The watershed in the central Guizhou Province (Guizhou Province is called simply Qian) (CQW) is a karstic area. Rare earth elements (REEs) of dissolved loads, suspended particulate material (SPM) and sediments of riverbed are first synthetically reported to investigate REE geochemistry in the three phases in karstic watershed during the high-flow season. Results show that the low dissolved REE concentrations in the CQW are attributed to these rivers draining carbonate rocks. The dissolved REE have significant negative Eu anomaly and coexistence of middle and light REE (MREE-PAAS-normalized La (N) /Sm (N) and Gd (N) /Yb (N) ; LREE-PAAS-normalized La (N) /Yb (N) )-enrichment, which are due to the dissolution of impure Triassic carbonates. REE concentrations in most of SPM exceed that of sediments in the CQW and the average continental crust (UCC). The SPM and the sediments show some common features: positive Eu, Ce anomalies, and MREE enrichment. The controls on the patterns seem to be from weathering profiles: the oxidation state, the REE-bearing secondary minerals (cerianite, potassium feldspar and plagioclase), which are also supported by the evidence of Y/Ho fractionations in the three phases.

Publication name	ENVIRONMENTAL EARTH SCIENCES　Volume: 66 　Issue: 8 　Pages: 2217-2234　Published: AUG 2012
Author(s)	Jiang, Yongbin; Ji, Hongbing
Corresponding author	JI Hongbin  hongbing_ji@163.com  Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Geochem, State Key Lab Environm Geochem, 46 Guanshui Rd, Guiyang 550002, Peoples R China.

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