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Geochemical Comparisons Between Estuaries With Non-Industrialised And Industrialised Catchments: The Huon And Derwent River Estuaries, Tasmania, Brian Jones, Bryan Chenhall, F Debretsion, Adrian Hutton

B. G. Jones

The adjacent Huon and Derwent estuaries in Tasmania have similar climatic and physical characteristics, and provide a good comparison between relatively uncontaminated and industrially polluted estuaries, respectively. Representative samples were collected from both estuaries and analysed for grainsize and trace‐element content (using X‐ray fluorescence and neutron activation analyses). The Huon estuary drains a predominantly forested and agricultural catchment and contains low (baseline) concentrations of trace elements, including lead, zinc and copper. In contrast, the Derwent estuary has a geologically similar yet larger catchment and it passes through an industrialised area in the midestuarine reach. A zinc refinery has, in the …