Characteristic elemental compositions of the Yangtze River and Yellow River surface sediments and their geological background

Abstract

Significant differences are noticed in major and trace element compositions between the Yangtze River and the Yellow River surface sediments. The former sediments are rich in some major elements such as K, Fe, Mg, Al, and most of the trace elements which show wide variations in element concentrations, whereas the Yellow River sediments only have higher Ca, Na, Sr, Ba, Th, Ga, Zr, Hf contents and show slight variations in element contents. In the Yangtze River Basin are widely distributed intermediate-acid igneous rocks and complicated source rocks together with strong chemical weathering which determine the elemental compositions of the Yangtze River sediments, while the elemental compositions of the Yellow River sediments are decided by the chemical composition of loess from the Loess Plateau and intense physical weathering. Cu, Zn, Sc, Ti, Fe, V, Ni, Cr, Co, Li and Be can be used to distinguish the Yangtze River sediments from the Yellow River sediments and be treated as tracers for both the sediments to study the processes of their mixing and diffusion in the coastal zones of China.