Geochemical behavior of rare earth elements in agricultural soils along the Syr Darya River within the Aral Sea Basin
Li Y. Saparov G. Zeng T. Abuduwaili J. Ma L.
May 2024Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
2024#196Issue 5
The widespread use of rare earth elements (REEs) across various industries makes them a new type of pollutant. Additionally, REEs are powerful indicators of geochemical processes. As one of the two main rivers in the Aral Sea, identifying the geochemical behavior of REEs in agricultural soils of the Syr Darya River is of great significance for subsequent indicative studies. In this study, the geochemical characteristics, influencing factors, and potential application significance of REEs in agricultural soils from three sampling areas along the Syr Darya River were analyzed using soil geography and elemental geochemical analyses. The results showed that the highest total concentration of REEs in the agricultural soil was in Area I, with a mean value of 142.49 μg/g, followed by Area III with a mean value of 124.56 μg/g, and the lowest concentration was in Area II with a mean value of 122.48 μg/g. The agricultural soils in the three regions were enriched in light rare earth elements (LREEs), with mean L/H values of 10.54, 10.13, and 10.24, respectively. The differentiation between light and heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) was also high. The concentration of REEs in agricultural soil along the Syr Darya River was primarily influenced by minerals such as monazite and zircon, rather than human activities (the pollution index of all REEs was less than 1.5). The relationship between Sm and Gd can differentiate soils impacted by agricultural activities from natural background soils. The results of this study can serve as a basis for indicative studies of REEs in Central Asia.
Agricultural soils , Anthropogenic concentration , Influencing factors , Rare earth elements , Syr Darya River
Text of the article Перейти на текст статьи
State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China
Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Kazakh Research Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry Named After U. U. Uspanov, Almaty, 050060, Kazakhstan
Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Utilization in Arid Zone, Urumqi, 830011, China
State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology
Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Kazakh Research Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry Named After U. U. Uspanov
Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Utilization in Arid Zone
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026