Mineralogical, chemical composition and distribution of rare earth elements in clay-rich sediments from Southeastern Nigeria

• Mineralogical and chemical composition, including the rare earth element (REE) contents investigated.
• CIA and CIW values suggest intense weathering source area.
• The REE, Th, and Sc remain immobile.

Cretaceous claystone sediments from Enugu, Southeastern, Nigeria were analyzed for their mineralogy and chemistry. Major minerals are quartz and kaolinite while montmorillonite is in minor quantity. The sediments are silica-rich, but showed low values of Al, Fe, Sc and Cr. The values of the chemical index of alteration (CIA) ranged from 89.9 to 94.5 and the values of chemical index of weathering (CIW) ranged from 95.1 to 98.9. Low contents of the alkali and alkali earth elements (Na, K, Mg, Al, Ca) of the clay-rich sediments suggest a relatively more intense weathering of source area. Depleted Ba, Rb, Ca, and Mg suggest that they were probably flushed out by water during sedimentation.The mineralogical composition, REE contents, and elemental ratios in the sediments suggest a provenance from mainly felsic rocks, with only minor contributions from basic sources. Despite intense weathering the REE, Th, and Sc remained in the clays suggesting that they were immobile.