『Abstract
Flow-through dissolution experiments were carried out on crushed
granitoid rock (the Elat Granite) and three mineral separates
(plagioclase, perthite, and biotite + chlorite) from this rock
at pH 1 and 25℃. Major element concentrations were combined with
Pb and Sr isotopic analyses of starting materials and output solutions
and together enabled us to elucidate several important mechanisms
related to granitoid rock weathering. We observed an initial stage
of rock dissolution (<200 hours of reaction) that was characterized
by elemental release from traces of calcite and/or apatite and
to a lesser extent from the interlayer sites of biotite. Dissolution
in the interval of 200 to 400 h was dominated by the release of
elements from the interlayer sites of biotite, ad at 400 to 1000
h of reaction the chemistry of output solution was dominated by
the release of elements from tetrahedral and octahedral sites
of biotite as well as from plagioclase. After 1000 h, the dissolution
of plagioclase, and to a lesser extent biotite, dominated the
composition of elements released by the rock. We demonstrate that
Pb and Sr isotope ratios in the output solutions can be used to
identify each of these stages of dissolution. By comparing our
experimental results on the release of Pb and Sr isotopes with
field measurements of Pb and Sr isotopes in soil chronosequences
from the Wind River and the Sierra Nevada Mountains (USA), we
are able to show that similar isotopic patterns appear i both
the pH 1 experiments and in soils formed under natural conditions
at higher pH. By combining these experimental results with previous
field studies, we are able to estimate the duration of most of
these stages of granitoid weathering under natural conditions
in temperate climates. In soils older than a few hundred years
and younger than 10,000 yr the release of elements from interlayer
sites of biotite controls the weathering flux. Soils between 10,000
and 100,000 yr old are dominated by biotite and plagioclase weathering,
with biotite weathering controlling the first part of this period
and plagioclase dominating the later part. After more than 100,000
yr, plagioclase, and to a lesser degree biotite, dominate the
weathering flux within these granitoid soils.』
1. Introduction
2. Experimental methods
3. Results
4. Discussion
4.1. Mass balance calculations on the output solutions
4.2. Lead and Sr isotopic ratios in whole rock and mineral dissolution
experiments
4.3. Lead and strontium isotopes combined with major elements
4.4 Low-pH dissolution experiments vs. weathering under natural
conditions
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
References