Tritium in the northwestern North Pacific

Vertical profiles of tritium in seawater were determined for samples collected during the period from 1988 to 1990 at fourteen stations in the northwestern North Pacific (the Oyashio region) including the Okhotsk Sea and the Bering Sea. The profiles usually had a maximum in the surface layer and decreased gradually with depth down to 1,000m. The water column inventory of tritium averaged 63% of the total atmospheric input in this region. The horizontal distribution of tritium showed a maximum in the region facing the Okhotsk Sea near 45degN for every isopycnal surface of σθ ranging from 26.60 to 27.40. The ages of the intermediate water were calculated for the respective isopycnal surfaces in the maximum region. This calculation assumed that the intermediate water was formed by the isopycnal mixing of two water masses-the Okhotsk Sea and the Bering Sea Component Waters, which had been produced in wintertime by the diapycnal mixing of the surface and the deep waters in the respective marginal seas. The results show that the intermediate water in this region was formed in the late 1980's for the water which has σθ of 26.60 to 26.80 and about 1970 for the water which has σθ of 27.00 to 27.40. Although we have estimated the mean ages of the intermediate water, the horizontal profile of dissolved oxygen suggests that the Okhotsk Sea Component Water is younger than the mean age. (author)