Water Analysis | Seawater: Inorganic Compounds for Environmental Analysis

Seawater is the most important water resource on the Earth. Because of the variable speciation under the high salinity, it is a major analytical challenge for measuring the inorganic components in seawater with a high reliability and accuracy. This article introduces the inorganic analysis of seawater, including major ions, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, silicon, oxygen, trace elements, and some rare earth elements in estuarine, coastal, and open sea waters. It reviews the basic concepts, principles, hypothesis and some conventional analysis strategies, and some updated sampling, pretreatment, and storage of samples, and new analysis techniques are also commented and summarized. The latest and sophisticated methods such as Flow-Field-Flow Fractionation (AF4), Hollow-Fiber Flow Field-Flow Fraction (HF5), Multi Physical Chemical Profiler (MPCP) are recommended to low concentrations of element analysis with a reliable sensitivity in the laboratory and in-situ open sea. This article gives a basic and newest handbook to help readers understanding the behavior, speciation, geochemical characteristics, and analysis considerations of different elements or substances in seawater.