The Transport of Terrestrial Matter to the Pacific Equatorial Undercurrent: A Rare Earth Element River Signature from the Weathering of New Guinea Islands

摘要-0081007国际和平研究所之前的研究表明，巴布亚新几内亚北部海岸的塞皮克河(PNG)的水中溶解了稀土元素，这与海水截然不同。当与珊瑚海复合体的稀土元素组成进行归一化时，这条河富集了Sm、Eu和Gd。尽管河水被海水冲淡，这一特征在河口仍然很发达。出于这个原因，PI将分析从Sepik河口到马努斯岛沿太平洋赤道潜流(PEU)轨迹收集的水样中的稀土元素。这项研究的主要目的是证明PEU中的REE特征和其他致岩元素，特别是Fe，是通过岛屿风化和河流输入进入暗流的陆源物质输送的结果。

ABSTRACTOCE-0081007 Previous research by the PI showed that waters from the Sepik River on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG) had dissolved rare earth element (REE) compositions which are quite distinct from seawater. When normalized against the REE composition of Coral Sea Composite, the river had enriched Sm, Eu and Gd concentrations. This signature remained well developed in the estuary despite dilution of river water by seawater. For this reason, the PI will analyze water samples collected from the Sepik River estuary to Manus Island along the track of the Pacific Equatorial Undercurrent (PEU) for REEs. The primary objective for this research is to show that the REE signature and other lithogenic elements, especially Fe, in the PEU results from the transport of terrestrial material via island weathering and river inputs into undercurrents.