Distribution of rare earth elements (REEs) in soil from Gua Musang, Kelantan

Rare Earth Elements (REEs) distribution within the soils of Gua Musang, Kelantan, Malaysia.There is lack of previous REE studies comparing the rare earth element (REE) concentrations and patterns across various soil profiles and their associated intermediate-acidic complexes (IACs). This research is to characterize of grain size distributions across various soil profile layers at selected locations. Secondly, our research is to explore the distribution patterns of REEs within the soil profiles of the selected sites. Samples were collected from Paloh, Felda Aring, and Laluan Persekutuan Chiku, with each sample obtained from 16 distinct pin locations. A 4mm to 32 μm sieve was used to separate the grain sizes of the samples. The total digestion method, involving the use of HNO3, HCl, H2O2, HF, and Boric acid, was employed to digest the samples. Subsequently, Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) was utilized to detect REEs elements in the liquid samples. Among the sites studied, LP-A exhibited the highest concentration of REEs within the total REEs content in the soil of Gua Musang, Kelantan, followed by PA-B> PA-E> PA-A> PA-O> PA-AB> LP-O> LP-C> FA-Core 1> FA-C> FA-O> FA-Core 2> FA-B> LP-B> FA-A> FA-E. Notably, the highest concentration observed was 266.954 ppm, while the lowest concentration was recorded in the FA-E sample, at 38.977 ppm