Enhanced enrichment of rare earth elements during pedogenesis under subtropical climate

Rare earth elements (REEs) are crucial strategic resources, and weathering-crust rare earth deposits are one of the primary sources. To systematically understand the geochemical behaviour (e.g. enrichment and leaching) of REEs in soils (or weathering crusts) formed from diverse parent rocks under varying climatic conditions, 171 soil profiles (weathering crusts) developed from three main types of parent rocks (granite, basalt and carbonate rock) worldwide were studied. Granite shows the highest concentration of REEs at 264 [interquartile range (IQR): 278] ppm with 171 (IQR: 151) ppm and 11.9 (IQR: 36.4) ppm in basalt and carbonate rock, respectively (median test: p < 0.05). The median REE values within the soil profiles were significantly different (median test: p < 0.05), with the concentration of 318 (IQR: 441) ppm, 267 (IQR: 217) ppm and 207 (IQR: 417) ppm in soils derived from granite, carbonate rock and basalt, respectively. Principal component analysis and linear mixed-effects models revealed that soils developed from granite and basalt inherit the mineral characteristics of their parent rocks, with REE concentrations primarily influenced by the REE content of the parent rock and climate. In contrast, the REE concentrations in soils developed from carbonate rocks are predominantly controlled by climate. Linear mixed-effects models and correlation analysis indicate that the enrichment of REEs ( Q REE ) shows a trend of initially increasing and then decreasing with rising temperature and precipitation, due to variations in the host clay minerals. The greatest enrichment occurs in the subtropical region (mean annual temperature = 15–23°C; mean annual precipitation = 1000–2000 mm); weathering-crust type REE deposits are primarily found in the subtropics.