Dissolved iron and zinc in Sagami Bay and the Izu-Ogasawara Trench

Using a clean seawater sampling system for trace metals onboard the R. V. Shinsei-Maru, newly launched in 2013, we investigated the vertical distributions of dissolved iron and zinc in Sagami Bay and the Izu-Ogasawara Trench. We applied appropriate clean sampling and filtering processes for trace metals, so that uncontaminated seawater samples were successfully collected. The distribution of zinc in the trench area was similar to that of silicate and the same as that previously reported in the subtropical North Pacific. There were spatial variations in the iron (Fe) distribution in the trench areas. We used previously reported information about biogeochemical cycling in the trench area, and found that Fe has a residence time of 29 years in the water column. The short residence time of Fe (29 years) corresponds to the vertical variations of dissolved Fe in the water column.