Distribution of Be, Al, Se and Bi in the surface waters of the western North Atlantic and Caribbean

Abstract

The mixed layer distributions of several trace elements have been determined along a detailed transect from Rhode Island to the Panama Canal. When taken together with a new and existing profile data from the North Atlantic and North Pacific, some general inferences emerge as to the processes controlling their concentrations in the surface waters. The large enrichments in Be observed in the upper waters of the North Atlantic relative to the North Pacific appear to be sustained mainly by fluvial inputs. Those of Se are derived from atmospheric transport. Aluminium and Bi also appear to have an aeolian source in the Sargasso Sea. However, in the tropical eastern Pacific, the Al input may be fluvial On this cruise, Be, Al and the Se species were analyzed on board ship within a few hours of collection. The demonstration that this is feasible opens up the prospect of the application of large-scale chemical hydrography to the study of the processes controlling the distribution and water column variability of trace elements in the oceans.