An isopycnal analysis of cadmium distributions in the Atlantic Ocean

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commissionʹs baseline study of contaminants in the Atlantic Ocean has provided some important South Atlantic Ocean data for the assessment of the global cadmium vs. phosphate relationship. In this paper, an analysis of the cadmium vs. phosphate relationships found on various density surfaces throughout the oceans is used to address several questions related to the nature of this relationship. The analysis shows that the cadmium distribution in intermediate and deep waters can be described by a single global cadmium vs. phosphate relationship. Upper waters from the North Atlantic are described by a different lower slope relationship that is produced by processes occurring within the Atlantic Ocean basins. Input of low cadmium:phosphate ratio waters from the Antarctic via the northward flowing Antarctic Intermediate Water is not observed.