Rare earth elements and clay minerals of soils of the floodplains of three major rivers in Bangladesh

The rare earth elements (REE), particle-size distribution and mineralogical composition in the <2 μm clay fraction from the soils on the floodplains developed by the three major rivers of the Brahmaputra, Meghna and Ganges in Bangladesh were analyzed. REE as the chondrite-normalized curve or the plot of Ce/Eu against Eu/Sm did not differentiate the soils according to the river floodplains, whereas the clay mineralogy did. Particle-size distribution varied between the soils and the soil horizons.