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26 Al in seawater and 26 Al/ 10 Be as paleo‐flux tracer
Author(s) -
Ku T. L.,
Wang L.,
Luo S.,
Southon J. R.
Publication year - 1995
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 - 10.1029/95gl02067
Subject(s) - seawater , flux (metallurgy) , spallation , water column , atmosphere (unit) , tracer , aeolian processes , range (aeronautics) , particulates , geology , oceanography , mineralogy , atmospheric sciences , physics , chemistry , materials science , nuclear physics , meteorology , organic chemistry , geomorphology , neutron , composite material
Measurements of water‐column 26 Al/ 27 Al ratios above 850 m depth in the Pacific yield values in the range 10 −13 –10 −14 , translating into 26 Al concentrations of 20–200 atoms kg −1 . The atomic ratio of 26 Al/ 10 Be in surface ocean is close to 1 × 10 −4 , at least an order lower than the atmospheric production ratio. Surface‐ocean particulate removal of Al is about 30 times more rapid than that of Be. The results of this first set of data on 26 Al in seawater also suggest that the source of 26 Al in the sea is dominated by spallation of Ar in the atmosphere (as opposed to eolian and cosmic‐dust inputs) and that the ratio 26 Al/ 10 Be in marine sediments can be potentially used to decipher past variations of oceanic particle flux, hence biologic productivity.