Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 1977
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1977e%26psl..37..242h&link_type=abstract
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 37, Issue 2, p. 242-250.
Physics
17
Scientific paper
The partitioning of trace elements between the aqueous and suspended fractions of estuarine waters can play a critical role in local problems of water quality and is a necessary parameter in establishing global mass balances for individual elements. A study has been made of the behavior of Ba during mixing of fresh and marine waters in a classic salt-wedge estuary - the lower Mississippi River. Samples were collected during low river stage, when much of the mixing was confined within the river channel. The behavior of dissolved Ba is strongly non-conservative, with excess Ba introduced into solution during mixing. The concentration of dissolved Ba in river water was 60 μg/l. During initial mixing (Cl = 0-5 g/l), dissolved Ba values increased to 80 μg/l. With further mixing (Cl = 5-19 g/l), dissolved Ba decreased to normal Gulf of Mexico surface values of 11 μg/l. The excess Ba appears to have been stripped off of suspended clays by exchange with major cations in seawater, and the behavior of Ba can be accurately described by a simple ion-exchange model. Average river waters at the time of sampling contained from 40 to 80 μg/l adsorbed, exchangeable Ba, depending on the concentration of suspended clays. Approximately half of the flux of dissolved Ba into the Gulf of Mexico was thus derived by desorption occurring near the mouth of the river. Clearly, river concentrations in the absence of exchange data are inadequate to characterize the continental input of dissolved Ba into the oceans.
Chan Lui-Heung
Hanor Jeffrey S.
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