Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Abundance of rare earth elements in rice paddy soils from three regions of Sri Lanka

  • Article
  • Published:
Paddy and Water Environment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Very few studies deal with the rare earth element (REE) content within paddy soil systems. This paper presents, for the first time, the distribution of REEs in paddy soils from three different regions in Sri Lanka. Seventy samples from the Kalutara and Kandy regions located in the Wet Zone and Anuradhapura region in the Dry Zone were selected for this study. ICP-MS measurements were performed on the soil samples to determine their respective REE concentrations. The sum content of all the REEs (ΣREE) in these three regions were 182, 186 and 132 μg/g, respectively. The mean concentrations for the 70 soil samples in µg/g were 35(La), 77 (Ce), 7.6 (Pr), 27.6 (Nd), 4.8 (Sm), 0.87 (Eu), 4.1 (Gd), 0.54 (Tb), 2.91 (Dy), 0.56 (Ho), 1.57 (Er), 0.21(Tm), 1.44 (Tb), and 0.23 (Lu). The chondrite-normalized REE patterns of the paddy soils from the three study areas were similar, which may be a reflection of comparable parent materials. Kalutara soils, which are richer in organic matter and kaolinite, showed a higher lighter REE content and lower heavy REE content with a more pronounced negative Eu anomaly with respect to the other regions. Whilst this may be a result of subtle differences in soil parent materials, it could also reflect secondary processes related to clay mineral and organic matter adsorption of REEs in paddy soils

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Cooray PG (1994) The Precambrian of Sri Lanka: a historical review. Precambrian Res 66:3–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diatloff E, Smith FW, Asher CJ (1995) Rare earth elements and plant growth: II. Responses of corn and mungbean to low concentrations of lanthanum in dilute, continuously flowing nutrient solutions. J Plant Nutr 10:1977–1989

    Google Scholar 

  • Egashira K, Fujii K, Yamasaki S, Virakornphanich P (1997) Rare earth element and clay minerals of paddy soils from the central region of the Mekong River, Laos. Geoderma 78(3–4):237–249

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans CH (1990) Biochemistry of the Lanthanides. Plenum Press, New York, 391 pp

  • Evensen NM, Hamilton PJ, O’Nions PK (1978) Rare earth abundance in chondritic meteorites. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 42:1199–1212

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fordyce FM, Johnson CC, Navaratna URB, Appleton JD, Dissanayake CB (1998) Studies of selenium geochemistry and distribution in relation to iodine deficiency disorders in Sri Lanka. Brit Geol Surv Overseas Geol Ser Tech Rep WC/98/28, 113 pp

  • Fordyce FM, Johnson CC, Navaratna URB, Appleton JD, Dissanayake CB (2003) Selenium and iodine in soil, rice and drinking water in relation to endemic goitre in Sri Lanka. Sci Total Environ. 263(1–3):127–141

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson P (1996) The rare earth elements: introduction and review. In: Jones AP, Wall F, Williams CT (ed) Rare earth minerals: chemistry, origin and ore deposits. Chapman & Hall, London, pp 1–19

  • Jarvis KE, Gray AL, Houk RS (1992) Handbook of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, 3rd edn. Chapman & Hall, New York

  • Kröner A, Cooray PG, Vitanage PW (1991) Lithotectonic subdivision of the Precambrian basement in Sri Lanka. In: Kröner A (ed) The crystalline crust of Sri Lanka. Part I: summary of research of the German-Sri Lanka consortium, Geological Survey Department, Sri Lanka, Prof Pap 5:5–21

  • Milisenda CC, Pohl JR, Hofmann AW (1991) Geochemistry of charnockite formation at Kurunegala, Sri Lanka. In: Kröner A (ed) The crystalline crust of Sri Lanka. Part I: summary of research of the German-Sri Lanka consortium, Geological Survey Department, Sri Lanka, pp 141–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Moormann FR (1981) The classification of paddy soils as related to soil taxonomy. In: Proceedings of Symposium of Paddy Soil, Institute of Soil Science, Academia Sinica (ed) Science Press, Beijing and Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 139–150

