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Geochemistry and biogeochemistry of rare earth elements in a surface environment (soil and plant) in South China

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

Plants and soils derived from different kinds of parent materials in South China were collected for analyses of rare earth elements (REEs) by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The distribution patterns and transportation characteristics of REEs in the soil–plant system were studied. The results show that geochemical characteristics of REEs depend on the types of soils, soils derived from granite being the highest in REE concentration. In a soil profile, REE concentrations are higher in B and C horizons than those in A horizon, with Eu negative anomaly and Ce positive anomaly. Plants of different genera growing in the same sampling site have quite similar REE distribution pattern, but plants of the same genera growing in different soils show considerable variation in characteristics of REEs. The patterns of the different parts of plant resemble each other, but the slope of the patterns becomes different. REEs have fractionated when they were transported and migrated from soil to plant root, stem and leaf, revealing that heavy REEs are relatively less available. REEs distributions in plants are influenced by the soil they grow in and also characterized by their individual biogeochemical characteristics. Biological absorption coefficients indicate difference of REE absorption capacity of plants.

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Abbreviations

REEs:

Rare earth elements

LREE:

Light rare earth element (from La to Eu)

HREE:

Heavy rare earth element (from Gd to Lu)

∑REE:

The sum of the concentrations of REEs

∑LREE:

The sum of the concentrations of LREEs

∑HREE:

The sum of the concentrations of HREEs

∑LREE/∑HREE:

The ratio of ∑LREE to ∑HREE

δCe:

Ce anomaly value = Cen/Cen *, Cen * = (Lan + Prn)/2

δEu:

Eu anamaly value = Eun/Eun *, Eun * = (Smn + Gdn)/2

HT:

HeTai township, Guangdong Province, China

ZhQ:

Zhaoqing city, Guangdong Province, China

LJ:

Lianjiang city, Guangdong Province, China

MM:

Maoming city, Guangdong Province, China

ZhJ:

Zhanjiang city, Guangdong Province, China

BH:

Beihai county, Leizhou city, Guangdong Province, China

YL:

Yingli county, Leizhou city, Guangdong Province, China

XW:

Xuwen city, Guangdong Province, China

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by key program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX3-SW-152) and of the NSF of P. R. China (40331009, 40672121). The Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (06025464, 04201163) provided financial support for the research. In this regard, we would like to express our thanks to the Bureau of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province, and the government of Guangzhou city. We extend our gratitude to all these organizations for their generous support. The authors also thank Mr. Germund Tyler for the improvement of the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, People’s Republic of China

    Li Miao, Ruisong Xu, Yueliang Ma, Zhaoyu Zhu, Jie Wang, Rui Cai & Yu Chen

  2. Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, 100039, People’s Republic of China

    Li Miao, Jie Wang, Rui Cai & Yu Chen

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  1. Li Miao
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  2. Ruisong Xu
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  3. Yueliang Ma
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  4. Zhaoyu Zhu
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  5. Jie Wang
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  6. Rui Cai
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  7. Yu Chen
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Correspondence to Ruisong Xu.

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Miao, L., Xu, R., Ma, Y. et al. Geochemistry and biogeochemistry of rare earth elements in a surface environment (soil and plant) in South China. Environ Geol 56, 225–235 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-1157-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-1157-0

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