Marine Geochemistry

The map service features levels of heavy metals and other inorganic environmental indicators in seabed sediments. The term heavy metals includes all metallic chemical elements with high density. Heavy metals are naturally occurring ingredients of the earth’s crust, in varying concentrations. Many heavy metals are poisonous even in low concentrations. They tend to be bioaccumulative, meaning that their concentration in living organisms may be higher than in the surroundings. Thus, high concentrations of heavy metals in the marine environment may have a toxic effect on marine organisms that eat them.