Project: U.S. GEOTRACES Pacific Meridional Transect: Measurements of Actinium-227 to Trace Solute Transport

NSF Award Abstract:
The goal of the international GEOTRACES program is to understand the distributions of trace chemical elements and their isotopes in the oceans. This project will support the measurement of the naturally occurring radioisotope actinium-227 (Ac-227) in water samples from the 2018 U.S. GEOTRACES expedition in the Pacific Ocean, running south from Alaska to Tahiti. In addition, the investigators plan to analyze lead-210 and actinium-227 in sediment cores collected by the project, in order to constrain the source of Ac-227 to the water from bottom sediments. The value of measuring Ac-227 in the water column, particularly if the bottom source function is known, lies in the potential to use it to measure rates of mixing and transport of the water. These transport estimates can then be applied to understand the distributions of other trace elements measured on the expedition. The project would support a graduate student, several undergraduates, and a high school student, as well as outreach to local veterans groups encouraging their participation in STEM programs.

Despite having a half-life (22 years) that is well suited for the study of both vertical and lateral transport in the deep ocean, few Ac-227 measurements have been made in the deep sea. Recent advances in instrumentation facilitate this analysis, and the synergy provided by the GEOTRACES program will provide an ideal opportunity to obtain additional data. In addition, Ac-227 will be of value in defining the spatial variability of mixing rates across a broad reach of the central Pacific, particularly when combined with estimates based on Ra-228 (6 year half-life) distribution, a tracer field that a collaborating GEOTRACES program will determine. By using multiple tracers with different half-lives, influences of mixing and advection may be distinguished, allowing a more complete understanding of the deep Pacific dynamics. These transport estimates can then be applied to concentration fields of other solutes, including metals and nutrients, but will be of particular importance for alkalinity and silicic acid, which should have strong benthic sources.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.