Rare earth elements in the sedimentary cycle: a pilot study of the first leg

A pilot study with Holocene fluvial sands was undertaken in order to evaluate the effects of source rock composition and climate on natural abundances of rare elements (REE) in the first leg of the sedimentary cycle. We have analysed the medium grained sand fraction of samples collected from first order streams exclusively draining granitic plutons in Montana (semi-arid), Georgia (humid), and in South Carolina (humid). Despite compositional differences between parent plutons the REE distribution patterns (but not the total absolute abundances) of the daughter sands are very similar. Averages of the three areas have a La/Lu ratio of ～ 103 showing a depletion of heavy REE with respect to an ‘average granite’ (La/Lu = 79) or the composite of North American Shales (NAS; La/Lu = 55). Also, the Eu/Sm ratio in sands from these areas is ～ 0·22 which is very close to the NAS ratio of 0·21. However, the overall REE distribution of these sands is not similar to that of NAS in any way. We conclude that the major rock type, but neither its minor subdivisions nor the climate (in the source area), controls the REE distribution patterns in first cycle daughter sands. But, the total and the parent rock-normalized abundances of REE in sands from the humid areas are much lower than those in sands from the arid areas.