Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Rare Earth Elements of Sediments in Rivers and Estuaries of the East Coast of India


Affiliations
1 Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology and Research, Deemed to be Vignan’s Univesity, Vadlamudi 522 213, India
2 CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007, India
 

The rare earth elements (REE) in the clay fraction of sediments in 15 rivers and their estuaries along the east coast of India were analysed in this study. The total REE content (ΣREE) varied from 130.98 to 289.85 μg/g and from 70.89 to 352.61 μg/g in rivers and estuaries respectively. The ΣREEs of estuarine clays (except the Brahmani and Baitarani) was lower than in rivers. The Post-Archean average Australian Shale-normalized REE patterns in rivers and estuaries were similar and categorized into three types. The REE patterns reflect the composition of dominant geological formations in river basins and extent of sediment mixing from different sources during transport. Hydrodynamic conditions controlled the abundance and fractionation of REE in the estuaries. The Sm/Nd ratios of clays were largely controlled by mineral composition and Y/Ho ratios were affected by sedimentary processes in the estuaries.

Keywords

Estuaries, Rare Earth Elements, Rivers, Sediments, Volcanic Rocks.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • McLennan, S. M., Rare earth elements in sedimentary rocks: influence of provenance and sedimentary processes. In Reviews in Mineralogy. Geochemistry and Mineralogy of Rare Earth Elements (eds Lippin, B. R. and McKay, G. A.), De Gruyter, 1989, vol. 21, pp. 169–200; https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501509032.

  • Rollinson, H., Using trace elements data. In Using Geochemical Data: Evaluation, Presentation, Interpretation (ed. Rollinson, H.,), Prentice Hall, Pearson, 1993, pp. 133–134.

  • Nance, W. B. and Taylor, S. R., Rare earth element patterns and crustal evolution – I. Australian post-Archean sedimentary rocks. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 1976, 61, 1539–1551.

  • Goldstein, S. J. and Jacobsen, S. B., Rare earth elements in river waters. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 1988, 89, 35–47.

  • Elderfield, H., Upstillgoddard, R. and Sholkovitz, E. R., The rare earth elements in rivers, estuaries, and coastal seas and their significance to the composition of ocean waters. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 1990, 54, 971–991.

  • Sholkovitz, E. R. and Szymezak, R., The estuarine chemistry of rare earth elements: comparison of the Amazon, Fly, Sepik and Gulf of Papua systems. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 2000, 178, 299– 309.

  • Shiller, A. M., Seasonality of dissolved rare earth elements in the lower Mississippi River. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 2002, 3, 1068–1078.

  • Martins, M. V. A. et al., Rare earth elements as fingerprints of differentiated sediment sources in the Ria de Aveiro (Portugal). J. Sediment. Environ., 2016, 1, 17–42.

  • Su, N., Yang, S., Guo, Y., Yue, W., Wang, K., Yin, P. and Huang, K., Revisit of REE fractionation during chemical weathering and river sediment transport. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 2017, 18, 935–955.

  • Adebayo, S. B., Cui, M., Hong, T., White, C. D., Martin, E. E. and Johannesson, K. H., Rare earth element geochemistry and Nd isotopes in the Mississipi River and Gulf of Mexico Mixing zone. Front. Mar. Sci., 2018, 5, 166.

  • Braun, J. J., Pagel, M., Herbillon, A. and Rosin, C., Mobilization and redistribution of REEs and thorium in a syenitic lateritic profile: a mass balance study. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 1993, 57, 4419–4434.

  • Nesbitt, H. W. and Markovics, G., Weathering of granodiorite crust, long-term storage of elements in weathering profiles, and petrogenesis of siliciclastic sediments. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 1997, 61, 1653–1670.

  • Négrel, P., Water–granite interaction: clues from strontium, neodymium and rare earth elements in soil and waters. Appl. Geochem., 2006, 21, 1432–1454.

