Trace element concentrations, elemental ratios, and enrichment factors observed in aerosol samples collected during the US GEOTRACES eastern Pacific Ocean transect (GP16)

摘要

Atmospheric deposition is an important source of bioactive trace elements to the open ocean, but observations of this flux are sparse. Atmospheric deposition of aerosol iron is of particular interest as it can play an important role in supporting primary production in the global ocean, yet it represents a key uncertainty that hampers accurate numerical modeling of the marine iron cycle. We report concentrations of atmospheric trace elements from samples collected as part of the 2013 US GEOTRACES GP16 zonal transect of the eastern Pacific Ocean. The cruise transected a relatively dusty region which coincided with the Peruvian upwelling zone before entering the much less dusty region of the subtropical gyre. The aerosol chemical composition and elemental ratios indicate crustal sources for Al, Ti, V, Mn, and Fe while the analyses suggest that Cu, Cd, and Pb originate from anthropogenic emissions.