REE GEOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CORE R11 IN THE ROSS SEA, ANTARCTIC

The information of marine deposition and climate change is adequately recorded in the continental margin sediments of the Antarctic and adjacent areas. By determining the REE contents in the sediments from Core R11 of the Ross Sea of the Antarctic, the analysis of REE geochemical characteristics are conducted by the authors. The REE fluctuate vertically within a range from 132.33 μg/g to 200.75 μg/g, indicating an unstable depositional environment. The contents of REE are properly correlated neither with fine-grained deposits (silt and clay) nor siliceous bioclastics. The chondrite-normalized REE distribution patterns of the core sediments are characterized by enriched LREE, stable HREE and negative Eu anomaly, which is consistent with the patterns of UCC and PAAS, suggesting a relatively stable continental provenance since Late Pleistocene. It is believed that the sediments is from a kind of felsic rock or/and the strata in Victoria Land, Marie Byrd Land and Transantarctic Mountains around the Ross Sea, and the contribution of the Cenozoic volcanic rocks is relatively low.