  • Shynu, R, Rao V. P., Kessarkar, P. M. and Rao, T. G., Rare earth elements in suspended and bottom sediments of the Mandovi estuary, central west coast of India: influence of mining. Estuarine Coast. Shelf Sci., 2011, 94, 355–368.

  • Ohlander, B., Land, M., Ingri, J. and Widerlund, A., Mobility and transport of Nd isotopes in the vadose zone during weathering of granitic till in a Boreal forest. Aquat. Geochem., 2014, 20, 1–17.

  • Chang, C., Li, F., Liu, C., Guo, J., Tong, H. and Chen, M., Fractionation characteristics of Rare earth elements linked with secondary Fe, Mn and Al minerals in soils. Geochem. Cosmochim. Acta, 2016, 35, 329–339.

  • Freslon, N. et al., Rare earth elements and neodymium isotopes in sedimentary organic matter. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 2014, 140, 177–198.

  • Bayon, G. et al., Rare earth elements and neodymium isotopes in world river sediments revisited. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 2015, 170, 17–38.

  • Marsac, R., Banik, N. L., Lutzenkirchen, J., Catrovillet, C., Masquardt, C. M. and Johannesson, K. H., Modeling metal ion–humic substances complexation in highly saline conditions. Appl. Geochem., 2017, 79, 52–64.

  • Merchel, G., Bau, M. and Dantas, E. L., Contrasting impact of organic and inorganic nanoparticles and colloids on the behaviour of particle-reactive elements in tropical estuaries: an experimental study. Geochem. Cosmochem. Acta, 2017, 197, 1–13.

  • Sharma, A. and Rajamani, V., Weathering of gneissic rocks in the upper reaches of Cauvery River, South India: implications to neotectonics of the region. Chem. Geol., 2000, 166, 203–223.

  • Marchandise, S., Robin, E., Ayrault, S. and Roy-Barman, M., U–Th–REE–Hf bearing phases in Mediterranean Sea sediments: implications for isotope systematics in the ocean. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 2014, 131, 47–61.

  • Jung, H. S., Lim, D., Choi, J. Y., Yoo, H. S., Rho, K. C. and Lee, H. B., REE compositions of core sediments from the shelf of the South Sea, Korea; their controls and origins. Cont. Shelf Res., 2012, 48, 75–86.

  • Yang, S. Y., Jung, H. S., Choi, M. S. and Li, C. X., The rare earth element compositions of the Changjiang (Yangtze) and Huanghe (Yellow) river sediments. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 2002, 201, 407– 419.

  • Cavalcante, F., Belviso, C., Piccarreta, G. and Fiore, S., Grain-size control on the rare earth elements distribution in the late diagenesis of Cretaceous shales from the southern Apennines (Italy). J. Chem., 2014; Article ID: 841747.

  • Sensarma, S., Rajamani, V. and Tripathi, J. K., Petrography and geochemical characteristics of the sediments of the small River Hemavati, southern India: implications for provenance and weathering processes. Sediment. Geol., 2008, 205, 111–125.

  • Sai Babu, S., Ramana, R. V., Purnachandra Rao, V., Ram Mohan, M., Keshav Krishna, A., Sawant, S. and Satyasree, N., Composition of the peninsular India rivers average clay (PIRAC): a reference sediment composition for the upper crust from peninsular India. J. Earth Syst. Sci., 2020, 129; https://doi.org/10.1007/ s12040-019-1301-8.

  • GSI, Geological Map of India; Geological Survey of India, Bangalore, 1998; 7th edn.

  • Rao, K. L., India’s Water Wealth, Orient Longman Ltd, New Delhi, 1975, p. 255.

  • Krishnan, M. S., Geology of India and Burma, Higginbotham, Madras, 1982, p. 536.

  • Balakrishnan, S. and Rajamani, V., Geochemistry and petrogenesis of granite gneisses around the Kolar Schist Belt, South India: petrogenetic constraints for the evolution of the crust in the Kolar area. J. Geol., 1987, 95, 219–240.

