Potassium Enrichments in Interstitial Waters of Recent Marine Sediments

Abstract

Potassium enrichments in marine sediments have been reported which would imply a rate of diffusion of potassium into the oceans much larger than any of the know rates of addition or removal by other mechanisms. Experiments with mixtures of seawater and clay suggest that spurious enrichments can be produced if sediment samples are allowed to warm up before the pore water is expressed.