Silica distribution in interstitial waters and sediments from the southeastern pacific

Analyses for silica in the interstitial water of five cores from the southeast Pacific are presented. Silica is enriched in these interstitial waters resulting in a vertical flux of silica of between 10 and 50 μmol cm^?2 yr^?1 from the sediment into the overlaying seawater. This flux is generated by the dissolution of biogenic silica, the dissolution of which is increased in areas of bottom water turbulence. The Si, Al and calculated opal (Leinen, 1977) contents of the bulk sediment of these cores are also presented. Small scale variations over depth intervals of tens of centimetres are present as a result of chaning conditions of sedimentation.