CORRESPONDENCES BETWEEN HYDROLOGY AND PARTICULATE METAL CONCENTRATIONS ALONG MEDITERRANEAN VERTICAL PROFILES

Results concerning the vertical profiles of some heavy metal concentra tions in Mediterranean suspended particulate matter, collected during an oceanographic cruise (May-June 1991), are discussed. The chemical a nalyses were carried out according to plasma atomic emission spectrosc opy, The research was completed with hydrological data, which indicate Levantine Intermediate Water to be present. Correspondences between t emperature and salinity profiles and chemical results pointed out that , in some cases, the heavy metals concentration in the particulate mat ter (mu g g(-1) of particulate, dry weight) could be a tracer, togethe r with hydrological parameters, when studying the displacement of seaw ater masses. In fact, in correspondence with the Levantine layer, in t wo stations the heavy metal concentration average values are greater t han the average values relative to surface and deep layers, and in;thr ee stations, 'unusual' correlations between some metals in the interme diate layer confirm the presence of a different kind of particulate ma tter. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.