Weathering of rocks

The efficiency of the weathering of rocks in using carbonic acid produced in the carbon cycle is affected by various hydrologic, environmental, and cultural controls. The fact that the principal anion in fresh surface water worldwide almost always is bicarbonate attests to the overriding importance of this process. