Yttrium and rare earth element partitioning in seawaters from the Bay of Bengal

Abstract

AbstractThe dissolved yttrium (Y) and rare earth element (REE) concentrations of seawater samples collected along a north‐south hydrological transect within the Bay of Bengal (BoB) have been analyzed to estimate contributions of the Ganges and Brahmaputra (G‐B) river inputs to the dissolved REE distribution of the Northern Indian Ocean. Surface water masses of the BoB are characterized by Y/Ho ratios (84) intermediate between the G‐B river suspended sediment (41) and water mass from the South Indian Ocean (93). Covariation of MREE (middle REE, Sm) and LREE (light REE, La) concentrations suggests that the dissolved REEs in surface waters (upper 100 m depth) of the BoB (Sm/La = 0.21) appear to derive mainly from the freshwater discharge of the G‐B river system. In contrast, values obtained in the intermediate and deep waters (Sm/La = 0.14) suggest a mixing of dissolved REEs deriving from the release of G‐B river suspended particles (Sm/La = 0.16) and the contribution of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) (Sm/La = 0.12). Consequently, we propose that MREE/MREE* ratios in the BoB waters could be an accurate proxy to trace lithogenic inputs from the G‐B river system. The dissolved and particle remineralization Nd fluxes from G‐B river system are calculated to constitute about 9% and 4% of the global dissolved river discharge and “boundary inputs” flux. Our estimation indicates that the massive G‐B river system inputs could greatly alter the dissolved REEs distribution in the BoB and contribute to the dissolved REEs budget in the ocean.