The occurrence of rare earth elements in some Finnish mires

Abstract

The content of the more abundant rare earths (RE) (Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd and Sm) in the ash of 399 peat samples from 26 Finnish mires was determined by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The content of all rare earths (La-Lu, Y) in 29 samples was also determined by spark source mass spectrometry. The median RE contents in peat ashes from areas where the bedrock consists of rapakivi granite, granite or archean gneiss are reported. Detailed data concerning the individual mires are also presented. The highest RE contents were found in samples from rapakivi granite areas where a strong negative Eu anomaly was also observed. The RE contents were in general highest at the basal peat layers.

Keywords

• bogs
• peat
• rare earths
• X-ray fluorescence
• mass spectroscopy
• granites
• gneisses
• Finland