Tritium-helium dating in the sargasso sea: a measurement of oxygen utilization rates

The newly developed technique of "tritium-helium dating" has been used to investigate in situ rates of oceanic oxygen utilization. As an example, an apparent oxygen utilization rate of 0.20 +/- 0.02 milliliter per liter of water per year has been obtained for the Subtropical Mode water (18 degrees C water) in the Sargasso Sea.