Use of rare earth element patterns to trace the provenance of the atmospheric dust near Beijing, China

Atmospheric dust is one of the important indicators of urban air quality. In this study, atmospheric dust and topsoil samples were collected monthly from four sites in Beijing and surrounding areas, and analyzed for rare earth elements (REEs). Total REE concentrations (∑REE) in the dusts ranged from 43.10 to 164.43 mg kg−1; concentrations in Beijing and Miyun were higher than those in Zhangbei and Fengning. Most of sampling sites showed the same seasonal depletion in dust ∑REE concentrations in summer, probably caused by the “dilution effect” of added organic matter in summertime samples. Most of the dusts have consistent Ce-anomaly (Ce/Ce*) values (0.91–1.00) and Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu*) values (0.93–1.36); some dusts show slight positive Eu anomalies. The REE patterns of both the dusts and topsoils (normalized to post-Archean shales from Australia, PASS) show different signatures at different sites, whereas the temporal patterns are consistent at each site. These results suggest that local topsoils are likely to be the main provenance of the dusts in the study area.