Abstract
A distinct core of tritium (from nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere) marks the southward flowing jet of the deep western boundary current of the North Atlantic circulation at 30 °N latitude. The concentrations, of the order of 0.5–1.0 TU (1 tritium unit = 1 3H atom per 10 8H atoms), indicate a roughly 10-fold dilution of source waters in the far north. This thin jet, 50 km in width, carries water into subtropical regions which, until recently, were free of anthropogenic tritium. It underlies the more extensive distributions of tritium found in more rapidly renewed waters above the permanent thermocline.
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Jenkins, W., Rhines, P. Tritium in the deep North Atlantic Ocean. Nature 286, 877–880 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/286877a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/286877a0
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