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Geoscience ›› 2022, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (02): 389-405.DOI: 10.19657/j.geoscience.1000-8527.2022.002

• Water Resources and Environmental Research • Previous Articles     Next Articles

REE Concentration and Fractionation in Waters and Sediments from the Northern Branch of Ganjiang River, Poyang Lake Catchment

LIU Maohan1,2(), LIU Haiyan1,2(), ZHANG Weimin1,2, WANG Zhen1,2, WU Tonghang1,2, WANG Yugang2   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Resources and Environment, East China University of Technology, Nanchang,Jiangxi 330032, China
    2. School of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, East China University of Technology,Nanchang,Jiangxi 330032, China
  • Received:2021-09-30 Revised:2022-03-10 Online:2022-04-10 Published:2022-06-01
  • Contact: LIU Haiyan

Abstract:

The enhanced exploitation and widespread use of rare earth elements (REE) have led to increasing interest in REE distributions in environments and their geochemical behaviors. The Ganjiang River is one of the five major rivers in the Poyang Lake catchment, and is originated from the rare earth district in southern Ganzhou. However, the REE concentration and distribution in the downstream water bodies and surrounding groundwater are poorly understood. We investigated the REE geochemistry in waters and sediments of the northern branch of Ganjiang River. Results show that the total REE concentrations are of 230-1,146 ng/L (average 458.85 ng/L, surface water), 284-1,498 ng/L (average 634.94 ng/L, groundwater), and 177.9- 270.7 mg/kg (average 226.99 mg/kg, sediment). The PHREEQC simulation indicates that REEs are mainly in the form of carbonate complex (REEC03+) in the water samples. Both surface water and groundwater generally show enrichments of heavy REE (HREE) over light REE (LREE) and middle REE (MREE), while the sediments do not show significant enrichment features. The water samples are characterized by negative Ce and Eu anomalies, while the sediments show positive Ce but negative Eu anomalies, indicating that redox and water-rock reactions have influenced REE transformation in the water-sediment system. Along the flow path, REE concentrations tend to increase in groundwater, while both the degree of HREE enrichment and the REEC03+ proportion decreases. These behaviors reflect that REE concentrations are controlled by pH, colloidal sorption, complexation and surface water-groundwater interactions. The water HREE enrichment is likely attributed to carbonate complexation, and the negative Ce and Eu anomalies are related to the oxidative Ce precipitation and the parent rock REE inheritance. The positive Gd anomalies in the water samples from the middle and lower reaches of the river suggest anthropogenic REE input.

Key words: Ganjiang River, rare earth element, water-rock interaction, anthropogenic activity, anomalous enrichment, Poyang Lake

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