Near-surface waters close to the Antarctic continent are found to have high cadmium concentrations with respect to phosphorous. These waters have been shown to be the major component in the local formation of Antarctic Bottom Water in this region. It is demonstrated that Antarctic Bottom Water so formed would have a high preformed cadmium to phosphorus ratio. The ventilation of the abyssal ocean with this water would contribute to the observed kink in the global cadmium to phosphorus relationship. This is an important conclusion for paleochemical studies and may account for part of the discrepancy between cadmium and carbon-13 paleochemical tracers observed in the Southern Ocean. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1995