2026-09-20T02:51:04Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/1199892026-06-16T18:14:08Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131022
Olivier Marchal and Phoebe Lam
Lerner, Paul (Paul Edmund)
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
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2019-01-11T16:07:52Z
2019-01-11T16:07:52Z
2018
2018
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/119989
1080938125
Thesis: Ph. D., Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2018.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 321-351).
Many chemical constituents are removed from the ocean by attachment to settling particles, a process referred to as "scavenging." Radioisotopes of thorium, a highly particle-reactive element, have been used extensively to study scavenging in the ocean. However, this process is complicated by the highly variable chemical composition and concentration of particles in oceanic waters. This thesis focuses on understanding the cycling of thorium as affected by particle concentration and particle composition in the North Atlantic. This objective is addressed using (i) the distributions 228,230,234 Th, their radioactive parents, particle composition, and bulk particle concentration, as measured or estimated along the GEOTRACES North Atlantic Transect (GA03) and (ii) a model for the reversible exchange of thorium with particles. Model parameters are either estimated by inversion (chapter 2-4), or prescribed in order to simulate 230Th in a circulation model (chapter 5). The major findings of this thesis follow. In chapters 2 and 3, I find that the rate parameters of the reversible exchange model show systematic variations along GA03. In particular, k1 , the apparent first-order rate "constant" of Th adsorption onto particles, generally presents maxima in the mesopelagic zone and minima below. A positive correlation between k, and bulk particle concentration is found, consistent with the notion that the specific rate at which a metal in solution attaches to particles increases with the number of surface sites available for adsorption. In chapter 4, I show that Mn (oxyhydr)oxides and biogenic particles most strongly influence k1 west of the Mauritanian upwelling, but that biogenic particles dominate ki in this region. In chapter 5, I find that dissolved 230Th data are best represented by a model that assumes enhanced values of k, near the seafloor. Collectively, my findings suggest that spatial variations in Th radioisotope activities observed in the North Atlantic reflect at least partly variations in the rate at which Th is removed from the water column.
by Paul Lerner.
Ph.D.
351 pages
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering.
Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Thorium Particles
Chemistry
Thorium Isotopes
Scavenging and transport of thorium radioisotopes in the North Atlantic Ocean
Thesis
application/pdf
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Publication
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<Abstract>Many chemical constituents are removed from the ocean by attachment to settling particles, a process referred to as "scavenging." Radioisotopes of thorium, a highly particle-reactive element, have been used extensively to study scavenging in the ocean. However, this process is complicated by the highly variable chemical composition and concentration of particles in oceanic waters. This thesis focuses on understanding the cycling of thorium as affected by particle concentration and particle composition in the North Atlantic. This objective is addressed using (i) the distributions 228,230,234 Th, their radioactive parents, particle composition, and bulk particle concentration, as measured or estimated along the GEOTRACES North Atlantic Transect (GA03) and (ii) a model for the reversible exchange of thorium with particles. Model parameters are either estimated by inversion (chapter 2-4), or prescribed in order to simulate 230Th in a circulation model (chapter 5). The major findings of this thesis follow. In chapters 2 and 3, I find that the rate parameters of the reversible exchange model show systematic variations along GA03. In particular, k1 , the apparent first-order rate "constant" of Th adsorption onto particles, generally presents maxima in the mesopelagic zone and minima below. A positive correlation between k, and bulk particle concentration is found, consistent with the notion that the specific rate at which a metal in solution attaches to particles increases with the number of surface sites available for adsorption. In chapter 4, I show that Mn (oxyhydr)oxides and biogenic particles most strongly influence k1 west of the Mauritanian upwelling, but that biogenic particles dominate ki in this region. In chapter 5, I find that dissolved 230Th data are best represented by a model that assumes enhanced values of k, near the seafloor. Collectively, my findings suggest that spatial variations in Th radioisotope activities observed in the North Atlantic reflect at least partly variations in the rate at which Th is removed from the water column.</Abstract>
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