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Microautoradiography (with combined liquid scintillation) applied to the study of trace metal uptake by suspended particles: Initial results using 63Ni as a tracer
Author(s) -
Barbeau Katherine,
Wollast Roland
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1994.39.5.1211
Subject(s) - sorption , tracer , liquid scintillation counting , trace metal , abiotic component , particle (ecology) , scavenging , metal , environmental chemistry , chemistry , estuary , particle size , environmental science , radiochemistry , geology , adsorption , oceanography , physics , biochemistry , organic chemistry , nuclear physics , antioxidant , paleontology
We report the development of a microautoradiographic method for the study of trace metal‐particle interactions in natural waters. This technique, in combination with conventional liquid scintillation counting methods, was applied to surface water samples from the Belgian coastal zone and Scheldt estuary. 63 Ni was used as the metallic radiotracer. Ni partitioning in our experimental system was shown to be a primarily abiotic process, driven by passive sorption reactions and limited in extent on a 24‐h time scale by the slow reaction kinetics of Ni. Small particles (< 1 µ m) were important as sorption sites, while large particles exhibited variable and particle‐specific scavenging potential.