GEOCHEMISTRY OF REE AND PROVENANCE OF SURFACE SEDIMENTS IN THE LITTORAL AREA OF THE NORTHEASTERN SHANDONG PENINSULA

Analyses of REEs content and grain size of 306 surface sediment samples derived from the littoral area of the northeastern Shandong Peninsula were carried out to make a study of geochemical characteristics of REE and provenance of surface sediments in the study area. The results indicate that the distribution of gross amount of REE in surface sediments well corresponds to that of the sediment types. The high value area spreading from northwest to southeast in the form of a tongue approximately corresponds to silt area, and the low value area corresponds to sandy silt or silty sand area, showing that the grain size is the main factor controlling the distribution of REE in the study area. The chondrite-normalized and UCC-normalized patterns of REEs in the sediments of study area are very close to those of sediment loads discharged from the Yellow River. It is justified by the comparison based on the ratio of some stable elements that sediments derived from the study area and discharged from the Yelow River have the same provenance.