Saprolite

Pavich, M. J. (1986). Processes and rates of saprolite production and erosion on a foliated granitic rock of the Virginia Piedmont. In "Rates of Chemical Weathering of Rocks and Minerals" (S. M. Coleman and D. P. Dethier, eds), pp. 551-590. Academic Press, New York. 

Rubisov, D. H. Krowinkel, J. M. Papangelakis, V. G. Sulphuric acid pressure leaching of laterites—universal kinetics of nickel dissolution for limonites and limonitic/saprolitic blends. Hydrometallurgy 2000, 58, 1-11. 

At the Endeavor (formerly Elura) Mine (43 km NNW of Cobar), the main lens of the Elura Zn-Pb-Ag orebodies is subcropping with a small patch of gossanous float present in an essentially flat landscape. There Pb in saprolite (>50 ppm in an area 1.4 x 1.0 km) and lag (>50 ppm in an area 2.5 x 1.6 km) define the underlying mineralisation. However Zn in soil is anomalous for >1 km to the southwest of the main lens (Lorrigan... 

Paleocene weathering profile preserved beneath Paleocene lake sediments. S is saprolite, SS is saprock. 

Keywords uranium, radon, roll fronts, saprolites, mobility. Nova Scotia... 

General Geology The rocks and saprolites referred to in this paper are located primarily in southern Nova Scotia (Fig.1). Southern Nova Scotia forms the Meguma Terrane of the northern portion of the Appalachian... 

Rudnick RL, Tomascak PB, Njo HB, Gardner LR (2004) Extreme lithium isotopic fractionation during continental weathering revealed in saprolites from South Carolina. Chem Geol 212 45-57... 

Owing to their extremely low solubilities in an aerobic environment, goethite and hematite remain unchanged over geological time spans. They may, therefore, store information about the environment in which they formed. Al substitution may be one such piece of information. Thus, medium to high Al substitution has been observed in goethites from tropical and subtropical soils, bauxites and saprolites (Fitzpatrick Schwertmann, 1982 Schwertmann Kampf, 1983 Curi Franzmeier,... 

Anand, R.R. Gilkes, R.J. (1984b) Mineralogi-cal and chemical properties of weathered magnetite grains from lateritic saprolite. 

Theveniaut, H. Freyssinet, Ph. (1999) Paleo-magnetism applied to lateritic profiles to assess saprolite and duricrust formation pro-... 

Price JR, Velbel MA, Patino LC (2005) Rates and time scales of clay-mineral formation by weathering in saprolitic regoliths of the southeren Appalachians from geochemical mass balance. Geol Soc Am Bull 117 783-794... 

Mayes, M.A. et al., Multispecies transport of metal-EDTA complexes and chromate through undisturbed columns of weathered, fractured saprolite, J. Contain. Hydrol., 45, 265, 2000. 

McKay, L.D., Sanford, W.E., and Strong, J.M., Field scale migration of colloidal tracers in a fractured shale saprolite, Ground Water, 38, 139, 2000. 

Kretzschmar, R., Robarge, W.P., and Amoozegar, A., Influence of natural organic matter on colloid transport through saprolite, Water Resour. Res., 31, 435, 1995. 

McCarthy, J.F., McKay, L.D., and Bruner, D.D., Influence of ionic strength and cation charge on transport of colloidal particles in fractured shale saprolite, Environ. Sci. Technol., 36, 3735, 2002. 

Lateritic weathering, promoted by warm-humid environments and low rates of erosion, can enhance some geochemical anomalies to the point where they may be mined at a profit. For example, lateritic weathering of dunites and peridotites or their serpentinized equivalents can produce ores of nickel with 1 -2% nickel. Nickel is commonly hosted by either iron oxides or silicates (garnierite). The deposits may be cmdely vertically zoned with pisolitic iron-oxide and nickel-bearing zones above richer saprolitic silicate ore. 

April et al., 1986 Kirkwood and Nesbitt, 1991 Land et al., 1999). Likewise, Cleaves (1993) found watershed solute discharge in the Piedmont of the eastern USA, to be 2-5 times faster than for past periglacial periods represented by long-term saprolite weathering. He attributed these weathering rate differences to past periods of lower precipitation, colder temperatures and lower soil gas CO2. 

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