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Anthropogenic emissions of volatile Cd detected in western tropical North Atlantic surface seawater
Xu, H.; Rehkämper, M.; Huang, Y.; Jia, Z.; Kreissig, K.; Coles, B.J.; Moore, R.E.T.; Olivelli, A.; Middag, R.; Baker, A.; Shelley, R.; van de Flierdt, T. (2026). Anthropogenic emissions of volatile Cd detected in western tropical North Atlantic surface seawater. Commun. Earth Environ. 7(1): 7. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03211-w
In: Communications Earth & Environment. Springer Nature: London. ISSN 2662-4435; e-ISSN 2662-4435
Peer reviewed article  
Available in  Authors 
    Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee: Open access 419529 [ download pdf ]
Authors  Top 
  • Xu, H.
  • Rehkämper, M.
  • Huang, Y.
  • Jia, Z.
  • Kreissig, K.
  • Coles, B.J.
  • Moore, R.E.T.
  • Olivelli, A.
  • Middag, R.
  • Baker, A.
  • Shelley, R.
  • van de Flierdt, T.
Abstract
    The Cd concentrations and isotope compositions of open ocean surface waters are generally thought to be governed by internal cycling, and particularly by the balance between upwelling of more Cd-rich deeper water masses and Cd uptake by phytoplankton. Here we present a new dataset of coupled Cd isotope compositions and concentrations for seawater depth profiles sampled in the western tropical Atlantic Ocean during Leg 2 of the GEOTRACES GA02 section. A box model for the Cd source and sink fluxes of the oligotrophic surface waters of the study area shows that the observed light Cd isotope compositions and low Cd concentrations are a consequence of biological Cd uptake and atmospheric deposition of isotopically light anthropogenic Cd. Aerosols enriched in anthropogenic Cd thereby contributed at least 19%, and possibly more than 45%, to the dissolved surface water Cd inventory during the sampling period. This reveals that anthropogenic emissions of volatile Cd can have a key impact on the distribution of Cd in open ocean surface waters.
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