Trace Metals in Sediments on the Continental Margin of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

• Main Author: Marsh, Daniel L.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: CORE Scholar 2013
• Subjects: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences; Trace Metals; Sediment; Marine Sediment; Oceanography; Atlantic Ocean; Continental Margin; Earth Sciences; Environmental Sciences; Physical Sciences and Mathematics; Northwest Atlantic
• Online Access: https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/etd_all/1168; https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2307&context=etd_all

Trace metals in the ocean are derived from natural and anthropogenic sources. Despite increased human impact on the marine environment and biological productivity of continental margins, trace metal studies in marine sediments have focused primarily on near-shore regions. I investigated 22 metals in sediments on the continental margin of the northwest Atlantic Ocean to calculate enrichment factors (EF) relative to upper continental crust and identify spatial variations with distance from shore and depth below the sediment-seawater interface. Metals were well correlated with Al, Fe, organic matter, or CaCO3. No clear trends in metal EFs with distance from shore were evident on a station by station basis, but consistent differences among regions of the continental margin were evident. Significant near-shore enrichment was observed. Enrichment was also evident for As, Hg, Mn, and Ni in sediments farther off-shore, suggesting the influence of human activities or hydrothermal vent emissions have enriched deep ocean sediments.