Abstract
Bays, lagoons, and estuaries are sites where normal physicochemical processes result in accumulations of sediment and certain chemicals. Changes in water velocity and chemistry, and chemical interactions of sediment, biota, and water are factors that contribute to concentrating trace metals in coastal and lake sediments.
To evaluate whether lead concentration is affected by mineralogy, kaolinite, illite, montmorillonite, and a zeolitic tuff were suspended in 10 and 20 mg/l concentrations of lead solutions [Pb(NO3)2] which were pH-adjusted incrementally through a range of 2.5 to 11.0. Samples were centrifuged after 24 hours to separate liquid from suspended sediment. Sediment-free solutions were run as controls. Lead concentrations were determined by atomic adsorption spectrophotometry.
Results indicate that montmorillonite (Wyoming Bentonite) particles serve as lead adsorption nuclei over a broad pH range. Maximum sorption occurs as the solution reaches a pH of about 7.5. The kaolinite clay from Georgia strongly adsorbs trace amounts of lead at pH ranging from 3.0 to 4.5, where up to 95 percent of the lead is adsorbed by the clay.
Little adsorption difference was found between the Fithian illite clay and zeolitic tuff from the Nevada Test Site in comparison to sediment-free solutions which were pH-adjusted.
In concentrations of 10 to 20 mg/l montmorillonite and kaolinite clays serve as nucleation sites capable of adsorbing up to 95 percent of trace concentrations of lead within 24 hours. It appears that accumulations of lead in coastal lake and estuarine sediments are significantly influenced by:
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1.
pH changes which occur as river and coastal waters mix resulting in precipitation of lead, and
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sorption of lead by suspended clays.
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Scrudato, R.J., Estes, E.L. Clay-lead sorption relations. Geo 1, 167–170 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02428944
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02428944