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Uptake of trace metals by sediments and suspended particulates: a review

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Abstract

This review addresses three of the possible mechanisms by which trace metals can be concentrated by sediments and suspended particulate matter. These are physico-chemical adsorption from the water column, biological uptake particularly by bacteria and algae, and the sedimentation and physical entrapment of enriched particulate matter. The relative importance of these three mechanisms will be different, depending upon the aqueous system, but there have been insufficient studies to allow the establishment of even ‘rule-of-thumb’ guidelines, as yet, about their quantitative importance under different conditions.

The importance of natural organic matter in the cycling of trace metals in aquatic systems has been stressed. This organic matter may complex with the trace metals and keep them in solution, or it may enhance the association of the trace metals with particulate matter by becoming adsorbed to the particulate surface and then complexing with the trace metals in the solution phase. Enhanced metal-particulate associations may also arise if the metal-organic complexes are able to adsorb to the surface.

The behaviour of natural organic matter may be the single most important influence on trace metal cycling in aquatic systems and should receive considerably more attention in the future.

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  1. Water Studies Centre, Caulfield Institute of Technology, Caulfield East, Australia

    Barry T. Hart

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Hart, B.T. Uptake of trace metals by sediments and suspended particulates: a review. Hydrobiologia 91, 299–313 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02391947

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