TY - JOUR
T1 - The Universal Ratio of Boron to Chlorinity for the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans
AU - Lee, Kitack
AU - Kim, Tae-Wook
AU - Byrne, Robert H.
AU - Millero, Frank J.
AU - Feely, Richard A.
AU - Liu, Yong-Ming
PY - 2010/1/1
Y1 - 2010/1/1
N2 - We report seawater boron concentration (mg kg −1 ) and chlorinity (‰) values measured in seawater samples ( n = 139) collected at various depths in the North Pacific and North Atlantic oceans and the East/Japan Sea (located in the western temperate North Pacific). Our results indicate that variations in seawater boron concentration are strongly coupled to variations in chlorinity (and salinity), yielding a mean boron to chlorinity ratio of 0.2414 ± 0.0009 mg kg −1 ‰ −1 (boron to salinity ratio = 0.1336 ± 0.0005 mg kg −1 ‰ −1 ). This ratio was surprisingly universal throughout the water column in the three marine basins and across widely different ocean surface regimes, but differs from the generally accepted ratio of 0.232 ± 0.005 mg kg −1 ‰ −1 determined by Uppström (1974), which was based on only 20 measurements at four sites in the tropical Pacific Ocean. In converting total alkalinity to carbonate alkalinity (and vice versa) for thermodynamic calculations, the difference between these two ratios leads to a difference of 5 μmol kg −1 in estimates for ocean surface waters, where the contribution of borate to total alkalinity is typically greatest. We suggest the use of the new boron to chlorinity ratio for predicting seawater boron concentrations using chlorinity (or salinity) data.
AB - We report seawater boron concentration (mg kg −1 ) and chlorinity (‰) values measured in seawater samples ( n = 139) collected at various depths in the North Pacific and North Atlantic oceans and the East/Japan Sea (located in the western temperate North Pacific). Our results indicate that variations in seawater boron concentration are strongly coupled to variations in chlorinity (and salinity), yielding a mean boron to chlorinity ratio of 0.2414 ± 0.0009 mg kg −1 ‰ −1 (boron to salinity ratio = 0.1336 ± 0.0005 mg kg −1 ‰ −1 ). This ratio was surprisingly universal throughout the water column in the three marine basins and across widely different ocean surface regimes, but differs from the generally accepted ratio of 0.232 ± 0.005 mg kg −1 ‰ −1 determined by Uppström (1974), which was based on only 20 measurements at four sites in the tropical Pacific Ocean. In converting total alkalinity to carbonate alkalinity (and vice versa) for thermodynamic calculations, the difference between these two ratios leads to a difference of 5 μmol kg −1 in estimates for ocean surface waters, where the contribution of borate to total alkalinity is typically greatest. We suggest the use of the new boron to chlorinity ratio for predicting seawater boron concentrations using chlorinity (or salinity) data.
UR - https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/1758
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2009.12.027
U2 - 10.1016/j.gca.2009.12.027
DO - 10.1016/j.gca.2009.12.027
M3 - Article
VL - 74
JO - Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
JF - Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
ER -