Rare earth element content of the clay fraction from sediment core CRP-1 (Table 2)

TEM observations on smectites and REE analyses on the clay minerals of the sediments of CRP-1 core were carried out to investigate their origin and the source rocks from which they were derive from. Smectites are mostly dioctahedral, but Fe-Mg richer than in other cores from Ross Sea. In addition, small amounts of nontronites and trioctahedral smectites (probably saponites) were found. Smectite microparticles are mainly flaky, but significant percentages of hairy smectites were also recognized. Micromorphologies indicate that smectites were derived from the continent but, in addition, they formed in situ through recrystallisation processes. The shale-normalised rare earth elements patterns are very homogeneous, and their features are typical of land-derived sediments. The smectites of CRP-1 formed from parent rocks influenced by volcanic activity, and the source areas probably represented by both the basaltic rocks of the the McMurdo Volcanic Group and the complex of basement and sedimentary rocks cropping out in the Transantarctic Mountains.