Supervisors info:
Γκοντελίτσας Αθανάσιος Επίκ. Καθηγητής (Επιβλέπων), Κατερινόπουλος Αθανάσιος Καθηγητής, Κυριακόπουλος Κωνσταντίνος Καθηγητής
Summary:
This study aims to investigate and evaluate the increased presence of actinides
in REE-bearing
black magnetic sands along the coastal zone of Kavala region, northern
Greece. Rare earth elements are a group of seventeen metals with remarkable
properties, having gradually played a significant role in the development of
the high
technology industries. According to the report made by the European Comission in
2014, regarding the European perspective on REE raw materials, most of elements
included in the lanthanide group are considered to be critical and strategic
metals for
the European industry. Given this assumption it becomes obvious that the demand
for
mineralogical and geochemical research is imperative not only for locating
principal
REE deposits but to highlight potential environmental risks that would
terminate the
possibility of a sustainable development.
The studied samples originate in coastal black magnetic sands, geographically
located along the coastline of Kavala region. On the basis of geochemical
discrimination diagrams, it represents a mature weathering product of the
adjacent
Symbolon Plutonic Complex. The study by powder-XRD and SEM-EDS showed that the
magnetic part consists of magnetite and hematite with a significant absence of
ilmenite while the non magnetic part is mainly composed by by quartz,
K-feldspars and
albite with zircons, allanites -with monazite inclusions- and titanite as
secondary
minerals. The ICP-MS analyses showed a significant REE content (ΣREE+Y = 1.3
wt. %,
in the non magnetic part), mainly attributed to allanite, zircon and titanite,
as well as a
high actinide content (Th: 1600 ppm, U: 213 ppm) due to the same mineral phases
exhibiting natural radioactivity. UCC-normalized bulk spidergrams indicated
that the
sands are enriched in Nb, Ta, W, Co and Ti (3,24 % wt. in the non magnetic
part), while
they are depleted in LILE and particular incompatible elements.
Keywords:
Actinoids, Lanthanoids, Rare Earth Elements , REE, Black sands
