Diagnosis of REE Elements (La, Ce, Sc, and Y) in the Surface Sediment of the Persian Gulf

The distribution of some rare earth elements (La, Ce, Sc, and Y) in the sediment samples, collected form 56 stations in the offshore of the Persian Gulf during the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman Oceanographic Cruise (PGGOOS) in 2012, was studied. The elements were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The result revealed that the concentration of Ce (82 µg g-1) was the highest, and La lowest (0.01 µg g-1). The average concentrations of elements were 11.7, 5.6, 5.4 and 3.5 µg g-1 for Ce, Y, La and Sc, respectively. Enrichment factors (EF) indices showed the enrichment for Ce, while the other elements had EF<1. The concentration ratios of La/Sc (1.6) and Ce/La (2.1) indicated redox status of the surface sediments in the studied region of the Persian Gulf