Thorium-234 as a tracer of particle dynamics and upper ocean export in the Atlantic Ocean

The flux of sinking particles is an important removal mechanism of carbon and other chemical species from the surface ocean as part of the biological pump. Euphotic zone export of 234Th was measured on GEOTRACES transects of the Atlantic Ocean to evaluate basin-scale export variability. High-resolution sampling through the entire water-column allowed for the identification of unique 234Th features in intermediate and deep waters. These data will be important for describing distributions and estimating the fluxes of trace elements measured by other investigators in the GEOTRACES program. This extensive data set will also be useful when combined with other particulate and radioisotope data for improving our understanding of particle cycling and the relation of particle flux to particle composition and abundance.