The partitioning and distribution of zinc, nickel, chromium and copper in western Lake Erie sediments.

Previous research on trace metals in aquatic sediments have employed nonselective extractants which do not address the partitioning of trace metals. Partitioning data is important in environmental geochemistry because it can reveal a great deal of information about the source and distribution of the trace metals. A sequential extraction procedure was designed to examine the partitioning of anthropogenically derived Zn, Ni, Cr, and Cu in western Lake Erie sediment. The \u3c63 micron size fraction of twenty surficial sediment samples were subjected to a three step extraction procedure that examined trace metals: (1) adsorbed on the surface of sediment grains and/or bound to carbonates, using 1.0M Na-Acetate; (2) bound to organic matter, using 0.1M Na-pyrophosphate; and (3) bound to Fe-Mn oxides, using 1.0 M Hydroxylamine hydrochloride. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 39-02, page: 0459. Adviser: Ihsan Al-Aasm. Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1998