Trace metals study in the Outer Songkla Lake, Thale Sap Songkla, a southern Thai estuary

Dissolved and suspended trace metals have been measured in Thale Sap Songkla, an estuarine lake in southern Thailand, which shows sharp maxima in suspended solids at high and low salinities due to the constricted channels connecting the lake with the freshwater lake Thale Luang and the Gulf of Thailand. Profiles of partition coefficients, calculated with respect to the carrier phase indicators Al, Fe and Mn, allow the metal profiles to be divided into three groups: Cu, Pb, Zn, Fe with little coherent change in partitioning with salinity; Cd which is conservative in the dissolved phase; Mn, Co, Ni which show a minimum in partition coefficient in the mid-salinity region.