Cadmium in the waters off South Morocco: Nature of particles hosting Cd and insights into the mechanisms fractionating Cd from phosphate

Type Article
Date 2016-05
Language English
Author(s) Waeles Mathieu1, Planquette Helene1, Afandi Imane2, Delebecque Nina1, Bouthir Fatimazohra2, Donval Anne1, Shelley Rachel U.1, Auger Pierre-Amael3, 4, 5, Riso Ricardo D.1, de Morais Luis Tito5
Affiliation(s) 1 : Univ Bretagne Occidentale, LEMAR UMR CNRS 6539, IUEM, F-29269 Brest, France.
2 : Inst Natl Rech Halieut, Casablanca, Plouzane, Morocco.
3 : Pontificia Univ Catolica Valparaiso, Inst Milenio Oceanog, Valparaiso, Chile.
4 : Pontificia Univ Catolica Valparaiso, Escuela Ciencias Mar, Valparaiso, Chile.
5 : Inst Rech Dev, UMR LEMAR 195, Plouzane, France.
Source Journal Of Geophysical Research-oceans (2169-9275) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2016-05 , Vol. 121 , N. 5 , P. 3106-3120
DOI 10.1002/2016JC011688
WOS© Times Cited 11
Abstract In this study, we report the distributions of total dissolvable cadmium and particulate cadmium from 27 stations in southern Moroccan coastal waters (22°N–30°N), which is part of the North-West African upwelling system. These distributions were predominantly controlled by upwelling of the North Atlantic Central Waters (NACWs) and uptake by primary production. Atmospheric inputs and phosphogypsum slurry inputs from the phosphate industry at Jorf Lasfar (33°N), recently estimated as an important source of dissolved cadmium (240 t Cd yr−1), are at best of minor importance for the studied waters. Our study provides new insights into the mechanisms fractionating cadmium from phosphate. In the upper 30 m, the anomalies observed in terms of Cd:P ratios in both the particulate and total dissolvable fractions were related to an overall preferential uptake of phosphate. We show that the type of phytoplanktonic assemblage (diatoms versus dinoflagellates) is also a determinant of the fractionation intensity. In subsurface waters (30–60 m), a clear preferential release of P (versus Cd) was observed indicating that remineralization in Oxygen Minimum Zones is a key process in sequestering Cd.
Full Text
File Pages Size Access
Publisher's official version 15 1 MB Open access
Supporting Information 7 1 MB Open access
Top of the page

How to cite 

Waeles Mathieu, Planquette Helene, Afandi Imane, Delebecque Nina, Bouthir Fatimazohra, Donval Anne, Shelley Rachel U., Auger Pierre-Amael, Riso Ricardo D., de Morais Luis Tito (2016). Cadmium in the waters off South Morocco: Nature of particles hosting Cd and insights into the mechanisms fractionating Cd from phosphate. Journal Of Geophysical Research-oceans, 121(5), 3106-3120. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JC011688 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00334/44520/