The bottom sediments from the Suimon River polluted by the effluent of a chemical plant were analyzed for mercury and other heavy metals, and the surface areas of sediments were measured. The relationship between mercury concentrations and specific surface areas of sediments in each sampling station could be represented by the following equation.
M = C exp (kS)
where M is mercury concentration, S is specific surface area, and C and k are the constants. Concentrations of cadmium, lead and copper also correlated significantly to specific surface areas of sediments. The C -value became larger with increase of ignition loss, and it was in the order copper > lead > mercury> cadmium for sediments rich in ignition loss. The k-value decreased with increase of ignition loss, and it was in the order mercury > cadmium≥lead > copper for sediments poor in ignition loss. But there were little differences of k-value among the metals in sediments rich in ignition loss.
