Aquatic systems, trace element distribution

Trace Element Distribution in Various Phases of Aquatic Systems of the Savannah River... 

SANDHU Trace Element Distribution in Aquatic Systems... 

Though several studies (5-9) have described the concentrations of trace elements in surface waters, most of them did not differentiate between species of a particular element. Some (10) have considered the distribution between dissolved and particulate forms. However, few attempts (11) have been made to evaluate the distribution of metals between various solid phase components of the suspended material. The present study provides quantitative estimates of dissolved (dissolved is defined as those aquatic components that could not be removed by centrifugation from liquid phase) and various solid phase associated metal fractions in southeastern United States streams. Between November 83 and August 85, 46 bi-weekly samples were taken from six SRP associated watersheds to determine dissolved (filterable) and total element concentrations. As one of several goals of the study was to assess the impact of natural and production related activities on trace element behavior in these aquatic systems, knowledge of speciation within solid and dissolved phases was essential for data interpretation. The research described herein used sequential extraction and a thermodynamics approach to define solid and dissolved phase species of Cu, Cd, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn. The study also evaluated the effects of natural and production related processes on the distribution of metals in aquatic systems at SRP. 

DISTRIBUTION OF ELEMENTS The sampling scheme was chosen to elucidate the distribution of trace metals and to study the influence of several variables on the distribution and chemistry of metals in the SRP aquatic systems. The dissolved element concentrations found in the present study were similar to those reported previously (10,22) for some of the sites. The results of analyses for Cu and Fe as fractions of the total element concentration are given in Figures 2 and 3. The range and median for all elements are given in Table I. 

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