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Use of SF 5 CF 3 for ocean tracer release experiments
Author(s) -
Ho David T.,
Ledwell James R.,
Smethie William M.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2007gl032799
Subject(s) - tracer , isopycnal , oceanography , environmental science , structural basin , geology , atmospheric sciences , physics , geomorphology , nuclear physics
SF 6 tracer release experiments (TREs) have provided fundamental insights in many areas of Oceanography. Recently, SF 6 has emerged as a powerful transient tracer, generating a need for an alternative tracer for large‐scale ocean TREs. SF 5 CF 3 has the potential to replace SF 6 in TREs, due to similarities in their properties and behavior, as well as techniques for injection, sampling, and analysis. The suitability of SF 5 CF 3 for TREs was examined in Santa Monica Basin, off the coast of Southern California. In January 2005, a mixture of ca. 10 mol of both SF 6 and SF 5 CF 3 was injected on an isopycnal surface near 800 m depth. Over the next 23 months, concentrations of the two tracers mirrored each other very closely, indicating that SF 5 CF 3 is a viable replacement for SF 6 in ocean TREs. The mixing parameters inferred from the experiment confirmed the results from an earlier SF 6 TRE in the Santa Monica Basin.