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  1. Abstract

    Radium isotopes have been used to trace nutrient, carbon, and trace metal fluxes inputs from ocean margins. However, these approaches require a full accounting of radium sources to the coastal ocean including rivers. Here, we aim to quantify river radium inputs into the Arctic Ocean for the first time for226Ra and to refine the estimates for228Ra. Using new and existing data, we find that the estimated combined (dissolved plus desorbed) annual226Ra and228Ra fluxes to the Arctic Ocean are [7.0–9.4] × 1014dpm y−1and [15–18] × 1014dpm y−1, respectively. Of these totals, 44% and 60% of the river226Ra and228Ra, respectively are from suspended sediment desorption, which were estimated from laboratory incubation experiments. Using Ra isotope data from 20 major rivers around the world, we derived global annual226Ra and228Ra fluxes of [7.4–17] × 1015and [15–27] × 1015dpm y−1, respectively. As climate change spurs rapid Arctic warming, hydrological cycles are intensifying and coastal ice cover and permafrost are diminishing. These river radium inputs to the Arctic Ocean will serve as a valuable baseline as we attempt to understand the changes that warming temperatures are having on fluxes of biogeochemically important elements to the Arctic coastal zone.

     
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