WVGES Trace Elements in West Virginia Coals

Click Here To Go To Trace Elements Framed Home Page Cerium (Ce) Summary Statistics

Click on histogram for larger view

The histogram of cerium abundances in all West Virginia coal beds shows a skewed distribution with a mean of 16.88 ppm (± 10.00 ppm) on a whole coal basis.  The maximum Ce content of 95 ppm was in a bench of the Coalburg coal.  Cerium is a major component of the mineral monazite, (Ce, La, Y, Th)PO4, and the highest correlations were with elements in monazite, mainly lanthanum (La) and thorium (Th) and less so with yttrium (Y).  Also neodymium (Nd), dysprosium (Dy) (r = +0.6740) and gadolinium (Gd) (r = +0.5625) were measured in low abundances in most monazite grains in West Virginia coals using SEM at the WVGES. Cerium also correlated with other rare earth elements, such as samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), ytterbium (Yb), lutetium (Lu) and terbium (Tb) on a whole coal basis.  Probably because monazite is a detrital mineral in coal, cerium also correlated somewhat with ash yield, and the ash related elements chromium (Cr), scandium (Sc), hafnium (Hf), lithium (Li), tantalum (Ta), vanadium (V) and lead (Pb).
 
Spearman Correlation Coefficients (r) with Cerium
Ash Yield
La
Sm
Th
Eu
Cr
Sc
Hf
+0.6875
+0.9569
+0.8909
+0.8880
+0.8838
+0.8510
+0.8137
+0.8082
n = 546
n = 540
n = 538
n = 530
n = 540
n = 545
n = 546
n = 509
Li
Ta
Yb
Lu
V
Pb
Nd
Tb
+0.7794
+0.7757
+0.7387
+0.7278
+0.7230
+0.7200
+0.7192
+0.7074
n = 546
n = 462
n = 542
n = 503
n = 545
n = 543
n = 416
n = 493
Go to Stratigraphic Distribution of CeriumGo to Cerium State MapGo to General Elements PageGo to All Elements Summary Statistics Table
 
To request specific information from a Survey geologist click here.

WVGES Welcome Page

Page last revised: March 1, 2002

Please send questions, comments, and/or suggestions to webmaster. 
Page created and maintained by:
            West Virginia Geological & Economic Survey
  Address:  Mont Chateau Research Center
            Cheat Lake exit off I-68
            P.O. Box 879
            Morgantown, WV  26507-0879
Telephone:  1-800-WV-GEOLOgy (1-800-984-3656) or 304-594-2331
      FAX:  304-594-2575
    Hours:  8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. EST, Monday - Friday
Permission to reproduce this material is granted if acknowledgment is given to the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey.