Accumulation and transport of Cd, Cu, and Pb in an estuarine salt marsh surface microlayer1

Abstract

Dissolved and particulate Cd, Cu, and Pb were measured in bulk solution and surface microlayer samples from an intertidal salt marsh in south San Francisco Bay. The phase distribution (dissolved vs. particulate) of metals was consistent with their calculated speciation in computer‐simulated sea‐salt matrices. Trace metal enrichment at the microlayer corresponded with physical events at the sample site. Advective exchange of Cd, Cu, and Pb between the estuary and marsh systems was dominated by transport of bulk suspended particulate metals, with an apparent net export from the marsh to the bay.