1989 年 5 巻 2 号 p. 129-139
Progress in clean techniques that includes clean sampling, storage, treatment and analysis of seawater samples is essential for the exact determination of trace elements in seawater. Japanese marine chemists have worked vigorously to establish clean techniques and the accumulation of data. Results have met with a measured amount of success, as briefly shown in this review paper. The behavior and distribution of trace elements in seawater are dependent on multifaceted chemical, physical and biological processes occurring in the ocean. Thus, the chemical speciation of inorganic and organic species of trace elements in seawater has been eagerly studied. Specifically, the dissolved states of oxyacid elements such as Cr, I, Se, Te, As and Sb have been determined by using various procedures and methods developed by Japanese marine chemists. The present paper reviews the procedures of chemical speciation for inorganic species of Cr, I, Mn, Mo; W, Se, Te, As and Sb as well as those for organic species of Cr, Ge, I, Se, Hg, Fe and Cu in seawater. The difficulty in obtaining exact measurements of the total concentrations of trace elements in seawater is shown concerning Fe, Cu, Zn and Se as examples.
