²²⁶Ra and Ba in northeast Atlantic deep water

²²⁶Ra and Ba data are presented for the northeast Atlantic below 2000 m depth from a section of stations 8°S to 46°N obtained by F.S. Meteor in 1981. The precision of the ²²⁶Ra data (±1%) allows a resolution of structures in the ²²⁶Ra distribution that is comparable to the resolution for Ba and nutrients. Linear property-property correlations in the upper parts of the depth range appear to be uniform within the observational error along the section for ²²⁶Ra, Ba [Ba(nmol kg^-1) = 3.88 Ra (dpm 100 kg^-1) + 12.3], and alkalinity, whereas the slopes of these properties versus Si increase northwards from about 10 to 25 × 10^-4 dpm Ra μmol Si^-1. From this observation, and from studying the property distributions across the Romanche Fracture Zone, it is concluded that CaCO₃ dissolution must be an important process of ²²⁶Ra and barium regeneration, while opal dissolution appears to be of minor importance. The water overflowing eastward over the sill of the Romanche Fracture Zone has 17.2 ± 0.3 dpm 100 kg^{-1 226}Ra, 79.5 ± 1.5·nmol kg^-1 Ba and 2338 ± 4 μeq kg^-1 alkalinity. Within 800-1400 m above the sea floor, excess ²²⁶Ra relative to the linear correlation with Ba further up in the water column is generally present, but there is also a reflection of ²²⁶Ra decay at intermediate depths at the northern stations of the section. The latter effect appears to amount to only 3 ± 1.5%, but this magnitude is consistent with the ¹⁴C distribution reported previously (Schlitzer et al., Journal of Geophysical Research, 90, 6945-6952, 1985). From the excess ²²⁶Ra in the lowest 800-1400 m of the water column, the ²²⁶Ra flux from the sediments is estimated to be 7.7 ± 4 × 10^-21 mol Ra (m²s)^-1, a value in accordance with results by Cochran (Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 49, 381-392, 1980).