Input function and simulated distributions of tritium in the North Pacific

An ocean general circulation model (OGCM) of the North Pacific with a southern open boundary condition is used to simulate the distribution and transport of tritium in the North Pacific. First, the observed tritium in precipitation dataset of GNIP/ISOHIS is chosen, and used to develop an input function of tritium for the model domain from 1951 to 1997 in terms of the triangulation for interpolation. Then, the input function is used as an upper flux for the tritium model. The OGCM with tritium is integrated for 47 years with the initial condition of zero tritium concentrations. Compared with the observations from GEOSECS and WOCE, the model generates a meridional gradient of surface tritium concentrations and the high tritium concentrations in the subsurface layer, which is consistent with that indicated in the observations. The simulated time series of total tritium fluxes from the atmosphere to the ocean shows a spike in 1963. The total inventory of tritium in the ocean changes slowly with time after 1975. Tritium enters the higher-latitude region, and then is mainly transported by the subsurface process towards the equatorial region, which is well simulated in the model. However, the difference mainly occurs at 30°N–40°N, which can be seen also in the simulation of CFCs. This difference may partly originate from the insufficient description of physical processes in the OGCM. Nevertheless, some uncertainties exist in the development of the tritium input function, which can also influence the simulated results.