Table 2. The conrentration of chemical elements in seawater (according to data of Brewer 1975).
The classical textbook figures have been modified in rerent years by new methods of analysis and
are also still undergoing corrections; for example, according to rerent analyses, mercury conren·
tration only stands at 7 ng/I, lead concentration at 2 ng/l
mg/I
pg/l
ng/I
ng/l
Chlorine
18,800
Zinc
4.9
Xenon
50
Lanthanum
3.0
Sodium
10,770
Argon
4.3
Cobalt
50
Neodymium
3.0
Magnesium
1,290
Arsenic
3.7
Germanium 50
Tantalum
2.0
Sulfur
905
Uranium
3.2
Silver
40
Yttrium
1.3
Calcium
412
Vanadium 2.5
Gallium
30
Cerium
1.0
Potassium
399
Aluminum 2.0
Zirconium 30
Dysprosium
0.9
Bromine
67
Iron
2.0
Mercury
(30)
Erbium
0.8
Carbon
28
Nickel
1.7
Lead
(30)
Ytterbium
0.8
Strontium
7.9
Titanium
1.0
Bismuth
20
Gadolinium
0.7
Boron
4.5
Copper
0.5
Niobium
10
Praseodymium
0.6
Silicium
2
Caesium
0.4
Thallium
10
Scandium
0.6
Fluorine
1.3
Chromium 0.3
Tin
10
Holmium
0.2
Lithium
0.18
Antimony 0.2
Thorium
10
Thulium
0.2
Nitrogen
0.15
Manganese 0.2
Helium
7
Lutetium
0.2
Rubidium
0.12
Selenium
0.2
Hafnium
7
Indium
0.1
Phosphorus
0.06 Krypton
0.2
Beryllium
6
Terbium
0.1
Iodine
0.06 Cadmium
0.1
Rhenium
4
Samarium
0.05
Barium
0.02 Tungsten
0.1
Gold
4
Europium
0.01
Molybdenium
0.01
Neon
0.1
5