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An experimental study on the geochemical weathering of crystalline rocks by water

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2018

G. Pedro*
Affiliation:
Soils Laboratory, C.N.R.A., Versailles, France
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Abstract

An experimental procedure has been devised for studying the weathering of rocks under conditions approximating to those of the humid tropics. Basalt and trachyandesite gave results which were broadly similar in that a deeply weathered skin was formed on the rock particles in the atmospheric zone while a greyish skin was formed on the particles in the zone of water-table fluctuation. Granite, on the other hand, had a markedly different reaction and the particles in the atmospheric zone had a characteristic ‘pumice stone’ appearance. The new minerals formed during weathering are discussed as well as the geochemical changes occurring and an overall balance sheet for the weathering of these rocks is drawn up. The results obtained in this study are compared with those observed in the field.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1961

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