Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Data Files
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Funding

Be-7 data from aerosol samples from the Arctic.

Aerosol samples were collected using a TischTE-5170-VBL high volume aerosol sampler, modified to collect 12 replicate aerosol samples on 47mm open-face filter holders loaded with acid-washed Whatman-41 ashless filters for trace element analysis. The sampler was installed above the bridge on the bow of the ship to best sample clean air while avoiding sea spray. Aerosol collection was limited to times when the relative wind direction precluded exhaust contamination from the ship’s smokestack from reaching the sampler.

Aerosol samples were collected during three sampling periods on 14-15 Aug., 24 Aug-1 Sept., and 7-15 Sept. 2011. In chronological order the three sampling volumes of air filtered, per circular filter, were 48.4, 207.8 and 273.5m³ respectively. In addition to these filters, pre-combusted (480^oC, >10 hours) quartz micro fiber (Whatman QMA) filters for the analysis of Hg (reported elsewhere) were deployed during 17-23 Aug., 2-14 Sept., and 16 Sept., 2011. In chronological order the three sampling volumes of air filtered, per circular filter, were 234.1, 280.7, and 54.6 m³ respectively. The W41 47mm aerosol samples and GFF 47mm filters were stacked three-high in a plastic petrie dish and counted for ⁷Be. As described above, this configuration was calibrated with a commercially prepared mixed solution of known gamma activities.

Please refer to:
Kadko, D. and D. Olson (1996) Be-7 as a tracer of surface water subduction and mixed layer history. Deep Sea Res. 43, 89-116. doi:10.1016/0967-0637(96)00011-8

BCO-DMO Processing Notes:
- formatted date to mm/dd/yyyy;
- modified parameter names to conform with BCO-DMO naming conventions;
- added column containing cruise_id;
- corrected mis-entered date from 08/07/2011 t o 08/17/2011;
- 03 October 2017: made dataset public per request from data contributor.

Description from the NSF award abstract:
The investigators propose to use the naturally occurring isotope beryllium-7, which is produced in the atmosphere by cosmic rays and has a 53.3-day half-life, as a tracer for estimating the atmospheric fluxes of a variety of trace elements to the surface of the Arctic Ocean. They have collected samples of snow, sea ice, surface waters, and atmospheric aerosols through an international collaboration concurrent with the preparation of this proposal. This project provides funding for the analysis of Be-7 and for trace elements including aluminum, manganese, iron, cupper, zinc, cadmium, and lead. The atmospheric input of numerous chemical species into the global ocean has been shown to equal or exceed that from river sources. In the Arctic, several contaminant elements in particular are dominated by atmospheric sources, with implications for the Arctic ecosystem and human health. The project will investigate several elements of interest to the international GEOTRACES program, which is currently formulating plans for coordinated Arctic work. The project will support a Ph.D. student who will incorporate these results into his dissertation.