Rare earth elements geochemistry of recent clastic sediments from different environments from part of the eastern coast of India

Rare earth elements (REEs) geochemistry of recent clastic sediments from different environments from Visakhapatnam region, east coast of India was studied aiming to determine the influence of mineralogical composition on Sigma REEs distribution patterns. The obtained results show that the concentration and distribution patterns of REEs are associated with the presence of heavy minerals in the clastic sediments. A strong relationship between REEs and monazite has been observed. The northern region of the study area showed high concentration values of REEs consistent with the increase in the monazite concentrations. The vertical distribution of REEs in the core samples taken from the coastal and red sediments appeared to be heterogeneous and not uniform. On the other hand, the spatial distribution of Sigma REEs in the riverine environment showed an increasing trend in the downstream direction. The average concentration of Sigma REEs was 273.06 mu g/g, where light REEs are dominant with an average concentration of 253.09 mu g/g. The fractionation patterns show that there are no significant variations in the oxidation condition along the present study area. The present study indicates the importance of studying the monazite in the coastal sediments north of Visakhapatnam, city, where it is the main source of REEs in this region.