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

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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