Behavior of Colloidal 234Th, 210Pb and 210Po in the Coastal Ocean

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The naturally-occurring radionuclids Th234, Pb210, and Po210 have in the past proven to be useful as tracers of particles dynamics in the marine water column, especially so for the estimation of the vertical flux of particulate organic matter. In this project, investigators at the estimation of the vertical flux of particulate organic matter. In this project, investigators at the University of Washington will study how these radiotracers interact with colloidal organic matter (i.e., organic material traditionally, if somewhat artificially, defined as being smaller than particulate but larger than dissolved material) in the coastal waters of Santa Barbara Basin. After isolating and chemically characterizing the colloidal organic matter, the investigators will determine how these two isotopes are partitioned been particulate, colloidal, and dissolved phases. The results are expected to lead to a better kinetic understanding of the role colloidal material plays in the generation of particulates and in the marine geochemistry of tracer isotopes.