DISTRIBUTION AND ORIGIN OF DISSOLVED ALUMINUM IN THE ENGLISH-CHANNEL

The distribution of dissolved Al in the Channel along the English coas t shows the existence of a strong gradient of this element extending o ver a distance of several hundred nautical miles. These profiles sugge st that wind-driven export from the North Sea to the Channel is season ally important. These findings confirm the predictions of the recent c irculation models of Salomon and Breton (1991). A gross mass balance o f dissolved Al in the Channel indicates that the input of the river Se ine is insignificant and that the contribution of other minor fresh wa ter sources cannot account for the observed values. The input of disso lved Al from the North Sea seems thus to be the most likely largest so urce of this element in the Channel. This could also be the case for o ther trace metals exhibiting similar gradients across the Dover Strait .