Rare earth elements in sinters from the geothermal waters (hot springs) on the Tibetan Plateau, China

• Biogenic siliceous sinters were found on the Tibetan Plateau.
• Lanthanide tetrad effects result in positive Gd anomaly.
• Complexing ligands contribute to the fractionation of REEs in sinters.

The mineralogical and geochemical composition of sinters from the geothermal areas on the Tibetan Plateau was determined. They occur as siliceous, salty and calcareous sinters but biogenic siliceous sinters were also found. The analyses indicate that there are no distinct inter -element relationships between individual rare earth elements (REEs) and other elements. Formed from the same geothermal water, the mineralogical and chemical composition of the sinters is influenced by their genesis and formation conditions. The REE distributions depend on the origin of the sinters. Fe–Mn phases in sinters tend to scavenge more REEs from geothermal water. Neither the REE fractionation nor the Ce anomaly seems to be associated with Fe–Mn phases in the sinters. The fourth tetrads of some sinters display weak W-type (concave) effects. In contrast, the third tetrads present large effects in some sinters due to positive Gd anomalies. The origin of the positive Eu anomalies in some sinters seems to be caused by preferential dissolution of feldspars during water–rock interaction. The complexing ligands in geothermal water may contribute significantly to the fractionation of REEs in sinters. The dominant CO32− and HCO3− complexing in geothermal water favors enrichment of heavy REEs in calcareous sinters.