Introduction to special section: Maurice Ewing Symposium on Applications of Trace Substance Measurements to Oceanographic Problems

Abstract

On October 16–20, 1995, a Maurice Ewing Symposium on Applications of Trace Substance Measurements to Oceanographic Problems was held at Biosphere 2 in Oracle, Arizona. The objectives of this symposium were (1) to review the status of tracer methodology for oceanographic research (technological advances and progress in applications), (2) to evaluate the potential of the individual tracers for regional and global studies of water mass formation and circulation in the ocean, and (3) to outline the role of tracers in calibration and improvement of global circulation models.Trace substances of natural and anthropogenic origin have been used to study circulation and mixing in the ocean for roughly the past 4 decades. In such studies the penetration and subsequent spreading of anthropogenic trace substances released to the ocean are observed and evaluated in terms of flow paths and mean transit and residence times of specific water masses. These studies are basically regional or global dye experiments. Additionally, the radioactive character of several natural tracers is used to determine the mean residence times of deep waters.