As part of University of Stirling's contribution to the ARCoES project, data were collected to determine the uptake and mobilisation of metals associated with estuarine intertidal sediment by microphytobenthic diatoms. The research was carried out as three studies at a range of scales and levels of realism, from a laboratory experiment in a controlled environment facility, through a study using an intertidal mesocosm, to the field. http://hdl.handle.net/11667/110