Proceedings of Texas Academy of Science, 93rd meeting.

Filtered water and suspended particle samples were collected across the salinity gradient on two occasions (August & October/November 1989) in 6 Texas estuaries and measured for Cu, Zn, Pb, Ag, Hg, and Cr. The Sabine, Trinity-San Jacinto, Colorado, Lavaca-Navidad, Guadalupe-San Antonio, and Nueces estuaries represent a wide range of geochemical conditions and account for 70% of the river discharges from Texas to the Gulf of Mexico. Samples were collected and analyzed using state-of-the-art methods, and in virtually all cases, the metals are present below the parts-per-billion level. This contrasts with previous reports of higher evels, which may have been due to sample contamination. Distribution rations of trace metals between particles and solution will be discussed as well as partitioning's dependance on particle concentrations, salinity, pH, alkalinity, and DOC.