Description: 231Pa and 230Th are removed from the water column by a process of reversible scavenging which quickly removes 230Th to the sediment. 231Pa is less efficiently scavenged onto particles than 230Th and is therefore more effectively transported via advection and diffusion before it reaches the ocean sediment. This study combines particle fields (dust, opal, CaCO3, POC) derived from observations with the Bern3D intermediate complexity ocean model and an equilibrium-scavenging model for isotopes. The equilibrium partition coefficient for particulate versus dissolved isotope activity is varied with particle type. The model can explain many of the features of the global 231Pa and 230Th distribution. The success of such a simple model at representing the global pattern of 231Pa / 230Th activity ratio supports the use of this proxy in paleoceanographic studies. We use the model to address the controversy concerning which particle types are dominant in fractionating 231Pa / 230Th in the ocean. The lithogenic (dust) flux is found to be unimportant for 231Pa / 230Th fractionation— the ocean fractionation of 231Pa / 230Th is dominated by the distribution of the CaCO3 and opal flux. We also confirm that opal is a weak scavenger of 230Th.

Description: Increases in the production rate of cosmogenic radionuclides associated with geomagnetic excursions have been used as global tie-points for correlation between records of past climate from marine and terrestrial archives. We have investigated the relative timing of variations in 10Be production rate and the corresponding palaeomagnetic signal during one of the largest Pleistocene excursions, the Iceland Basin (IB) event (ca. 190 kyr), as recorded in two marine sediment cores (ODP Sites 1063 and 983) with high sedimentation rates. Variations in 10Be production rate during the excursion were estimated by use of 230Thxs normalized 10Be deposition rates and authigenic 10Be/9Be. Resulting 10Be production rates are compared with high-resolution records of geomagnetic field behaviour acquired from the same discrete samples. We find no evidence for a significant lock-in depth of the palaeomagnetic signal in these high sedimentation-rate cores. Apparent lock-in depths in other cores may sometimes be the result of lower sample resolution. Our results also indicate that the period of increased 10Be production during the IB excursion lasted longer and, most likely, started earlier than the corresponding palaeomagnetic anomaly, in accordance with previous observations that polarity transitions occur after periods of reduced geomagnetic field intensity prior to the transition. The lack of evidence in this study for a significant palaeomagnetic lock-in depth suggests that there is no systematic offset between the 10Be signal and palaeomagnetic anomalies associated with excursions and reversals, with significance for the global correlation of climate records from different archives.

Description: Trace elements serve important roles as regulators of ocean processes including marine ecosystem dynamics and carbon cycling. The role of iron, for instance, is well known as a limiting micronutrient in the surface ocean. Several other trace elements also play crucial roles in ecosystem function and their supply therefore controls the structure, and possibly the productivity, of marine ecosystems. Understanding the biogeochemical cycling of these micronutrients requires knowledge of their diverse sources and sinks, as well as their transport and chemical form in the ocean. Much of what is known about past ocean conditions, and therefore about the processes driving global climate change, is derived from trace-element and isotope patterns recorded in marine deposits. Reading the geochemical information archived in marine sediments informs us about past changes in fundamental ocean conditions such as temperature, salinity, pH, carbon chemistry, ocean circulation and biological productivity. These records provide our principal source of information about the ocean's role in past climate change. Understanding this role offers unique insights into the future consequences of global change. The cycle of many trace elements and isotopes has been significantly impacted by human activity. Some of these are harmful to the natural and human environment due to their toxicity and/or radioactivity. Understanding the processes that control the transport and fate of these contaminants is an important aspect of protecting the ocean environment. Such understanding requires accurate knowledge of the natural biogeochemical cycling of these elements so that changes due to human activity can be put in context. Despite the recognised importance of understanding the geochemical cycles of trace elements and isotopes, limited knowledge of their sources and sinks in the ocean and the rates and mechanisms governing their internal cycling, constrains their application to illuminating the problems outlined above. Marine geochemists are poised to make significant progress in trace-element biogeochemistry. Advances in clean sampling protocols and analytical techniques provide unprecedented capability for high-density sampling and measurement of a wide range of trace elements and isotopes which can be combined with new modelling strategies that have evolved from the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) and Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) programmes. A major new international research programme, GEOTRACES, has now been developed as a result of community input to study the global marine biogeochemical cycles of trace elements and their isotopes. Here, we describe this programme and its rationale