On the methods and some results of the study of atmospheric moisture transport over aquatic regions using tritium

A method for tritium analysis is discussed based on moistute adsorption through synthetic molecular sieves and forced circulation of air or adsorber exposition in the open air. It is found that for volumetric circulation flows of 20 to 500 l/min the isotopic fractioning of tritium can be neglected. Optimal feeding flows are proposed for different air humidities. Sampling time is 1 to 4 hours for forsed feeding, or 6 hours (in summer conditions) for adsorber exposition. Results from the analysis of tritium over the North-Western Black Sea and Northern Caspian Sea illustrate the capabilities of the method to study the transformations of the moisture-carrying air flows and for determination of the local component in the atmospheric moisture