Analysis on REE geochemical characteristics of three types of REE-rich soil in Guizhou Province, China

Abstract

The three kinds of soil formed by the weathering of the basalt in Yema village, Weining county of Guizhou province, the carbonate rock in Guiyang district and the phosphorite in the REE-bearing phosphate mining area in Zhijin county of Guizhou province were all rich in REE. The contents of LREE in these three soil were higher than that of HREE, which was caused by the different properties of LREE and HREE complexes. Since light REE could be easily absorbed by kaolinite grains, LREE was fully enriched in the process of desorption, migration and re-absorption, which formed a typical LREE soil. The chondrite normalized distribution models of those three types of REE-enriched soil are basically similar, which belong to the right deviation type, namely, rich in light rare earth element but short of heavy rare earth element, and showing Ce negative anomalies. Eu showed intense negative anomalies in the REE in the soil formed by the weathering of the sedimentary parent rocks (such as carbonate rock and phosphorite), while no pronounced Eu anomaly was found in the REE in the soil formed by the weathering of volcanic rocks (such as basalt). It is clear that though there were intense migration and enrichment of REE during the weathering process of rocks, no obvious differentiation of REE occurred and some features of the parent rocks were retained. That is why REE is of value in analyzing the source of materials.