| Abstract: | Arsenic concentrations vary with season on the continental shelf of the South Atlantic Bight. During periods of high winds in the winter and early spring, inorganic arsenic concentrations are reduced to as little as 20% of typical open ocean concentrations by sorption onto resuspended sediments or incorporation into phytoplankton. In the early fall, arsenic sequestered in sediments in the spring is regenerated and returned to the water column, creating elevated arsenic concentrations in the nearshore zone that are up to 50% greater than open ocean concentrations. Arsenic in the adjacent estuaries is nearly conservative over the seasonal cycle, although its distribution in the estuaries is greatly affected by the seasonal changes in arsenic concentrations in the nearshore waters. |
