Distribution of rare earth elements in marine sediments from the Strait of Sicily (western Mediterranean Sea): Evidence of phosphogypsum waste contamination

作者：Tranchida G^*; Oliveri E; Angelone M; Bellanca A; Censi P; D'Elia M; Neri R; Placenti F; Sprovieri M; Mazzola S

来源：Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2011, 62(1): 182-191.

DOI：10.1016/j.marpolbul.2010.11.003

• Rare earth elements
• Marine sediments
• Phosphogypsum contamination
• Strait of Sicily

Concentrations of rare earth elements (REE), Y, Th and Sc were recently determined in marine sediments collected using a box corer along two onshore-offshore transects located in the Strait of Sicily (Mediterranean Sea). The REE + Y were enriched in offshore fine-grained sediments where clay minerals are abundant, whereas the REE + Y contents were lower in onshore coarse-grained sediments with high carbonate fractions. Considering this distribution trend, the onshore sediments in front of the southwestern Sicilian coast represent an anomaly with high REE + Y concentrations (mean value 163.4 mu g g(-1)) associated to high Th concentrations (mean value 7.9 mu g g(-1)). Plot of shale-normalized REE + Y data of these coastal sediments showed Middle REE enrichments relative to Light REE and Heavy REE, manifested by a convexity around Sm-Gd-Eu elements. These anomalies in the fractionation patterns of the coastal sediments were attributed to phosphogypsum-contaminated effluents from an industrial plant, located in the southern Sicilian coast.

• 出版日期2011-1