Dynamics of particulate major and trace elements in the lower reaches of the Daugava River and adjacent area of the Gulf of Riga (Baltic Sea)

Suspended particulate matter (SPM) was collected in the freshwater–seawater mixing zone in the lower reaches of the Daugava River (Latvia) and adjacent marine area, during five cruises in 1998–2001. The study focused on biogeochemical phase exchange processes. SPM in the freshwater was found to be mainly allochthonous with a high content of organic matter, Mn and sorbed phosphate. Property-salinity plots suggested flocculation of humic-Fe complexes across the salinity gradient. The variability of sorbed phosphate was related to particulate Fe, although no dependence on pH and ionic strength was observed. The Mn contents of SPM mainly follow conservative mixing, but there are also indications of interface exchange of Mn in the mixing zone. The geochemical behaviour of particulate Al appears to differ from that of Fe. In early spring, trace element contents in SPM (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb) correlate tightly with particulate organic matter, whose distribution is linked to phytoplankton distributions.