Distribution of dissolved and particulate Fe in an estuarine system at Bagan Pasir, Perak

Abstract

The distribution of dissolved iron (dFe) and particulate iron in the estuarine system was studied where in-situ water sampling stations were selected at Bagan Pasir, Perak. The concentration of dFe was 1.17±0.28 mg/L on average at the estuary, while in freshwater samples its concentration was 0.08±0.00 mg/L. This study found that the concentration of particulate Fe in freshwater system was higher than that in the estuary system. The Fe concentration was 0.95±0.03 mg/kg and 0.80±0.18 mg/kg at the freshwater and estuary systems, respectively. We have applied a distribution coefficient (KD) in order to quantify the partitioning of Fe between the particulate (>0.45 µm) and dissolved (<0.45 µm) phases. The KD value of Fe in the freshwater system was much higher compared to that in the estuary, where the KD value was 12.18 in freshwater and 0.48 -1.31 in the estuary. This indicated that Fe in this area has a strong affinity with the particulate phase in a freshwater system and this is probably due to the anthropogenic input. On the other hand, Fe may exist in colloidal or organic ligands which probably originate from surface sediment or a biological process in water columns at the estuarine area

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