Distribution of rare earth elements in marine sediments from the Strait of Sicily (western Mediterranean Sea): evidence of phosphogypsum waste contamination |
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Authors: | Tranchida G Oliveri E Angelone M Bellanca A Censi P D'Elia M Neri R Placenti F Sprovieri M Mazzola S |
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Affiliation: | a IAMC-CNR, U.O.S. di Capo Granitola, via del Mare 1, 91021 Torretta Granitola (TP), Italy b UTPRA, ENEA C.R. Casaccia, S.P. Anguillarese 301, 00123 Roma, Italy c Dipartimento CFTA, Università di Palermo, via Archirafi 36, 90123 Palermo, Italy |
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Abstract: | 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 μg g−1) associated to high Th concentrations (mean value 7.9 μg 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. |
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Keywords: | Rare earth elements Marine sediments Phosphogypsum contamination Strait of Sicily |
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