RT Journal Article
T1 Enrichment and Fractionation of Rare Earth Elements in an Estuarine Marsh Soil Receiving Acid Discharges from Legacy Sulfide Mine Wastes
A1 Fernández Caliani, Juan Carlos
A1 Grantcharova, Mihaela M.
AB This paper provides new insights into the geochemical cycling of rare earth elements (REEs) in acid sulfate soils developed on salt marsh sediments of the Huelva estuary (Spain) as a result of sulfide mineral oxidation in abandoned ore stockpiles. The study was aimed at determining the REE abundance, fractionation pattern and mineralogical control of the dispersal and retention of REEs in the soil system. Forty-one samples were collected at 13 core sampling sites along two transects extending across the degraded marshland, and they were subjected to XRD, ESEM-EDS and ICP-MS analyses. Measurements revealed that the soil receiving acid discharges has relativelyhigh concentrations of SREEs (174.77 +- 19.77 mg kg1) compared to local baseline concentrations.Shale-normalized REE patterns are generally flat, but a slight middle REE (MREE) enrichment isconsistently apparent in all soil samples, involving relatively low LaN/GdN ratios (0.83 +- 0.08)and GdN/LuN ratios up to 1.42. The convex-upward REE pattern supports the possibility thatiron oxy-hydroxide minerals play an important role in MREE retention through adsorption andco-precipitation mechanisms. Efflorescent sulfate salts left on the topsoil by the evaporation of acidwaters show a strong depletion of light REEs (LaN/GdN = 0.16 +- 0.10) and act as a temporaryreservoir of labile MREEs and heavy REEs during dry periods.
PB MDPI
SN 2571-8789 (electrónico)
YR 2021
FD 2021
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10272/21934
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10272/21934
LA eng
NO Fernández-Caliani, J. C., & Grantcharova, M. M. (2021). Enrichment and Fractionation of Rare Earth Elements in an Estuarine Marsh Soil Receiving Acid Discharges from Legacy Sulfide Mine Wastes. In Soil Systems (Vol. 5, Issue 4, p. 66). MDPI AG. https://doi.org/10.3390/soilsystems5040066
NO This work has been partially supported by the Andalusian Regional Government (Spain) through the Research Group on Geology and Environmental Geochemistry (RNM-347).
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 1 jun 2026