Timekeepers for Trace Elements in the Global Ocean: The Thorium Stopwatches

Abstract

The various isotopes of thorium offer oceanographers tools for tracking particulate matter in the ocean across multiple timescales. To learn about the cycling of trace elements in the ocean, in this perspective we focus on the latest applications of thorium’s longest-lived naturally occurring isotopes: 232Th, 230Th, 228Th, and 234Th. From desert dust to marine snow to sediment porewaters, thorium measurements can be used to derive rates of trace element input and removal, using the assumptions of radioactive disequilibrium. Opportunities exist to fine tune and improve the application of these already versatile stopwatches, but GEOTRACES-era data clearly demonstrate their utility.