Metal data collected during the Tara Pacific Expedition 2016-2018

The Tara Pacific expedition (2016-2018) sampled coral ecosystems around 32 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and sampled the surface of oceanic waters at 249 locations, resulting in the collection of nearly 58,000 samples. The expedition was designed to systematically study corals, fish, plankton, and seawater, and included the collection of samples for advanced biogeochemical, molecular, and imaging analysis. Here we provide the total dissolvable (i.e. acidified unfiltered whole seawater) Fe, Zn, Mn, Ni, Cd, Co, Cu, and Pb concentrations for 242 surface seawater samples. Trace metal analyses were performed with the goals of characterizing the surface seawater trace metal distribution across the open ocean and coastal regions in both the Atlantic and Pacific, and exploring metal-dependent ecosystem structure and metabolism. Some of the findings include high concentrations of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) in several regions, such as the North Atlantic Ocean and near the South Pacific islands, possibly due to Saharan dust and hydrothermal vent input, respectively. Elevated lead (Pb) was found in the North Pacific near southeast Asia, where anthropogenic sources may contribute. We also observe interbasin differences in concentrations for most of the metals, such as cobalt (Co), which is relatively high in the North Atlantic in comparison to the Pacific, perhaps due to dust deposition or continental weathering. There are also intrabasin differences in metal concentrations between oligotrophic and upwelling regions, exemplified by the higher cadmium (Cd) concentrations near the Peruvian coast, likely due to upwelling. Overall we captured high-resolution trace metal data that depicts the nuances in the metal distribution of the global ocean