Application of Optimum Multiparameter Analysis on Seawater Mixing in the South Sea of Korea Using Ra Isotopes

Assuming that summer surface waters in the South Sea (northern East China Sea) are formed mostly by a mixing of three source water (Changjiang Discharge Water; Kuroshio Water and Yellow Sea Surface Water) we apply optimum multiparameter (OMP) analysis to calculate the mixing ratio of each source water to a given surface water. Since OMP requires more parameters than the number of water types (three in this study), we utilize two radium isotopes of dissolved $^{226}Ra\;and\;^{228}Ra$ along with temperature and salinity. Parameter values of each source water are deduced from in situ and historical data. Results with three source of waters on the surface waters are quite promising with less than $1\%$ of unanswered portions. Results not only reproduce the measured temperature and salinity faithfully but also discern the water masses of similar T and S according to their source water mixing. Extending OMP analysis to a whole water column obviously requires more parameters because more source waters are involved in the water mass formation. Original OMP routine utilized dissolved oxygen and nutrients. However, they seem to be perturbed too much by biological activities in the case of shallow waters. We discussed the use of other potential parameters. Also the benefit of parameter substitution is briefly introduced for the future OMP application on shallow waters.