WATER-ROCK PARTITION-COEFFICIENTS AND THE COMPOSITION OF SEAWATER AND RIVER WATER

Using a simple chemical reactor model a strong correlation is established between the mean oceanic residence time of an element and the partitioning of that element between seawater and crustal rock. The ocean-rock partition coefficient (Ky(sw)) is shown to be related to the electrostatic contribution to the element-oxygen bond energy (Qyo) and a second correlation is established between these parameters. In this way the concentrations of all the elements so far identified in seawater fall in a coherent pattern. The global mean composition of river water, which represents an intermediate step in the formation of seawater from rock weathering, is shown to conform to a similar pattern. © 1979 Nature Publishing Group.