Journal
CATENA
Volume 235, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.catena.2023.107680
Keywords
Weathering profiles; Geochemistry; Granite; Basalt; Elemental mobility; Climate
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This study compares weathering profiles developed on granite and basalt rocks under different climatic conditions in India. The results show the significance of climate conditions and lithology in controlling weathering advancement. The distribution of major oxides and trace elements is influenced by weathering intensity and formation of secondary minerals. The principal component analysis reveals three components that account for a significant portion of the variance, related to weathering intensity, lithology, and location-specific factors.
In an attempt to constrain the micro-scale factors during weathering, large number of samples from four weathering profiles developed on granite and basalt rocks under different climatic conditions from western (Gujarat, GJ) and central (Bundelkhand, BK) India are reported in this study and compared these profiles with profiles from north eastern (Arunachal Pradesh, Lesser Himalaya, AP) India. In granitic profiles, the chemical index of alteration (CIA) values ranges from 50 to 85 whereas 42-90 CIA values are observed for basalt profiles. This highlights the significance of climate conditions (i.e., precipitation) over lithology in controlling weathering advancement. The results of the mass-transfer coefficient (tau) of major oxides significantly vary among the three granite and basalt profiles. The trace elements distribution in weathering profiles seems to be strongly controlled by the degree of weathering and formation of secondary minerals. Regardless of the nature of parent rocks, HFSEs (high field strength elements) tend to be enriched in the upper portion of all the weathering profiles; whereas REEs (rare earth elements) display variable behavior in each profile. The principal component analysis (PCA) reveals that three components are accounted for 89.14% of the variance. PC1 is attributed to weathering intensity and formation of secondary minerals, PC2 can be related to the lithology of parent material, and PC3 might be a location-specific factors. The present study shows that the geochemical characteristics of weathering profiles cannot be explained by the influence of a single weathering agent rather, there seems to be a significant role of local (or micro-scale) factors that controls the weathering and soil formation.
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