Quartz weathering

Flake Mica. Flake mica is mined from weathered and hard rock pegmatites, granodiorite, and schist and gneiss by conventional open-pit methods. In soft, residual material, dozers, shovels, scrapers, and front-end loaders are used to mine the ore. Often kaolin, quartz, and feldspar are recovered along with the mica (see also Clays Silicon compounds). 

A proponent of "reverse weathering" suggested that gibbsite, kaolinite, and quartz exist in equilibrium according to the following equation. In equilibrium expressions for these reactions, water will appear as the activity, rather than concentration. The activity can be approximated by the mole fraction of water. What is the activity of water if this equilibrium is maintained Could this equilibrium exist in seawater, where the mole fraction of water is about 0.98 AG values (kj/mol) gibbsite — 2320.4 kaolinite — 3700.7 quartz —805.0 water —228.4. 

The composition of the particles is related to that of the source rocks. Quartz sand [composed of silica (silicon dioxide)], which makes up the most common variety of silica sand, is derived from quartz rocks. Pure quartz is usually almost free of impurities and therefore almost colorless (white). The coloration of some silica sand is due to chemical impurities within the structure of the quartz. The common buff, brown, or gray, for example, is caused by small amounts of metallic oxides iron oxide makes the sand buff or brown, whereas manganese dioxide makes it gray. Other minerals that often also occur as sand are calcite, feldspar and obsidian Calcite (composed of calcium carbonate), is generally derived from weathered limestone or broken shells or coral feldspar is an igneous rock of complex composition, and obsidian is a natural glass derived from the lava erupting from volcanoes see Chapter 2. 

Primary clay is also known as residual clay, indicating that they are either the in situ residue of one type of weathered rock or the transported residue of many types of rocks most primary clay deposits occur, however, in situ, at the location where the clay particles were formed. The clay is usually quite pure and colorless or white, but very small relative amounts of minerals mixed with the clay, such as quartz and/or iron oxides, may impart to it a yellow, brown, or green color. Primary clay is also characterized by the extreme fineness of its particles, which usually measure below 2 micrometers (0.002 mm) in diameter. The more than 20 different types of primary clay minerals can be distinguished by their chemical composition, which varies widely, and by their physical properties. Primary clays that have been used for making ceramic objects are listed in Table 55. 

Residual sands are the result of prolonged weathering of quartz-rich rocks such as granite, sandstone and quartzite. Chemical weathering is particularly active in wet and hot tropical regions where it leads to formation of chemically extremely poor substrates. 

Aeolian sands are deposited by wind action, either in dunes or in extensive sheets ( cover sand areas ) Wind action is particularly effective in hot and dry regions such as deserts but sand dunes are also common in (sub)humid regions with sparse vegetation, notably in overgrazed areas and along beaches and fluvial braid plains . The (weathering) history of the parent materials in the source area determines whether the sands are rich in quartz and/or carbonates. 

Extensive, horizontal sandstone plateaus occur in tropical shield areas. Well-known examples are the Precambrian Roraima sandstone formations on the Guiana Shield and the Voltaian sandstone formations in Western Africa. Major occurrences of consolidated sands are found in Northern Africa, in Guyana and Surinam, eastern Peru, northeastern Brazil and in Liberia (western Africa). These sandstone formations have a history of tropical weathering in common they all have a deep weathering mantle of bleached, white sands that are very rich in quartz, poor in clay and excessively drained. Electrolyte contents differ by region In arid and semi-arid areas where evaporation exceeds precipitation, salts and carbonates may accumulate at or near the surface of the soil. 

Many minerals have been found to dissolve and precipitate in nature at dramatically different rates than they do in laboratory experiments. As first pointed out by Paces (1983) and confirmed by subsequent studies, for example, albite weathers in the field much more slowly than predicted on the basis of reaction rates measured in the laboratory. The discrepancy can be as large as four orders of magnitude (Brantley, 1992, and references therein). As we calculate in Chapter 26, furthermore, the measured reaction kinetics of quartz (SiC>2) suggest that water should quickly reach equilibrium with this mineral, even at low temperatures. Equilibrium between groundwater and quartz, however, is seldom observed, even in aquifers composed largely of quartz sand. 

Higher quartz contents in soils occur in areas where the soil parent materials include quartz-rich materials, such as sandstone bedrock or eolian deposits (area 3 Fig. 2) and in regions where high precipitation accelerates soil weathering and leaching, resulting in high contents of residual, inert quartz (areas 9 and 10 Fig. 2). In Fig. 2 the distribution of Al is nearly... 

The continental pattern for Na matches the pattern for total feldspar percentages, as Na values are primarily correlated with plagioclase (Eberl Smith 2009). Feldspars are much more susceptible to chemical dissolution than quartz and, with sufficient time and precipitation, will weather mainly to clay minerals. As a result, total feldspar contents and Na contents decrease with increasing precipitation from west to east (Fig. 3). 

Based on predicted weathering and erosion rates of the region, we estimate the profile to be several million years old. Because the soil has developed in situ, the topmost grains have reacted with water for the greatest extent of time. With depth, the total "lifetime" of the particles as soil decreases. This implies that the topmost quartz surfaces should be "reactively mature" (all fines removed, deep grown-together etch pits) and the bottom-most quartz surfaces should be "reactively young" (plentiful fines, fresh surfaces). ... 

Earth s crust is a source of particles produced as a consequence of weathering and volcanic activity. Weathering of continental rocks generates terrigenous particles that are carried into ocean via rivers, glaciers, and winds. As shown in Table 13.2, the most abundant mineral types are quartz, plagioclase, and clay minerals. The most abimdant... 

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