8.9 - Chemical Tracers of Particle Transport

Abstract

Particles represent important agents of transport in global ocean cycles of many trace elements, of carbon, and of other substances. Once introduced into the oceans, many trace elements are removed from seawater by scavenging (sorption, complexation, and other forms of surface reactions) to particles. Scavenging and burial in marine sediments represents the principal loss process influencing the biogeochemical cycle of many trace elements in the ocean. Vertical transport processes are primarily considered when examining the fate of biogenic particles formed in surface waters. Lateral transport processes influence the dispersion into the ocean interior of particulate material eroded from continents. Much of this dispersion occurs by eddy mixing, but advection by ocean currents plays an important role in transport of marine particles as well. A complete understanding of the cycling of material within the oceans relies on an accurate knowledge of particle transport.