Author(s)

Zolhizir Daud, Che Abd Rahim Mohamed^*

Department of Earth Sciences & Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.

Sampling of surface water at seven stations along the Sungai Balok, Pahang was conducted from 2013 to 2015 to investigate the distribution of dissolved rare earth elements (REE) in river systems. The whole concentration of ΣREE in the dissolved phase recorded during this study ranged from 368 to 9121 pmol•L⁻¹ with a mean of 2328 ± 1442 pmol•L⁻¹ that was dominantly influenced by the concentration of Ce ranging from 84 to 3237 pmol•L⁻¹. Similarly, the large ranged value of La/Yb_N (0.69 - 11.57) might be due to the fluctuating rainfall events during samplings as well as input from lithogenic sources that suggests the influence of monsoon events. The highly significant statistical correlation of Al and Fe (R² = 0.65; p < 0.01) also suggests the resuspension and mixing of REEs in the water column. However, the lower ratio of Y/Ho < 55 might be due to the large volume of freshwater input especially during the Northeast monsoon (November to March). Therefore, the highest inventories of Ce were during 15^th January 2014 and 1^st November 2014 with 586.5 pmol•cm⁻² and 643.4 pmol•cm⁻², accordingly. Subsequently, results showed an increasing flux of Ce occurring in the dissolved phase from November 2013 to January 2014 and November 2014 to January 2015, with 39.14 nmol•cm⁻²•yr⁻¹ and 59.78 nmol•cm⁻²•yr⁻¹, respectively.

Rainfall, Sediment, Water Column, Monsoon, Dissolved Phase

Daud, Z. and Mohamed, C. (2020) Rare Earth Elements in the Water Column of Sungai Balok, Pahang, Malaysia as Monsoon Event Proxies. Journal of Environmental Protection, 11, 421-440. doi: 10.4236/jep.2020.115025.