Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Physics, Federal University Lafia, Nigeria; Department of Physics, Nasarawa State University Keffi, Nigeria. Electronic address: abubakarsaliyu@nsuk.edu.ng
  • 2 Nuclear Science and Technology Section, Centre for Energy Research and Training, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
  • 3 Department of Physics, Federal University Lafia, Nigeria; Department of Physics, Nasarawa State University Keffi, Nigeria
  • 4 Department of Physics, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai 81310, Johor, Malaysia
  • 5 School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Plymouth University Drake Circus Plymouth Devon PL4 8AA United Kingdom
  • 6 Department of Mathematical Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
  • 7 Department of Physics, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
Appl Radiat Isot, 2018 Jan;131:36-40.
PMID: 29107886 DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2017.10.046

Abstract

The Keffi area hosts abundant pegmatite bodies as a result of the surrounding granitic intrusions. Keffi is part of areas that are geologically classified as North Central Basement Complex. Data on the mineralogy and mineralogical zonation of the Keffi pegmatite are scanty. Hence the need to understand the geology and mineralogical zonation of Keffi pegmatites especially at different depth profiles is relevant as a study of the elemental composition of the pegmatite is essential for the estimation of its economic viability. Here, the relative standardization method of instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) has been used to investigate the vertical deviations of the elemental concentrations of rare earth elements (REEs) at different depth profile of Keffi pegmatite. This study adopted the following metrics in investigating the vertical variations of REEs concentrations. Namely, the total contents of rare earth elements (∑REE); ratio of light to heavy rare earth elements (LREE/HREE), which defines the enrichment or depletion of REEs; europium anomaly (Eu/Sm); La/Lu ratio relative to chondritic meteorites. The study showed no significant variations in the total content of rare elements between the vertical depth profiles (100-250m). However, higher total concentrations of REEs (~ 92.65ppm) were recorded at the upper depth of the pegmatite and the europium anomaly was consistently negative at all the depth profiles suggesting that the Keffi pegmatite is enriched with light REEs.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.