Dataset for: Sources and distributions of underexplored particulate trace elements on the Southwest African shelf and slope

This dataset provides concentrations of labile, refractory, and total particulate trace elements measured along the GEOTRACES GA08 (M121) transect on the southwest African shelf, slope, and adjacent South Atlantic Ocean. It includes concentrations of labile, refractory, and total particulate gallium (Ga), germanium (Ge), beryllium (Be), tellurium (Te), tin (Sn), antimony (Sb), strontium (Sr), and thallium (Tl) for the sections presented in the associated manuscript. In this dataset, particulate trace elements are operationally defined as the fraction retained on a 0.2 μm filter. Labile and refractory particulate fractions were quantified using a sequential extraction procedure. The labile fraction was obtained by acetic acid–hydroxylamine hydrochloride leaching, whereas the refractory fraction was determined after digestion of the residual particulate material on the filter with HNO3–HF. Total particulate concentrations are reported as the sum of labile and refractory fractions. This repository contains only the newly generated dataset produced in this study. Supporting data for labile and refractory particulate phosphorus (P), aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), and manganese (Mn), nutrients (silicic acid, phosphate, and nitrate + nitrite), and physical parameters, which were adopted from Al-Hashem et al. (2022) and Al-Hashem (2023), are not included in this repository and should be accessed and cited from the original sources. This dataset is intended to support the interpretation of particulate trace element sources, phase partitioning, and biogeochemical cycling in the Benguela shelf and slope system.