We deployed floating traps in the surface waters of the South China Sea on four occasions at depths of 30 m, 100 m, and 160 m from 2006 to 2007 to quantify vertical metal fluxes in the surface water and examine trace metal composition in the sinking particles to investigate their sources. The elements determined include 13 trace metals and 8 major elements. The fluxes for most of the bioactive elements at 30 m varied markedly...