Otoliths reveal deep sea pathways of bomb radiocarbon

Otolith records from an Australian fish, the big-eye ocean perch (Helicolenus barathri), has provided new insights in how radiocarbon originating from nuclear bomb tests is transported among different depth layers of the southern Pacific Ocean. Early career researcher Gretchen Grammer and her colleagues at University of Adelaide and the ANU found a time lag between the bomb radiocarbon pulse in surface waters and depths of 400-500m (5-10yrs) and 800-1000m (10-20yrs).

More info: http://www.sciencedirect.com/…/article/pii/S0012821X15002976Open Access (until 11 Jul 2015): http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1R3-v,Ig40c9WCitation: Grammer, G. L., S. J. Fallon, C. Izzo, R. Wood, and B. M. Gillanders. 2015. Investigating bomb radiocarbon transport in the southern Pacific Ocean with otolith radiocarbon. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 424:59-68.