  • Das, A., Krishnaswami, S., Sarin, M. M. and Pande, K., Chemical weathering in the Krishna Basin and Western Ghats of the Deccan Traps, India: rate of basalt weathering and their controls. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 2005, 69, 2067–2084.

  • Jha, P. K., Tiwari, J., Singh, U. K., Kumar, M. and Subramanian, V., Chemical weathering and associated CO2 consumption in the Godavari river basin, India. Chem. Geol., 2009, 264, 364–374.

  • Dash, B., Sahu, K. N. and Bowes, D. R., Geochemistry and original nature of Precambrian khondalites in the Eastern Ghats, Orissa, India. Trans. R. Soc. Edinburgh, 1987, 78, 115–127.

  • Moriyama, T., Panigrahi, M. K., Pandit, D. and Watanabe, Y., Rare earth element enrichment in Late Archean manganese deposits from the Iron Ore Group, East India. Resour. Geol., 2008, 58, 402–413.

  • Bhattacharya, S., Chaudhary, A. K. and Basei, M., Original nature and source of khondalites in the Eastern Ghats Province, India. In Palaeoproterozoic of India (eds Mazumder, R. and Saha, D.), Geological Society of London Special Publication, 2012, pp. 147– 159.

  • Giri, S., Singh, A. K. and Tewary, B. K., Source and distribution of metals in bed sediments of Subarnarekha River, India. Environ. Earth Sci., 2013, 70, 3381–3392.

  • Biswas, A. N., Geohydro-morphometry of Hooghly estuary. J. Inst. Eng. (India), 1985, 66, 61–73.

  • Folk, R. L., Petrology of Sedimentary Rocks, Hemphils Pub. Co., Austin, Texas, USA, 1968, p. 170.

  • Satyanarayanan, M., Balaram, V., Sawant, S. S., Subramanyam, K. S. V., Vamsi Krishna, G., Dasaram, B. and Manikyamba, C., Rapid determination of REEs, PGEs, and other trace elements in geological and environmental materials by high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Atom. Spectrosc., 2018, 39, 1–15.

  • Govindaraju, K., Compilation of working values and descriptions for 383 geostandards. Geostand. Newsl., 1994, 18, 1–158.

  • Nesbitt, H. W. and Young, G. M., Early proterozoic climates and plate motions inferred from major element chemistry of lutites. Nature, 1982, 299, 715–717.

  • Taylor, S. R. and McLennan, S. M., The Continental Crust: Its Composition and Evolution. An Examination of the Geochemical Record Preserved in Sedimentary Rocks, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, UK, 1985, p. 312.

  • Pourmand, A., Dauphas, N. and Ireland, T. J., A novel extraction chromatography and MC–ICP–MS technique for rapid analysis of REE, Sc and Y: revising CI-chondrite and post-Archean Australian Shale (PAAS) abundances. Chem. Geol., 2012, 291, 38–54.

  • Rudnic, R. L. and Gao, S., The composition of the continental crust. In Treatise on Geochemistry (eds Rudnick, R. L., Holland, H. D. and Turekian, K. T.), Elsevier Pergamon, Oxford, UK, 2003, vol. 3, pp. 1–64.

  • Vazquez-Ortega, A. et al., Rare earth elements as reactive tracers of biogeochemical weathering in forested rhyolitic terrain. Chem. Geol., 2015, 391, 19–32.

  • Rickli, J., Frank, M., Baker, A. R., Aciego, S., de Souza, G., Georg, R. B. and Halliday, A. N., Hafnium and neodymium isotopes in surface waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean: implications for sources and inputs of trace metals to the ocean. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 2010, 74, 540–557.

  • Sengupta, D. and Van Gosen, B. S., Placer-type rare earth element deposits. Econ. Geol., 2016, 18, 81–100.

  • Rao, C. N., Anu Radha, B., Reddy, K. S. N., Dhanamjayarao, E. N. and Dayal, A. M., Heavy mineral distribution studies in different micro-environments of Bhimunipatnam coast, Andhra Pradesh, India. Int. J. Sci. Res. Publ., 2012, 2(5), 2250–3153.

