The comparative behaviors of yttrium and lanthanides in the seawater of the North Pacific

Yttrium has long been recognized as an ekalanthanide, because of its chemical contiguity relative to the chemistries of rare earth elements which are, in recent years, intensively utilized for elucidation of metal scavenging processes in the ocean. Here, we present the first detailed depth‐profile of Y(III) in seawater together with the lanthanides in the North Pacific Ocean. The concentrations of Y(III) range 70–290 pmol/kg and show the “nutrient‐like” profile best resembling that of Ho(III) amongst the other rare earth elements. The results agree well with an expectation based on the similarity in their ionic radii and hence stability constants of complexation with carbonate ions. Yet the Ho(III)/Y(III;) ratios in seawater systematically increase with depth, suggesting that Y and Ho are fractionated during scavenging by natural marine particulates. This is likely to result from the different complexation behavior in that Y(III) is more weakly complexed than Ho(III) with soft organic ligands on the surface of particulate matter during scavenging in the surface water but, once released into seawater in the deep sea, Y(III) is complexed with carbonate ions equally or stronger than Ho. The pattern of deep water enrichment in the lanthanide series appears to be consistent with the recent observation of partitioning between suspended particles and seawater. Our precise measurements also indicated that Pr and Tb best resemble Nd and Dy, respectively in their oceanic behavior, whereas Ho and Tm are intermediate between their neighboring rare earth elements.