Light Rare Earth Elements enrichment in an acidic mine lake (Lusatia, Germany)

Lanthanoid behaviour in an acidic landscape

“…These processes need to be quantified in order to model the formation of the characteristic aqueous fractionation pattern connected with the jarosite-poor (Boreal) AS soils. Very similar fractionation patterns have been recorded for several water samples collected along a lanthanoid-rich stream draining an old sulphide-mining area (Protano and Riccobono, 2002) and in an acidic (pH 2.6-2.7) mine lake (Bozau et al, 2004). In both those studies the origin of this characteristic pattern remained unexplained.…”

“…Normalised to parent materials, a wide range of lanthanoid fractionation patterns can be identified in such waters. These include enrichment of the light lanthanoids in lake water (Bozau et al, 2004) and hot springs (Sanada et al, 2006), the middle lanthanoids in hypersaline environments (Johannesson et al, 1996), mine areas (Worrall and Pearson, 2001;Zhao et al, 2004;Olias et al, 2005), lake water (Johannesson and Lyons, 1995;Johannesson and Zhou, 1999;Johannesson et al, 2004) and hot springs (Sanada et al, 2006), and the heavy lanthanoids in mine areas (Gammons et al, 2003;Merten et al, 2004;Verplanck et al, 2004). Variable depletion in the heavy and light lanthanoids or flat patterns have been reported for acid-sulphate springs (Lewis et al, 1997) and hyperacidic hot springs (Gammons et al, 2005).…”

Heterogeneous rare earth element (REE) patterns and concentrations in a fossil bone: Implications for the use of REE in vertebrate taphonomy and fossilization history

“…6 and 7) are typical of REE patterns seen in waters influenced by low redox that dissolve carrier minerals through reductive dissolution (German and Elderfield, 1990;Dubinin, 2004). Similar patterns can be found in acidic waters (Bau, 1999;Bozau, 2004); however, low pH waters are not conducive to fossilization, which occurs at pH of 7.6-8.1 (Berna et al, 2004). Therefore, the positive Ce anomalies, LREE-enriched pattern, and high RREE concentration in CGDQ-3 (Spots 1-3 and 11-16) were most likely sourced from reductive dissolution of LREE-bearing mineral phases, such as Fe and Mn oxyhydroxides, suggesting fossilization in a solution with low redox potential (German and Elderfield, 1990;Koeppenkastrop and De Carlo, 1992;Ohta and Kawabe, 2001;Dubinin, 2004;Suarez et al, 2007a).…”

The geochemistry of rare earth elements (REE) in acid mine drainage from the Sitai coal mine, Shanxi Province, North China

“…Therefore, the convex-up NASCnormalized REEs pattern of AMD is one characteristic of acidic natural water although Bozau et al (2004) recently reported that LREEs in an acidic mine water (Lusatia, Germany) are enriched.…”