z=arth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 441-454, 2019
nttps://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-441-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
% Earth System
3 Science
Data
A comprehensive global oceanic dataset of helium
isotope and tritium measurements
William J. Jenkins!, Scott C. Doney', Michaela Fendrock!, Rana Fine”, Toshitaka Gamo®,
Philippe Jean-Baptiste*, Robert Key”), Birgit Klein®, John E. Lupton’, Robert Newton®, Monika Rhein’,
Wolfgang Roether”, Yuji Sano?, Reiner Schlitzer!°, Peter Schlosser®”, and Jim Swift!!
Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA
2RSMAS, University of Miami, Miami, Florida 33149, USA
"Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8564, Japan
4LSCE, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, CEA/Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette CEDEX, France
SPrinceton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
°BSH, 20359 Hamburg, Germany
’NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Newport, Oregon, USA
S8LDEO, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, USA
UP, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany
10 Alfred Wegener Institute, 27568 Bremerhaven, Germany
1SI0, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
'now at: University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA
bnow at: Arizona State University, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Correspondence: William J. Jenkins (wjenkins@whoi.edu)
Received: 29 October 2018 — Discussion started: 14 November 2018
Revised: 13 March 2019 — Accepted: 19 March 2019 — Published: 5 April 2019
Abstract. Tritium and helium isotope data provide key information on ocean circulation, ventilation, and mix-
ing, as well as the rates of biogeochemical processes and deep-ocean hydrothermal processes. We present here
global oceanic datasets of tritium and helium isotope measurements made by numerous researchers and lab-
aratories over a period exceeding 60 years. The dataset’s DOI is https://doi.org/10.25921/c1sn-9631, and the
data are available at https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/ocads/data/0176626.xml (last access: 15 March 2019) or al-
:ernately http://odv.awi.de/data/ocean/jenkins-tritium-helium-data-compilation/ (last access: 13 March 2019)
and includes approximately 60000 valid tritium measurements, 63000 valid helium isotope determinations,
57000 dissolved helium concentrations, and 34 000 dissolved neon concentrations. Some quality control has
seen applied in that questionable data have been flagged and clearly compromised data excluded entirely. Ap-
oropriate metadata have been included, including geographic location, date, and sample depth. When available,
we include water temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen. Data quality flags and data originator information
including methodology) are also included. This paper provides an introduction to the dataset along with some
discussion of its broader qualities and graphics.
7ublished by Copernicus Publications.
