REEs in the North Africa P-Bearing Deposits, Paleoenvironments, and Economic Perspectives: A Review
A review of the compositional features of Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco phosphorites is proposed in order to assess and compare the paleoenvironmental conditions that promoted the deposit formation as well as provide information about their economic perspective in light of growing worldwide demand....
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Minerals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/11/2/214 |
| _version_ | 1797395890316509184 |
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| author | Roberto Buccione Rabah Kechiched Giovanni Mongelli Rosa Sinisi |
| author_facet | Roberto Buccione Rabah Kechiched Giovanni Mongelli Rosa Sinisi |
| author_sort | Roberto Buccione |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A review of the compositional features of Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco phosphorites is proposed in order to assess and compare the paleoenvironmental conditions that promoted the deposit formation as well as provide information about their economic perspective in light of growing worldwide demand. Since these deposits share a very similar chemical and mineralogical composition, the attention was focused on the geochemistry of rare earth elements (REEs) and mostly on ΣREEs, Ce and Eu anomalies, and (La/Yb) and (La/Gd) normalized ratios. The REEs distributions reveal several differences between deposits from different locations, suggesting mostly that the Tunisian and Algerian phosphorites probably were part of the same depositional system. There, sub-reducing to sub-oxic conditions and a major REEs adsorption by early diagenesis were recorded. Conversely, in the Moroccan basins, sub-oxic to oxic environments and a minor diagenetic alteration occurred, which was likely due to a different seawater supply. Moreover, the drastic environmental changes associated to the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum event probably influenced the composition of Northern African phosphorites that accumulated the highest REEs amounts during that span of time. Based on the REEs concentrations, and considering the outlook coefficient of REE composition (K<sub>outl</sub>) and the percentage of critical elements in ΣREEs (REE<sub>def</sub>), the studied deposits can be considered as promising to highly promising REE ores and could represent a profitable alternative source for critical REEs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:42:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-128b7dcb89e446e9a6bb12f64e1f713f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-163X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:42:38Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Minerals |
| spelling | doaj.art-128b7dcb89e446e9a6bb12f64e1f713f2023-12-11T17:42:29ZengMDPI AGMinerals2075-163X2021-02-0111221410.3390/min11020214REEs in the North Africa P-Bearing Deposits, Paleoenvironments, and Economic Perspectives: A ReviewRoberto Buccione0Rabah Kechiched1Giovanni Mongelli2Rosa Sinisi3Department of Sciences, University of Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, ItalyLaboratoire des Réservoirs Souterrains: Pétroliers, Gaziers et Aquifères, Université Kasdi Merbah, Ouargla 30000, AlgeriaDepartment of Sciences, University of Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, ItalyNational Research Council, Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis, 85050 Tito Scalo, ItalyA review of the compositional features of Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco phosphorites is proposed in order to assess and compare the paleoenvironmental conditions that promoted the deposit formation as well as provide information about their economic perspective in light of growing worldwide demand. Since these deposits share a very similar chemical and mineralogical composition, the attention was focused on the geochemistry of rare earth elements (REEs) and mostly on ΣREEs, Ce and Eu anomalies, and (La/Yb) and (La/Gd) normalized ratios. The REEs distributions reveal several differences between deposits from different locations, suggesting mostly that the Tunisian and Algerian phosphorites probably were part of the same depositional system. There, sub-reducing to sub-oxic conditions and a major REEs adsorption by early diagenesis were recorded. Conversely, in the Moroccan basins, sub-oxic to oxic environments and a minor diagenetic alteration occurred, which was likely due to a different seawater supply. Moreover, the drastic environmental changes associated to the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum event probably influenced the composition of Northern African phosphorites that accumulated the highest REEs amounts during that span of time. Based on the REEs concentrations, and considering the outlook coefficient of REE composition (K<sub>outl</sub>) and the percentage of critical elements in ΣREEs (REE<sub>def</sub>), the studied deposits can be considered as promising to highly promising REE ores and could represent a profitable alternative source for critical REEs.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/11/2/214phosphoritesrare earth elementsgeochemistryK<sub>outl</sub>Northern Africa |
| spellingShingle | Roberto Buccione Rabah Kechiched Giovanni Mongelli Rosa Sinisi REEs in the North Africa P-Bearing Deposits, Paleoenvironments, and Economic Perspectives: A Review Minerals phosphorites rare earth elements geochemistry K<sub>outl</sub> Northern Africa |
| title | REEs in the North Africa P-Bearing Deposits, Paleoenvironments, and Economic Perspectives: A Review |
| title_full | REEs in the North Africa P-Bearing Deposits, Paleoenvironments, and Economic Perspectives: A Review |
| title_fullStr | REEs in the North Africa P-Bearing Deposits, Paleoenvironments, and Economic Perspectives: A Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | REEs in the North Africa P-Bearing Deposits, Paleoenvironments, and Economic Perspectives: A Review |
| title_short | REEs in the North Africa P-Bearing Deposits, Paleoenvironments, and Economic Perspectives: A Review |
| title_sort | rees in the north africa p bearing deposits paleoenvironments and economic perspectives a review |
| topic | phosphorites rare earth elements geochemistry K<sub>outl</sub> Northern Africa |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/11/2/214 |
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