  • Feng, J., Behaviour of rare earth elements and yttrium in ferromanganese concretions, gibbsite spots, and the surrounding terra rossa over dolomite during chemical weathering. Chem. Geol., 2010, 271, 112–132.

  • Shynu, R., Rao, V. P., Parthiban, G., Balakrishnan, S., Narvekar, T. and Kessarkar, P. M., REE in suspended particulate matter and sediment of the Zuari estuary and adjacent shelf, western India: influence of mining and estuarine turbidity. Mar. Geol., 2013, 346, 326–342.

  • Prajith, A., Rao, V. P. and Chakraborty, P., Distribution, provenance and early diagenesis of major and trace metals in sediment cores from the Mandovi estuary, western India. Estuarine Coast. Shelf Sci., 2016, 170, 173–185.

  • Graf Jr, J. L., Rare earth elements as hydrothermal tracers during the formation of massive sulphide deposits in volcanic rocks. Econ. Geol., 1977, 72, 527–548.

  • Allen, P., Condie, K. C. and Narayana, B. L., The geochemistry of prograde and retrograde charnockite–gneiss reactions in southern India. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 1985, 49, 323–336.

  • Srinivasan, R., Naqvi, S. M., Uday, Raj, B., Subbarao, D. V., Balaram, V. and Rao, T. G., Geochemistry of the Archaean greywackes from the north western part of Chitradurga schist belt, Dharwar Craton, South India – evidence for granetoid upper crust in the Archaean. J. Geol. Soc. India, 1989, 34, 505–516.

  • Tang, J. and Johannesson, K. H., Speciation of rare earth elements in natural terrestrial waters: assessing the role of dissolved organic matter from the modelling approach. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 2003, 67, 2321–2339.

  • Condie, K. C., Another look at rare earth elements in shales. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 1991, 55, 2527–2531.

  • Bau, M. and Zhao, Z., Geochemistry of mineralization with exchangeable REY in the weathering crust of granitic rocks in South China. Ore Geol. Rev., 2008, 35, 519–535.

  • Bau, M., Dulski, P. and Moller, P., Yttrium and holmium in South Pacific seawater: vertical distribution and possible fractionation mechanisms. Chem. Erde, 1995, 55, 1–15.


Abstract Views: 246

PDF Views: 96




  • Rare Earth Elements of Sediments in Rivers and Estuaries of the East Coast of India

Abstract Views: 246  |  PDF Views: 96

Authors

Shaik Sai Babu
Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology and Research, Deemed to be Vignan’s Univesity, Vadlamudi 522 213, India
R. Venkata Ramana
Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology and Research, Deemed to be Vignan’s Univesity, Vadlamudi 522 213, India
V. Purnachandra Rao
Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology and Research, Deemed to be Vignan’s Univesity, Vadlamudi 522 213, India
M. Ram Mohan
CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007, India
S. Sawant
CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007, India
N. Satyasree
Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology and Research, Deemed to be Vignan’s Univesity, Vadlamudi 522 213, India
A. Keshav Krishna
CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007, India

Abstract


The rare earth elements (REE) in the clay fraction of sediments in 15 rivers and their estuaries along the east coast of India were analysed in this study. The total REE content (ΣREE) varied from 130.98 to 289.85 μg/g and from 70.89 to 352.61 μg/g in rivers and estuaries respectively. The ΣREEs of estuarine clays (except the Brahmani and Baitarani) was lower than in rivers. The Post-Archean average Australian Shale-normalized REE patterns in rivers and estuaries were similar and categorized into three types. The REE patterns reflect the composition of dominant geological formations in river basins and extent of sediment mixing from different sources during transport. Hydrodynamic conditions controlled the abundance and fractionation of REE in the estuaries. The Sm/Nd ratios of clays were largely controlled by mineral composition and Y/Ho ratios were affected by sedimentary processes in the estuaries.

Keywords


Estuaries, Rare Earth Elements, Rivers, Sediments, Volcanic Rocks.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv120%2Fi3%2F519-537