Collection of Tritium/Helium Samples from the Amundsen and Bellinghausen Seas

9412910 Schlosser拟议的工作是在RVI B Nathaniel B的海洋学巡航中收集和分析海水样品中的氚和氦。1994年初，帕尔默前往阿蒙森海和别林斯高晋海。 过去对该区域的采样很少，对区域海洋学过程知之甚少。 这次航行的具体目标是调查大规模的海洋学特征，研究与海冰覆盖和底层中层和深层水团有关的表层混合层和密度跃层的演变，确定南极斜坡前缘的位置，并调查温暖的绕极水流入大陆架的影响。 氚在确定大陆架沃茨渗入深海盆地的速度方面特别有用，而氦与氧同位素结合，是冰架底部融化所产生的水的独特示踪剂。 拟议的工作补充了航行的这些目标，因为氚和氦的物理和化学特性是众所周知的，非常适合调查地下水团的形成和水循环。 对海洋中微量元素分布的了解扩大了直接观测的时间和空间尺度，并允许对超出巡航直接界限的海洋过程进行推断。 ***

9412910 Schlosser The proposed work is the collection and analysis of seawater samples for tritium and helium on an oceanographic cruise of the RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer to the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas in early 1994. This region has been sparsely sampled in the past, and little is known about the regional oceanographic processes. The specific objectives of this cruise are to investigate the large-scale oceanographic features, study the evolution of the surface mixed layer and pycnocline in relation to the sea ice cover and the underlying intermediate and deep water masses, determine the location of the Antarctic Slope Front, and to investigate the impact of warm circumpolar water flowing onto the continental shelf. Tritium is particularly useful in determining the rate of penetration of continental shelf waters into deep oceanic basins, while helium, in combination with oxygen isotopes, is a unique tracer for water derived from the basal melting of ice shelves. The proposed work complements these objectives of the cruise, since the physical and chemical characteristics of tritium and helium are well known and well suited for the investigation of subsurface water mass formation and water circulation. Knowledge of the distribution of trace elements in the ocean broadens the time and space scales of the direct observations, and allows inferences about oceanic processes that go beyond the immediate limits of the cruise. ***