Mobility of rare earth elements during weathering of till in northern Sweden

Abstract

Continuous, volume-controlled sampling from the surface down to a depth of 130 cm was conducted at two stations on weathered till (typic haplocryods). All the samples were analysed for major and trace elements including the rare earth elements (REE). Eight thousand seven hundred years of weathering since the glacial ice left the area, has resulted in a strong depletion of REE in the E-horizon. This loss decreases as atomic number increases, so that 80–85% of the La and 54–60% of the Yb have been lost. Europium has been lost to a greater degree than have the neighbouring elements. Possible explanations for the release of REE are: weathering of common silicates such as hornblende and epidote (and plagioclase in the case of Eu); weathering of apatite; weathering of rare but REE-rich minerals such as allanite and monazite; and release of REE adsorbed on clay minerals. Further studies on various size fractions and minerals are needed to quantify the importance of the various possible mechanisms of REE release. The release of REE continues within and below the Bs1-horizon, but the results from one station show that light REE can be enriched in the Bs1-horizon. This secondary enrichment could be caused by adsorption on secondary oxy-hydroxides, on clay minerals or on organic material. However, the net result of the weathering is that all REE have been released to the groundwater.