An excess of 36Cl in modern atmospheric precipitation

A. Blinov, S. Massonet, H. Sachsenhauser, C. Stan-Sion, V. Lazarev, J. Beer, H. A. Synal, M. Kaba, J. Masarik, E. Nolte

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

Measurements of 36Cl were performed in modern annual precipitation from many world-wide distributed stations. The measured deposition fluxes were on the average half an order of magnitude larger than fluxes calculated from the cosmic-ray-induced atmospheric production. These discrepancies were tentatively explained by recycling of bomb 36Cl from the biosphere as methyl chloride (CH3Cl) into the troposphere, destruction of CH3Cl by OH reactions and subsequent tropospheric deposition of 36Cl. Simulations were performed for natural atmospheric production, bomb fall-out and recycling of 36Cl. The simulations including recycling were qualitatively able to explain the excess in deposition fluxes, especially for tropical regions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)537-544
Number of pages8
JournalNuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
Volume172
Issue number1-4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2000

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