Compilation of trace metal (Cu, Cd, Zn) concentrations in open and coastal oceans

This data compilation contains previously published concentrations of copper, cadmium and zinc in open and coastal oceans of the world. The data was recalculated to nmol/L for consistency, assuming the following molar masses of copper, cadmium and zinc as 63.546, 112.411 and 65.380 g/mol, respectively, and salinity as 1.025 kg/L. The temperature and salinity provided by the authors were also included, in case there is a desire for future users to utilize different conversion methods to recalculate original data. Only data with information on whether the authors measured the trace metal concentrations in open or coastal marine environments were included. The oceans were divided into different geographical regions, namely the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and Southern Ocean, and subsequently subdivided according to the information authors have given in their publications. In this context, several chemically diverse seas were included in geographical regions in order to limit the number of broad ocean regimes. Chemically diverse sub-regimens were, however, considered within each geographical grouping.