CFC-11 Penetration into the Deep Ocean

Chlorofluorocarbons or CFC's are man-made pollutants which are extremely inert in sea water and detectable at very low concentrations. If they are found in deep ocean waters, some fraction of that water must have been in contact with the atmosphere since the 1930's, the time at which these chemicals were first introduced. CFCs are used by climate modelers to validate their computer models, particularly with respect to their representation of deep water pathways, by comparing model results with measured CFC concentrations. The following animations show CFC-11 invasion into the deep ocean over several decades, from 1951 to 1997.

• Line 1: time of day (not used in these animations)
• Line 2: year and day number (YYDDD)
• Line 3: current frame number