  • Navaratne URB, Dissanayake CB, Perera PSA (1994) The geochemistry of alkali and alkaline earth metals in soils of the Central Province of Sri Lanka. J Geol Soc Sri Lanka 5:105–113

    Google Scholar 

  • Panabokke CR (1996) Soils and agro-ecological environments of Sri Lanka. NARESA, Colombo, 220 pp

  • Plant JA, Baldock JW, Smith B (1996) The role of geochemistry in environmental and epidemiological studies in developing countries: a review. In: Appleton JD, Fuge R, Mc Call GJH (ed) Environmental geochemistry and health. Geol Soc Spec Publ UK 113:7–22

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prudencio MJ, Figueiredo MO, Cabral JMP (1989) Rare earth distribution and its correlation with clay mineralogy in the clay-sized fraction of Cretaceous and Pliocene sediments (Central Portugal) Clay Miner 24:67–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Rollinson HR (1993) Using geochemical data: evaluation, presentation, and interpretation. Longman, Harlow, England, 352 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith B, Rawlins MJAR, Hutchins MG, Tiberindwa JV, Sserunjogi L, Tomkins AM (2000) The bioaccessibility of essential and potentially toxic trace elements in tropical soils from Mukono District, Uganda. J Geol Soc Lond 157:885–891

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Survey Department (1988) The National Atlas of Sri Lanka, Survey Department of Sri Lanka

  • Takahashi Y, Yoshitaka M, Shizuko A, Yoshihiro M, Fumitoshi A (1999) Comparison of adsorption behavior of multiple inorganic ions on kaolinite and silica in the presence of humic acid using the multitracer technique. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 63(6):815–836

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor SR, McLennan SM (1985) The continental crust: its composition and evolution. Blackwell, Oxford, 312 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Valiathan MS, Kartha CC, Eapen JT (1989) A geochemical basis for endomyocardial fibrosis. Cardiovasc Res 23:647–648

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Viers J, Dupre’ B, Polve’ M, Schott J, Dandurand JL, Braun JJ (1997) Chemical weathering in the drainage of a tropical watershed (Nsimi-Zoetele site, Cameroon): comparison between organic-poor and organic-rich waters. Chem Geol 140:181–206

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wahid PA, Valiathan MS, Kamalam NV, Eapen JT, Vijavalakshmi S, Krishna PR, Mahalingam TR (2000) Effect of rare earth elements on growth and nutrition of coconut palm and root competition for these elements between the palm and Calotropis gigantea. J Plant Nutr 23:329–338

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang FS, Yamasaki S, Kimura K (2001) Rare earth element content in various waste ashes and the potential risk to Japanese soils. Environ Int 27(5):393–398

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

R.C. wishes to thank the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD), Germany, for the award of a grant (2003). C.B.D. gratefully acknowledges a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung, Germany. He also thanks Dr. U. Siewers and Mr. H. Lorenz of BGR, Hannover, for making the ICP-MS facilities available. Very special thanks are due to Drs. Fiona Fordyce and Chris Johnson of the British Geological Survey for providing us with the soil samples and important information of their earlier studies. Grateful thanks are also due to Dr. Barry Smith of the BGS for his comments and also for providing useful information on REE and health.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

    Rohana Chandrajith & Chandrasekara Bandara Dissanayake

  2. Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schlossgarten 5, 91054, Erlangen, Germany

    Heinz Jürgen Tobschall

Authors
  1. Rohana Chandrajith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chandrasekara Bandara Dissanayake
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Heinz Jürgen Tobschall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rohana Chandrajith.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chandrajith, R., Dissanayake, C.B. & Tobschall, H.J. Abundance of rare earth elements in rice paddy soils from three regions of Sri Lanka. Paddy Water Environ 2, 163–169 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-004-0055-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-004-0055-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation