Secondary minerals from extrapedogenic per latus acidic weathering environments at geomorphic edges, Eastern Nebraska, USA

Acidic weathering of the sulfidic Upper Cretaceous Carlile and Pierre Shales in Nebraska has led to the precipitation of the Al sulfate–hydroxide minerals aluminite, alunite, “basaluminite”/felsöbányaite (e.g.,), the aluminum hydroxides gibbsite and bayerite, and the rare Al phosphate hydroxide vashegyite. Kaolinite has also been produced as a result of this acidic weathering. These minerals do not appear as neoformed constituents in any extant soils in the region, and their existence underscores the ability of pyrite oxidation to produce major changes in mineralogy on a Holocene to Recent time scale. Jarosite, hydronium jarosite, gypsum, halotrichite, and melanterite also appear as secondary minerals in the weathered shales. Acidic weathering and the formation of new minerals is extrapedogenic because it occurs well below the limit of modern soil sola. These processes also occur at the edges of major landscape elements and can be considered to have a strong lateral component processes, making them “per latus” processes in our usage.     

苗儿山土壤的矿物组成

苗儿山海拔2142m,年降水量较高,植被繁茂,土壤母岩主要为花岗岩,局部杂有砂页岩、千枚岩和板岩。从山脚到山顶,依次分布着成土过程由强到弱的山地红壤、山地黄壤、山地黄棕壤和山地灌丛草甸土。其相应的粘粒矿物为2:1型矿物逐渐增加,高岭石不断减少。所有土壤都出现埃洛石和三水铝石,后者在剖面中有由下往上减少的倾向。14A过渡矿物多分布在山的中部消下土壤中。混层矿物出现普遍。 花岗岩发育土壤原生产矿物的风化指数,从山脚到山顶逐渐变小。本文还讨论了三水铝石的转化条件,并对土壤富铝化与土壤风化、红壤化的关系提出初步看法。     

Mineral neoformation in pore spaces during alteration and weathering of andesitic rocks in humid tropical Indonesia

The morphology, chemistry, and mineralogy of minerals newly formed in voids—products of weathering of andesitic rocks—were studied using optical and submicroscopic techniques on thin sections, combined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersion X-ray analysis (EDXRA), and X-ray diffraction analysis on subsamples.Samples were taken from the core, the outer core, and the soft outer layers of weathered andesitic boulders in the Cigudeg area, West Java, about 75 km south of Jakarta, Indonesia, with udic moisture and isohyperthermic temperature regime.The neoformed minerals observed in planar voids and cavities comprise 1:1 phyllosilicates, goethite, and gibbsite, and juxtaposed coatings of halloysite, mixed layer phyllosilicates, goethite, and gibbsite. The mineral sequences observed confirm former studies on the groundmass of the boulder: in the first weathering layer, an absolute accumulation of gibbsite takes place; further away from the core, the gibbsite is redissolved, and replaced by illuvial phyllosilicate clay. The possibility of inheritance of the 2:1 layer silicates from a hydrothermal alteration is discussed. The sharp boundaries in the juxtaposed coatings point to a stepwise, sequential—rather than a gradual—evolution of the microenvironment.     

Factors and processes of gibbsite formation in Northern Thailand

Gibbsite is usually considered as end product of weathering in tropical environments with potentially high leaching rates. However, there are also hints towards gibbsite formation in initial stages of weathering in different climates. This study reports on a systematic approach based on soil forming factors in order to research the conditions of gibbsite formation in northern Thailand highlands. Therefore, three major study sites were chosen, which differ with respect to parent rock, relief, climate and vegetation. The results show that gibbsite is common in soils of the area. Reasons for its occurrence in soils are manifold. It can be a heritage of the parent rock, a result of initial weathering under free draining conditions or an accumulation under intense chemical weathering caused by high rainfall. Especially the investigation in granite and gneiss areas with a high share of primary minerals indicates that gibbsite can be an early and direct transformation without intermediates from micas and feldspars if free drainage is assured. With progressing soil genesis clay formation reduces drainage and favours kaolinite formation. Only sites with extremely high rainfall and low evaporation (high elevations in northern Thailand) show again a dominance of gibbsite in the clay fraction throughout the whole soil profile.