Abstract
CERTAIN sediments deposited under areas of high primary productivity contain considerably more organic carbon than those laid down in other marine environments; for example, diatomaceous clays on the continental shelf off South-West Africa (Namibia) have an average of 9% organic carbon1. Calvert and Price2 have reported that these sediments also have enhanced concentrations of some trace metals, such as Cu, Zn and Pb. During the past few years we have been carrying out collections of surface (0–5 m) seawater particulates from various areas of the World oceans3–6. Here, we present average data on the concentrations of Al, Cu, Zn, Pb and organic carbon in a series of particulates collected off the coast of West Africa, and compare them to organic-rich marine sediments.
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References
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CHESTER, R., GRIFFITHS, A. & STONER, J. Minor metal content of surface seawater particulates and organic-rich shelf sediments. Nature 275, 308–309 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/275308a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/275308a0
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