Distribution of silver, mercury, lead, copper and cadmium in central puget sound sediments

Distributions of five of the more toxic heavy metals have been assessed for Puget Sound sediments. Twenty-one Kasten cores were collected for the study. Analysis by Zeeman-corrected graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy has made possible the accurate and precise determination of silver and cadmium in Puget Sound sediment cores for the first time. Data show that Puget Sound is moderately impacted by anthropogenic Ag, Hg, Pb and Cu. No enrichment of Cd was found. The study also indicates that Puget Sound is quite well mixed with respect to the residence time of particle-bound metals. Toxic metal accumulation sites in the central Sound are determined almost exclusively by grain size, rather than proximity to sources. Estimates are made of trace metal fluxes to the sediments as a function of sediment type and areal distribution.