Adsorption of Co, Ni, Cu. and Zn onto a poorly crystalline hydrous manganese dioxide (delta-MnO2) has been studied in complex electrolyte solutions such as (a) 0.5 M NaCl + 0.054 M MgCl2, (b) 0.5 M NaCl + 0.028 M Na2SO4, and (c) artificial sea water prepared according to the standard literature method. These three solutions allow us to identify the specific effect of major cations, major anions, and the mixture of major cations and anions (including carbonate and bicarbonate) that is present in real sea water. The adsorption isotherm in major ion sea water at pH 7.25 indicates that while Co and Zn exhibit increases in adsorption with increase in concentration, Ni shows relatively poor adsorption, reaching a plateau at 0.075 mM concentration. The three trace metals (Co, Ni, and Zn) show Langmuirian behavior for adsorption at low concentration. It is generally observed that the fractional adsorption vs pH curve shifts to higher pH either in the presence of 0.054 M MgCl2 or in sea water. In the presence of 0.028 M Na2SO4 the fractional adsorption vs pH curve remains almost unchanged with respect to a 0.5 M NaCl solution. The competitive adsorption of one trace metal in the presence of other three in major ion sea water indicates that this phenomenon is more predominant with Ni and Zn than with Co and Cu. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.