Geochemistry of major, trace and rare earth elements in bed-sediments of Urmia lake

The Urmia Salt Lake as the largest hyper saline lake of the world is located between west and east Azerbaijan provinces, NW Iran. Geochemistry of trace and rare earth elements of bed sediments taken from 25 Cm of the lower most of 1.5 meters depth of drilled holes in 130 samples between 2014-2015 were investigated. General geochemical composition of samples revealed a very heterogeneous variation of major oxides at NW, NE, SW and SE parts of the lake. MgO, CaO and Na2O show a high enrichment compared to UCC, PAA and NASC values. Main minerals of the bed sediments include halite, calcite, ankerite, quartz, orthoclase, augite, hornblende and chlorite. The overall geochemical composition of sediments, resemble ferruginous shale and graywacke sandstone. Weathering in the various parts of the bed sediments is relevant to general climatological characters in the region. Rb and Sr among trace elements show high anomaly in respect to UCC, PAAS and NASC, while Eu indicated high depletion, especially at SW corner of the lake. Geochemical comparisons indicate the major role of different rock units in forming bed sediments rather than sediments carried by entering rivers to the lake.