Determination of residence time and mixing processes of the Ubatuba, Brazil, inner shelf waters using natural Ra isotopes

Coastal waters contain elevated dissolved activities of short-lived radium isotopes, 223Ra and 224Ra, having half-lives of 11.4 and 3.66 days, respectively. The input of these isotopes near the coast must be balanced by decay and mixing into the open ocean, where excess activities are zero. Since the decay rate is known, in the ideal case the mixing rate may be determined from the offshore distribution of these isotopes. This study found that samples collected in June 2000 followed the expected exponential decrease with distance offshore. We assign a dispersion coefficient of 28–39 m2 s−1 for this study. During January 2002 and November 2003, there was not a consistent decrease of activity with distance offshore. This is likely due to the ruggedness of the coastline, where many bays and small islands interrupt simple mixing patterns. To estimate exchange rates during 2002 and 2003, we used a model based on the decrease in the 224Ra/223Ra activity ratio (AR) with time for samples isolated from fresh inputs of Ra. This model yielded residence times of 1–2 weeks for samples collected within 20 km of the coast. We used this residence time to calculate the flux of 228Ra (half-life = 5.7 years) to the study area necessary to maintain the enrichment relative to ocean water. This enrichment is a factor of ten greater than the flux of 228Ra expected from submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) occurring within 50 m of shore.