Cerium occurs as cerium-phosphate clusters around bioapatite nanocrystals in deep-sea sediments
Deep-sea mud is rich in rare-earth elements, primarily found in fluorapatite, a mineral deposit that forms over hundreds of thousands to millions of years through the accumulation of fish remains. After fish die, biogenic apatite captures rare earth elements from seawater on the seafloor and from pore waters during the diagenesis process. The conventional model for rare earth element enrichment suggests that they are incorporated into the bioapatite crystal structure through solid-state diffusion. However, our data reveal that cerium atoms are instead precipitated within an amorphous layer surrounding bioapatite nanocrystals, as shown by high-energy-resolution X-ray absorption spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Computational simulations further support this finding, predicting that cerium atoms cluster on the surface of fluorapatite. These results suggest that the fluorapatite-water interface plays a crucial role in the enrichment of cerium, as well as other rare earth elements, in marine sediments.
Authors
- Andrea Koschinsky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9224-0663)
- Anne‐Claire Gaillot (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2694-6756)
- Olivier Mathon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5487-0226)
- Sophie Anna Luise Paul (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1575-3406)
- Mélanie Balvay
- Stephan N. Steinmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2777-356X)
- Alain Manceau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0845-611X)
- Pieter Glatzel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6532-8144)
- Alexandre Simionovici (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5349-6482)
- Kirill A. Lomachenko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0238-1719)
- Jianlin Liao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5504-3487)
- Yan Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8456-0352)
Institutions
- École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (FR)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Bremen (DE)
- Institut Universitaire de France (FR)
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (FR)
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (DE)
- Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel (FR)
- Institut des Sciences de la Terre (FR)
- Laboratoire de Chimie (FR)
- Université Gustave Eiffel (FR)
- Université Grenoble Alpes (FR)
- Nantes Université (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications Earth & Environment
- Published
- 2025-06-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02439-2
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- Geochemistry and Elemental Analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 8.02
Funders
- European Commission
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- École Normale Supérieure de Lyon