ABSTRACT

The vertical flux of chemical elements in the ocean is expected to be related to that of carbon from the settling model proposed by TSUNOGAI and MINAGAWA (1978) where chemical elements settle by forming large particles with organic material. The enrichment of concentration in the deep water is explained by introducing this vertical flux into a box model. The ratio of concentration for a constituent between the deep and surface waters is expressed by (1 + 2 × 10^-5E)/(1 + 7 × 10²/T) where E is the enrichment factor in the particle relative to seawater and T is the residence time in the ocean. The observed concentration ratios for various elements usually lies between the calculated ratios from E of suspended particles and of plankton and the settling particles from the surface to deep water are expected to be similar to suspended material rather than planktonic material. This model also predicts that analytical methods having errors less than 0.03% are necessary to detect enrichments for Na, Mg and K in the deep water and further that the material decomposing in the deep water has the following relationship; P : N : Si : C : O (oxygen used) = 1 : 14 : 60 : 110 : 276.