Trace Metals in Aquatic Systems

About this book

Trace Metals in Aquatic Systems provides a detailed examination of the concentration, form and cycling of trace metals and metalloids through the aquatic biosphere, and has sections dealing with the atmosphere, the ocean, lakes and rivers. It discusses exchanges at the water interface (air/water and sediment/water) and the major drivers of the cycling, concentration and form of trace metals in aquatic systems.

The initial chapters of Trace Metals in Aquatic Systems focus on the fundamental principles and modelling approaches needed to understand metal concentration, speciation and fate in the aquatic environment, while the later chapters focus on specific environments, with case studies and research highlights.

Specific examples deal with metals that are of particular scientific interest, such as mercury, iron, arsenic and zinc, and Trace Metals in Aquatic Systems deals with both pollutant and required (nutrient) metals and metalloids. The underlying chemical principles controlling toxicity and bioavailability of these elements to microorganisms and to the aquatic food chain are also discussed.

Contents

Preface, ix
About the companion website, x

1 Introduction, 1
2 An introduction to the cycling of metals in the biosphere, 13
3 Chemical thermodynamics and metal(loid) complexation in natural waters, 49
4 Modeling approaches to estimating speciation and interactions in aqueous systems, 123
5 Metal(loid)s in the atmosphere and their inputs to surface waters, 167
6 Trace metal(loid)s in marine waters, 219
7 Trace metals in freshwaters, 310
8 Trace metals and organisms: Essential and toxic metals, organometallics, microbial processes, and metal bioaccumulation, 370

References, 415
Problems, 421
Index, 422

 

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Biography

Robert Mason is a Professor in the Departments of Marine Sciences and Chemistry at the University of Connecticut. His research focuses on the chemistry, fate, transport and bioaccumulation of trace metals in the marine and freshwater environments, with a focus on exchanges at the primary interfaces (air/water and sediment/water) and on transformations (methylation/demethylation, oxidation/reduction). Mercury biogeochemistry has been the primary focus of much of his research.