The influence of soil particle size distribution and clay minerals on ammonium nitrogen in weathered crust elution-deposited rare earth tailing

Abstract

Even after being abandoned for many years, a large number of weathered crust elution-deposited rare earth (WCED-RE) tailings continue to release ammonia nitrogen (AN) pollution into their surrounding environments. However, the influences of particle size distribution and clay minerals on AN pollution caused by these tailings have been insufficiently studied, and its causes are poorly understood. In this study, soil samples at different depths (5, 7, 9, 11 and 14 m) were collected from a rare earth tailing in Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, China. Particles were screened by size into six groups (2–1, 1–0.5, 0.5–0.25, 0.25–0.1, 0.1–0.075 and < 0.075 mm), and AN forms were extracted. The results showed that as soil particle size decreases, both soil specific surface area and clay content increase, leading to stronger AN enrichment ability. With increased sampling depth, the distribution of clay across the six particle fractions became more uniform, such that the accumulation of AN in soil with fine particle size was less obvious. Clay minerals with different capacities for AN enrichment vary with sampling depth. This variation is responsible for the profile of AN distribution in the mine, where AN first increases and then decreases as vertical depth is increased. Although AN content was highest at 11 m, water soluble AN content was higher in the upper part of the completely weathered layer (5 and 7 m), which poses a higher environmental risk. This study provides significant information to deepen our understanding of the distribution characteristics of AN and its main influencing factors, as well as a foundation for the prevention and remediation of nitrogen pollution from WCED-RE tailings.

Keywords

• Rare earth
• Ammonia nitrogen
• Particle size distribution
• Clay mineral
• Tailing