may influence ash’s dispersion up to a distance of 20 km. In situ gamma radiation measurements with energy discrimination identified natural emitting nuclides as well as their decay products (212Pb, 214Pb, 226Ra 232Th, 228Ac, 234Th 234Pa, 235U, etc.). This work has been primarily done to in order to assess the impact of a coal-fired power plant operation on the background radiation level in the surrounding area. According to the results, an increase or at least an influence has been identified both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Net primary productivity, POC export, Th234 and U238 activities and abundance of autotrophs during U.S.C.G.C. Healy cruises HLY0802 and HLY0803

Seasonal patterns in the partitioning of phytoplankton carbon during receding sea ice conditions in the eastern Bering Sea water column are presented using rates of 14C net primary productivity (NPP), phototrophic plankton carbon content, and POC export fluxes from shelf and slope waters in the spring (March 30-May 6) and summer (July 3-30) of 2008. At ice-covered and marginal ice zone (MIZ) stations on the inner and middle shelf in spring, NPP averaged 76 ± 93 mmol C/m**2/d, and in ice-free waters on the outer shelf NPP averaged 102 ± 137 mmol C/m**2/d. In summer, rates of NPP were more uniform across the entire shelf and averaged 43 ± 23 mmol C/m**2/d over the entire shelf. A concomitant shift was observed in the phototrophic pico-, nano-, and microplankton community in the chlorophyll maximum, from a diatom dominated system (80 ± 12% autotrophic C) in ice covered and MIZ waters in spring, to a microflagellate dominated system (71 ± 31% autotrophic C) in summer. Sediment trap POC fluxes near the 1% PAR depth in ice-free slope waters increased by 70% from spring to summer, from 10 ± 7 mmol C/m**2/d to 17 ± 5 mmol C/m**2/d, respectively. Over the shelf, under-ice trap fluxes at 20 m were higher, averaging 43 ± 17 mmol C/m**2/d POC export over the shelf and slope estimated from 234Th deficits averaged 11 ± 5 mmol C/m**2/d in spring and 10 ± 2 mmol C/m**2/d in summer. Average e-ratios calculated on a station-by-station basis decreased by ~ 30% from spring to summer, from 0.46 ± 0.48 in ice-covered and MIZ waters, to 0.33 ± 0.26 in summer, though the high uncertainty prevents a statistical differentiation of these data.

Carbonate and Aluminium accumulation in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean

We examined the flux of Al to sediment accumulating beneath the zone of elevated productivity in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean, along a surface sediment transect at 135°W as well as downcore for a 650 kyr record at 1.3°N, 133.6°W. Across the surface transect, a pronounced, broadly equatorially symmetric increase in Al accumulation is observed, relative to Ti, with Al/Ti ratios reaching values 3-4 times that of potential detrital sources. The profile parallels biogenic accumulation and the modeled flux of particulate 234Th, suggesting rapid and preferential adsorptive removal of Al from seawater by settling biogenic particles. Normative calculations confirm that most Al is unsupported by the terrigenous fraction. The observed distributions are consistent with previous observations of the relative and absolute behavior of Al and Ti in seawater, and we can construct a reasonable mass balance between the amount of seawater-sourced Al retained in the sediment and the amount of seawater Al available in the overlying column. The close tie between Al/Ti and biogenic accumulation (as opposed to concentration) emphasizes that biogenic sedimentary Al/Ti responds to removal-transport phenomena and not bulk sediment composition. Thus, in these sediments dominated by the biogenic component, the bulk Al/Ti ratio reflects biogenic particle flux, and by extension, productivity of the overlying seawater. The downcore profile of Al/Ti at 1.3°N displays marked increases during glacial episodes, similar to that observed across the surface transect, from a background value near Al/Ti of average upper crust. The excursions in Al/Ti are stratigraphically coincident with maxima in both bulk and CaCO3 accumulation and the excess Al appears to not be preferentially affiliated with opaline or organic phases. Consistent with the similar behavioral removal of Al and 234Th, the latter of which responds to the total particle flux, the Al flux reflects carbonate accumulation only because carbonate comprises the dominant flux in these particular deposits. These results collectively indicate that (1) Al in biogenic sediment and settling biogenic particles is strongly affected by a component adsorbed from seawater. Therefore, the common tenet that Al is dominantly associated with terrestrial particulate matter, and the subsequent use of Al distributions to calculate the abundance and flux of terrestrial material in settling particles and sediment, needs to be reevaluated. (2) The Al/Ti ratio in biogenic sediment can be used to trace the productivity of the overlying water, providing a powerful new paleochemical tool to investigate oceanic response to climatic variation. (3) The close correlation between the Al/Ti productivity signal and carbonate maxima downcore at 1.3°N suggests that the sedimentary carbonate maxima in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean record increased productivity during glacial episodes.