Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Department of Geological Engineering, Gümüşhane University, Gümüşhane, Turkey.
Environ Monit Assess. 2020 Jan 20;192(2):124. doi: 10.1007/s10661-020-8069-9.
Investigation on the behavior of elements in the soil is important both in exploration and environmental geochemistry studies. Rare earth elements (REEs) are the most useful among all trace elements. REE studies have shown that they have important applications in igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic petrology. This work aims to investigate the relationship of these elements with one another and the behavior of the major oxides and trace elements with REEs. Soil samples were obtained from the alteration site possibly related to mineralization and were analyzed for major oxides, trace elements, and REEs. The relationships between the major oxide-trace element/heavy metal and REE were investigated by statistical methods, such as descriptive statistics, correlation coefficient, and principle component analysis. According to the correlation coefficient matrix, light REEs (LREEs) showed weak to moderate negative correlation with MgO and MnO and moderately positive correlation with SiO and KO. No association was detected between the heavy REEs (HREEs) and the main oxides, but a strong positive correlation with LREEs was observed. For the trace elements, LREE showed a weak positive correlation with Ba and Sn and moderate to strong positive correlation with As, Hf, Nb, Rb, Ta, Th, U, W, and Zr. They also displayed weak to moderate correlation with Sc, Co, Zn, Ni, and V. HREE showed weak to moderate positive correlation with Ni, Cs, Ga, Hf, Th, Zr, As, and LREE. Although REEs exhibited no direct correlation with Au and Ag, they showed a good correlation with some trace elements that are related to hydrothermally altered products. This study showed that REEs can also be used in exploration and environmental geochemistry studies by exploiting the relationship between REEs and other trace/heavy metal elements.
土壤中元素的行为在勘探和环境地球化学研究中都很重要。稀土元素（REEs）是所有微量元素中最有用的。REE 研究表明，它们在火成岩、沉积岩和变质岩岩石学中有重要的应用。本工作旨在研究这些元素之间的关系以及主要氧化物和微量元素与 REE 的行为关系。从可能与矿化有关的蚀变部位采集土壤样品，分析主要氧化物、微量元素和 REE。通过统计方法，如描述性统计、相关系数和主成分分析，研究主要氧化物-微量元素/重金属与 REE 的关系。根据相关系数矩阵，轻稀土（LREEs）与 MgO 和 MnO 呈弱至中度负相关，与 SiO 和 KO 呈中度正相关。重稀土（HREEs）与主要氧化物之间没有相关性，但与 LREEs 呈强正相关。对于微量元素，LREE 与 Ba 和 Sn 呈弱正相关，与 As、Hf、Nb、Rb、Ta、Th、U、W 和 Zr 呈中度至强正相关。它们与 Sc、Co、Zn、Ni 和 V 也呈弱至中度相关。HREE 与 Ni、Cs、Ga、Hf、Th、Zr、As 和 LREE 呈弱至中度正相关。虽然 REEs 与 Au 和 Ag 没有直接相关性，但它们与一些与水热蚀变产物有关的微量元素有很好的相关性。本研究表明，通过利用 REE 与其他微量元素/重金属元素之间的关系，REE 也可以用于勘探和环境地球化学研究。
