Trace metals in the aquatic environment have to date come essentially
from naturally occurring geochemical resources. However, this has been
enhanced by anthropogenic activities resulting in pollution.
Consequently, correlations and partitioning of trace metals in the
dissolved phase, suspended particulate matter (SPM) and sediments were
investigated in five selected sites along the Taylor Creek, southern
Nigeria. The degree of correlations between the various metals was
different in each of the investigated matrices. In the matrices
studied, not many significant correlations (P<0.05) were recognized.
Only Ni-Cd (r=0.95), Mn-Cd (r=0.63), Mn-Ni (r=0.64) are correlated in
the sediments and in SPM, Fe-Cr (r=0.54) and Zn-Ni (r=0.72), which
suggests that the sources are not common for both matrices. In the
dissolved phase, no strong correlations (P<0.05) between the trace
metals are obvious. The best correlations are observed for Ni-Zn
(r=0.72) and Cd-Pb (r=0.65). Partitioning coefficients (Kd) of trace
metals between dissolved phase and SPM aregenerally low, which is
typical for fresh water ecosystems and fairly stable over the creek all
through the seasons. Thus, the state of the aquatic ecosystem indicates
that the trace metals, which are bio-accumulatable, could contribute to
inferior biodiversity and shifts in community composition from
sensitive to tolerant taxa