Mobility of REE from a hyperacid brine to secondary minerals precipitated in a volcanic hydrothermal system: Kawah Ijen crater lake (Java, Indonesia)

Claudio Inguaggiato; Sabrina Pappaterra; Loic Peiffer; Carmine Apollaro; Lorenzo Brusca; Rosanna De Rosa; Dmitri Rouwet; Corentin Caudron; Suparjan

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140133

Mobility of REE from a hyperacid brine to secondary minerals precipitated in a volcanic hydrothermal system: Kawah Ijen crater lake (Java, Indonesia)

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Oct 20:740:140133. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140133. Epub 2020 Jun 12.

Authors

Claudio Inguaggiato¹, Sabrina Pappaterra², Loic Peiffer³, Carmine Apollaro², Lorenzo Brusca⁴, Rosanna De Rosa², Dmitri Rouwet⁵, Corentin Caudron⁶, Suparjan⁷

Affiliations

¹ Departamento de Geología, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Baja California (CICESE), Carretera Ensenada-Tijuana 3918, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. Electronic address: inguaggiato@cicese.mx.
² Dipartimento di Biologia Ecologia e Scienze della terra, Università della Calabria, via Pietro Bucci 87036, Arcavacata di Rende, Cosenza, Italy.
³ Departamento de Geología, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Baja California (CICESE), Carretera Ensenada-Tijuana 3918, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.
⁴ Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Palermo, Via U. La Malfa, 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy.
⁵ Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Bologna, Via Donato Creti 12, Bologna, Italy.
⁶ Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, IFSTTAR, ISTerre, 38000 Grenoble, France, Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, 24-28 Avenue du Lac d'Annecy, 73370 Le Bourget-du-Lac, France.
⁷ Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, Geological Agency, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Bandung, Indonesia.

PMID: 32563880
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140133

Abstract

Rare Earth Elements (REE; lanthanides and yttrium) are elements with high economic interest because they are critical elements for modern technologies. This study mainly focuses on the geochemical behavior of REE in hyperacid sulphate brines in volcanic-hydrothermal systems, where the precipitation of sulphate minerals occurs. Kawah Ijen lake, a hyperacid brine hosted in the Ijen caldera (Indonesia), was used as natural laboratory. ∑REE concentration in the lake water is high, ranging from 5.86 to 6.52 mg kg^-¹. The REE pattern of lake waters normalized to the average local volcanic rock is flat, suggesting isochemical dissolution. Minerals spontaneously precipitated in laboratory at 25 °C from water samples of Kawah Ijen were identified by XRD as gypsum. Microprobe analyses and the chemical composition of major constituents allow to identify possible other minerals precipitated: jarosite, Al-sulphate and Sr, Ba-sulphate. ∑REE concentration in minerals precipitated (mainly gypsum) range from 59.53 to 78.64 mg kg^-¹. The REE patterns of minerals precipitated normalized to the average local magmatic rock show enrichment in LREE. The REE distribution coefficient (K_D), obtained from a ratio of its concentration in the minerals precipitated (mainly gypsum) and the lake water, shows higher values for LREE than HREE. K_D-LREE/K_D-HREE increases in the studied samples when the concentrations of BaO, MgO, Fe₂O₃, Al₂O₃, Na₂O and the sum of total oxides (except SO₃ and CaO) decrease in the solid phase. The presence of secondary minerals different than gypsum can be the cause of the distribution coefficient variations. High concentrations of REE in Kawah Ijen volcanic lake have to enhance the interest on these environments as possible REE reservoir, stimulating future investigations. The comparison of the K_D calculated for REE after mineral precipitation (mainly gypsum) from Kawah Ijen and Poás hyperacid volcanic lakes allow to generalize that the gypsum precipitation removes the LREE from water.

Keywords: Gypsum precipitation; Hyperacid crater lake; Kawah Ijen volcano; Poás volcano; REE fractionation; Rare Earth Elements.