Abstract
Most studies of the organic complexation of Cu in natural waters have focused on distributions and processes in the water column, where a significant fraction of Cu‐complexing ligands may be biologically produced. We present direct evidence for a flux of Cu‐complexing ligands from estuarine sediments, demonstrating that sediments are a significant, yet previously unrecognized source of the ligands. Fluxes of Cu‐complexing ligands from Chesapeake Bay sediments range from 300 to 1,200 nmol m−2 d−1, exceeding fluxes of total dissolved Cu by 3→40‐fold, suggesting that any Cu fluxing from the sediments is likely to be organically complexed. Our results indicate that benthic fluxes may supply from 10 to 50% of the standing stock of Cu‐complexing ligands in Chesapeake Bay and suggest that such fluxes may strongly influence the biogeochemistry of Cu in shallow water environments and potentially in the ocean as a whole.
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