Sea flux of trace metals in Saanich Inlet

Abstract

The sea fluxes of trace metals, POC, and settled material were studied in anoxic seawater, Saanich Inlet, B. C., Canada with sediment traps. This paper discusses the change of mass fluxes of sediment, trace metals and POC for various seasons and depths. The annual mean of settled material is 1.56 g.m−2.a−1, 84.6 mg. m−2.a−1 for POC, 60.0 mg. m−2.a−1 for Cu, 16.5 mg.m−2.a−1 for Pb, 189 mg.m−2.a−1 for Zn, 2.20 mg.m−2.a−1 for Cd, 699 mg.m−2.a−1 for Fe, 38.8 mg.m−2.a−1 for Co, and 84.6 mg.m−2.a−1 for Ni. The relations between the average fluxes of trace metals and POC, the fluxes of trace metals and settled matter, and the sea fluxes of trace metals and Fe are in linear progression. The resident times of elements as calculated from sea flux, are 1.1 a. for Cu, 0.014 a. for Pb, 0.50 a. for Zn, 3.8 a. for Cd, 0.16 a. for Fe, 0.39 a. for Co, and 1.14 a. for Ni. The order of resident times is as follows: Pb−Fe−Co−Zn−Cu−Ni−Cd. The metal resident times in Saanich Inlet are shorter than the values estimated for the open ocean. It illustrates that the biochemical processes in shallow Saanich Inlet are faster than those in the open ocean, and that debries of plankton and fecal pellets of zooplankton play an important role in vertical transport of organic carbons.