TRACE ELEMENTS GEOCHEMISTRY OF MIN RIVER CORE SEDIMENTS

The geochemical characteristics of trace elements from river sediments can be used to study the evolutionary history of sedimentary basins, depositional environments, and the source of sediments. A 540 cm long sediment core was collected from a residual swamp in Fuzhou of the Min River drainage basin. The geochemical characteristics of the ratios of trace elements (Rb/Sr and Sr/Ba) and REE of the sediments suggest a sharp turning point when the deposits change from the proluvia-alluvial to the swamp and the change in provenance in different depositional environments. Owing to the wide distribution of magmatic rocks and rare earth elements in the Min River drainage area and the acid earth in Fujian and the acid water in the Min River, most REE in the Min River sediments are bigger than those in the upper crust, Yangtze River and Yellow River, and close to the earth of Fujian. Normalized with chondrite and NASC, the Min River sediments show more abundant LREE than the Yangtze River and Yellow River with a right-tilting REE distribution pattern. The negative Eu anomaly and positive Ce anomaly are obvious and closely related to ∑REE, which implies they are controlled by the environmental variation in the source region and the fluvial transportation. This work is helpful for the study of paleo-estuary sediment evolution of the Min River and the composition and source of the neritic sediments off Fujian and in the Taiwan Strait.