Potentially mobile of heavy metals on the surface sediments in tropical hyper-saline and positive estuaries

ABSTRACT Estuarine sediments represent important pools of trace metals, released from both anthropogenic and natural sources. Fluctuations in the water column physicochemical conditions, on the other hand, may transfer metals from solid to liquid compartment and resulting in contamination of the surrounding environment. The present research was carried out to evaluate the weakly bounded heavy metal levels in tropical hyper-saline and positive estuaries, in order to quantify its potentially availability. The monitoring includes five metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn) and cover nine estuaries in Rio Gr...