Rare earth elements in the upstream of Yangtze River Delta: Spatio-temporal distributions, sources and speciations

With the development of high technology, the environmental pollution caused by rare earth elements (REEs) has gradually aroused social concern, especially the water environment. As a upstream tributary in Xin'an river basin, Fengle river has a decisive impact on the downstream Yangtze River Delta. In this study, the spatial and temporal distributions, sources and the speciations of REEs in surface water of wood, agriculture and industry regions of Fengle River in the two seasons were studied. This study provides scientific basis for local government management, give new method in REEs sources identification, and provide data for the global databases.