Cd and Mn in the Alboran Sea and adjacent North Atlantic: geochemical implications for the Mediterranean

• Published in: Nature
• Main Authors: Statham, PJ., Burton, J.D., Hydes, D.J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 1985
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/401869/

Water flowing from the Mediterranean at the Strait of Gibraltar differs in oceanographic characteristics from inflowing Atlantic Ocean water because of the influence of climatic conditions in the Mediterranean Basin1. Little is known about how geochemical processes affect concentrations of trace metals during this transformation because there are very few accurate published data (other than some recent values2 for surface waters) for trace metals in the Mediterranean Sea, even though these are also required in assessing the impact of pollutant inputs. Here we present new data for the concentrations of dissolved Cd and Mn in the eastern Alboran Sea and the adjacent Atlantic Ocean and use them to estimate the flux of these metals through the Strait of Gibraltar. Although the Mediterranean is a source of Cd for the Atlantic Ocean, it acts as a sink for Mn entering in the inflowing Atlantic water.