DOI: 10.60520/ieda/113542
title: Tritium and Helium Isotope Data (1987–2013) for the Atlantic Layer of the Arctic Ocean

description: This dataset supports the study titled "Multi-Decade Tracer Study of the Circulation and Spreading Rates of Atlantic Water in the Arctic Ocean" (JGR: Oceans, 2024, in press) and complies with the Open Research Data Availability Statement. It consolidates tritium and helium isotope data collected during 21 Arctic Ocean expeditions over 27 years. While subsets of these data have been previously published as isotope concentrations or ^3H-^3He ages (e.g., Bönisch & Schlosser, 1995; Ekwurzel, 1998; Ekwurzel et al., 2001; Schlosser et al., 1995, 1999; Smethie et al., 2000; Mauldin et al., 2010), this is the first complete compilation.
Samples from the ARK-IV/3, ARK-IX/4, ARK-XI/1, and ARK-XII cruises were analyzed at the University of Heidelberg's Institute for Environmental Physics (IUP) using methodologies described by Bayer et al. (1989). All remaining samples were processed at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) Noble Gas Laboratory, following the procedures of Ludin et al. (1998). Inter-laboratory calibration ensures consistency, with analytical uncertainties for ^3H and helium isotope measurements within expected error ranges. Charles “Chuck” McNally performed the majority of gas extractions at LDEO, while tritium and helium isotope measurements were conducted by Ralf Weppernig, Gerhard Bönisch, Brent Turrin, Ronny Friedrich, and Tobias “Toby” Koffman.
description: Ludin, A., Weppernig, R., Bœnish, G., & Schlosser, P. (1998). Mass Spectrometric Measurement of Helium Isotopes and Tritium in Water Samples. Interdisciplinary Earth Data Alliance. https://doi.org/10.1594/IEDA/100661

Bayer, R., Schlosser, P., Rupp, H., Zaucker, F., & Zimmek, G. (1989). Performance and blank components of a mass spectrometric system for routine measurement of helium isotopes and tritium by He-3 ingrowth method. Sitzungsber. Heidelb. Akad. Wiss. Math.‐Naturwiss. Kl., 5, 241–279. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-48373-8

Ekwurzel, B., Schlosser, P., Mortlock, R. A., Fairbanks, R. G., & Swift, J. H. (2001). River runoff, sea ice meltwater, and Pacific water distribution and mean residence times in the Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 106(C5), 9075–9092. https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JC000024

Frank, M., Smethie Jr., W. M., & Bayer, R. (1998). Investigation of subsurface water flow along the continental margin of the Eurasian Basin using the transient tracers tritium, 3He, and CFCs. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 103(C13), 30773–30792. https://doi.org/10.1029/1998JC900003 

Mauldin, A., Schlosser, P., Newton, R., Smethie Jr., W. M., Bayer, R., Rhein, M., & Jones, E. P. (2010). The velocity and mixing time scale of the Arctic Ocean Boundary Current estimated with transient tracers. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 115(C8). https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JC005965

Schlosser, P., Bönisch, G., Kromer, B., Münnich, K. O., & Koltermann, K. P. (1990). Ventilation rates of the waters in the Nansen Basin of the Arctic Ocean derived from a multitracer approach. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 95(C3), 3265–3272. https://doi.org/10.1029/JC095iC03p03265

Schlosser, Peter, Bönisch, G., Kromer, B., Loosli, H. H., Bühler, R., Bayer, R., et al. (1995). Mid-1980s distribution of tritium, 3He, 14C and 39Ar in the Greenland/Norwegian Seas and the Nansen Basin of the Arctic Ocean. Progress in Oceanography, 35, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/0079-6611(95)00003-Y 

Smethie Jr., W. M., Schlosser, P., Bönisch, G., & Hopkins, T. S. (2000). Renewal and circulation of intermediate waters in the Canadian Basin observed on the SCICEX 96 cruise. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 105(C1), 1105–1121. https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JC900233

Wallace, D. W. R., Schlosser, P., Krysell, M., & Bönisch, G. (1992). Halocarbon ratio and tritium/3He dating of water masses in the Nansen Basin, Arctic Ocean. Deep Sea Research Part A. Oceanographic Research Papers, 39(2, Part 1), S435–S458. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0198-0149(06)80015-4