Metal accumulation rates in the southeast pacific — errors introduced from assumed bulk densities

The common assumption that the in-situ dry bulk density of pelagic sediments is 0.7–0.75 g cm^?3 can produce errors as great as 300–400% in metal accumulation rates. The best approach to obtain accumulation rates is to measure wet bulk density and water content. We show in this paper that if this is not possible, reasonable density and water content estimates in southeast Pacific sediments can be obtained from the CaCO₃ content of the sample. Although the specific equations derived in this paper do not apply to all areas of the ocean, the technique shown here can be used to take into account the special characteristics of any given sedimentary province and produce reasonable accumulation rate estimates.