The RITS Ocean Cruise of 1989

The peak analysis outputs of chromatograms measured from air and surface water equilibrator samples collected during the RITS Discovery Pacific Ocean Cruise of 1989 have been used to compute atmospheric and surface water concentrations of the following compounds: N₂O, CFC-11, CFC-113, CH₃CCl₃, and CCl₄.

Shown at right is a plot of the shiptrack. The ship originated in Seattle and initially travelled southward along the North American coastline with ports in San Diego and Manzanillo. From there it travelled due South over open water along the 105^th meridian to 61° S latitude before returning northward to Seattle along a more westward route. Two ports during this open water segement were at Easter Island and Tahiti.

Shown below is a plot of the atmospheric and surface water concentrations of N₂O measured during the ship's northbound equatorial crossing. The N₂O plot shows the relative abundance of N₂O in the warmer surface waters near the equator. The concentrations computed to date remain preliminary.