Chemical and Physical Processes which Control the Temporal and SpatialVariability of Trace Elements in the Upper Marine Water Column

摘要

The goal of the project was to identify the processes which control the temporaland spatial variability of two important trace elements, Cu and Mn, in the upper marine water column. The objective is to study the changes in speciation and total concentration of Cu and Mn at the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series (BATS) station over the period Jan 1992-Mar 1993 and interpret variability in terms of in situ chemical transformations (mediated by biological processes and light) and aeolian inputs of trace metals measured at nearby Bermuda by other workers. The station is characterized by strong seasonal forcing of physical, chemical and biological parameters. Also comparative studies of the behavior of Cu and Mn were made in two different oceanic environments: the permanently stratified Southern Sargasso Sea and the equatorial Pacific (Mn only). The objectives of these studies were to see if trends observed at BATS could be generalized to oceanic other environments and to see if empirical relationships established between physical and biological parameters and trace metal chemistry at BATS could be used to account for differences at these other environments. jg p.1.