Distribution et localisation du Zn et du Pb dans un sol complexe situe a l'aplomb d'un gossan en milieu carbonate (Famenne belge)

Within the study area, a sulphide mineralization consisting of marcasite, sphalerite and accessory galena, as well as its subsurface oxidation product, a gossan in which the dominant mineral is goethite, are intricately intermixed with a gangue of calcite. The open profile at the mineralized site shows the succession of two soils: a leached brown soil (Hapludalf) developed in the loessic cover is underlain by a paleosol of the terra fusca type. The presence within the terra fusca of limonitic gravels indicates its genetic relationship with the underlying gossan. This is further confirmed by the distribution of Fe, Pb, Zn and Mn within the different horizons of the profile. The high values of Pb, and Zn, which are found both in the limonitic gravels and in the major B horizon of the terra fusca contrast strongly with the low values for the soil developed in loess.The different particle-size fractions from the major B horizons of both the leached brown soil and the terra fusca have been submitted to a selective dissolution method using five reagents sequentially (ammonium acetate, hydroxylamine, ammonium oxalate in darkness, ammonium oxalate under ultra violet (U.V.) radiation, strong acids). The crystalline iron oxides (which are dissolved by ammonium oxalate under U.V.) are concentrated in the sand fractions of the terra fusca and their extraction is accompanied by that of Zn. In the same particle-size fraction, hydroxylamine dissolves selectively Mn oxides and also extracts the major part of the Pb. A similar behaviour is observed when the same extraction sequence is applied to a limonitic gravel. The best evidence for the underlying mineralization is therefore found in the coarse and very coarse fractions of the terra fusca where the disintegration products of the gossan are concentrated. These products are absent in the loess covering the terra fusca.