Ocean Circulation and Geochemistry
waters do not show a nutrient maximum, barium displays a halocline mini-
Frank Zemlyak in the
Louis S. St-Laurent
mum at levels that correspond to those observed for the eastern Arctic shelf
chemistry lab.
regions (3035 nM). Underlying waters of Atlantic origin contain distinctly
higher barium contents of 4550 nM. These data demonstrate that barium
has considerable promise for complementing other tracers of surface currents
and halocline water formation. Full interpretation of these and other features
in the barium data await complete analyses of the 1995 samples.
REFERENCE
Falkner, K.K., R.W. MacDonald, E.C. Carmack and T. Weingartner (1994)
The potential of barium as a tracer of Arctic water masses. In The Polar Oceans
and Their Role in Shaping the Global Environment: The Nansen Centennial
Volume, American Geophysical Union, Geophysical Monograph 85, p. 63
76 (O.M. Johannessen, R.D. Muench and J.E. Overland, Ed.), Washington,
D.C.
33
Previous Page
