Geochemical characteristics of rare earth elements in the surface sediments from the Spratly Islands of China

Jingxi Li; Chengjun Sun; Li Zheng; Xiaofei Yin; Junhui Chen; Fenghua Jiang

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.10.016

Geochemical characteristics of rare earth elements in the surface sediments from the Spratly Islands of China

Mar Pollut Bull. 2017 Jan 30;114(2):1103-1109. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.10.016. Epub 2016 Oct 13.

Authors

Jingxi Li¹, Chengjun Sun², Li Zheng³, Xiaofei Yin⁴, Junhui Chen⁴, Fenghua Jiang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Marine Ecology Research Center, First Institute of Oceanography of State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao, Shandong 266061, China. Electronic address: jxli@fio.org.cn.
² Marine Ecology Research Center, First Institute of Oceanography of State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao, Shandong 266061, China; Laboratory of Marine Drugs and Bioproducts, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266071, China.
³ Marine Ecology Research Center, First Institute of Oceanography of State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao, Shandong 266061, China; Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Science, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266071, China.
⁴ Marine Ecology Research Center, First Institute of Oceanography of State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao, Shandong 266061, China.

PMID: 27745974
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.10.016

Abstract

The geochemistry of rare earth elements (REE) in surface sediment from Cuarteron reef (N1), Johnson reef (N2), Hugh reef (N3), Gaven reef (N4), Fiery cross reef (N5), and Subi reef (N6) were firstly studied. The total REE abundance (∑REE) varied from 2.244μg·g^-1 to 21.661μg·g^-1, with an average of 4.667μg·g^-1. The LREE/HREE was from 2.747 to 9.869, with an average of 3.687, which indicated that the light REE was evidently enriched. Fractionation was observed between LREE and HREE. Gd with a negative anomaly was also detected in all of the stations. The negative anomalies of δEu from 0.11 to 0.25, with an average of 0.22, and the positive anomalies of δCe from 1.38 to 3.86, with an average of 1.63. The REE individual correlation values with Ca, Mn, Mg, Sr were r_Ca=-0.05, r_Mn=0.26, r_Mg=-0.14, and r_Sr=0.08.

Keywords: Distribution patterns; Geochemistry of REE; REE fractionation; Spratly Islands REE.

MeSH terms

China
Coral Reefs
Geologic Sediments / analysis*
Geologic Sediments / chemistry*
Mass Spectrometry / methods
Metals, Rare Earth / analysis*
Metals, Rare Earth / chemistry

Substances

Metals, Rare Earth