Dissolved Trace Metals in the Tay Estuary

Dissolved trace metals have been studied over an annual cycle in the relatively pristine Tay estuary (Scotland). The absence of a major anthropogenic signal has enabled some of the more subtle natural processes controlling trace metal distributions to be identified. Concentration ranges of dissolved metals in the Tay are similar to, or lower than, those observed in more industrialized estuaries. All metals behave non-conservatively in the Tay. Interactions with biogenic and detrital particulate phases are important in controlling dissolved trace metal concentrations. The degradation of organic matter appears to be particularly important for Cu. Removal of dissolved metals was observed in the turbidity maximum zone; a simple model was used to demonstrate that this could be accounted for by adsorption onto suspended particulate matter. At high salinity, coincident peaks of all six metals with ammonia and phosphate are attributed to sewage inputs from Dundee at the mouth of the estuary.