wAbstract
@The complex weathering processes which govern the production
of soil from bedrock have proven difficult to understand for many
lithologies. Weathering of black shale is of particular interest
because it releases organic carbon and heavy metals as solutes
and therefore impacts the health of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
To understand black shale weathering, a geochemical survey was
initiated for soils developed on shales of the Marcellus Formation
at a zero-order catchment at a satellite site of the Susquehanna/Shale
Hills Critical Zone Observatory located in Jackson Corner, Pennsylvania.
This formation is an organic- and metal-rich, carbonaceous shale
that underlies much of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.
In this paper, we focus on the effects of weathering on variations
of Cu isotopes in the shale. Cu concentration data for soil were
normalized using Ti concentrations to document the mobility of
Cu relative to bedrock. At both the ridgetop and valley floor,
depletion profiles for Cu are documented in the soils. The Cu
in the soils is depleted in 65Cu (average Β65Cu
= -0.5ρ}0.2) compared to the parent material (average Β65Cu
= 0.03ρ}0.15). Consistent with loss of Cu from soils, the pore
waters contain 10 ppb Cu on average and are enriched in the heavy
isotope (average value Β65Cu = 1.14ρ}0.44). Rayleigh
fractionation models using the concentration and isotope data
of the soils are consistent with pyrite weathering and loss of
Cu from the ridgetop, but downslope transport and Cu re-precipitation
at the valley floor.
Keywords: Black shale; Weathering; Cu isotopes; Marcelllus shalex
1. Introduction
2. Methods
@2.1. Rock and soil sampling
@2.2. Porewater sampling
@2.3. Sample preparation
@2.4. Soil elemental analysis
@2.5. X-ray diffraction and SEM analysis
@2.6. Water chemistry analyses
@2.7. Copper isotope analysis
3. Results
@3.1. Soil, rock and pore water chemistry
@3.2. Rock and heavy mineral mineralogy
@3.3. Copper isotopes of soils, rocks and soil waters
4. Discussion
@4.1. Location of Cu in Marcellus shale
@4.2. Cu depletion in soil
@4.3. Cu isotopes
@4.4. Rayleigh models of the Cu concentration and isotope data
during weathering
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References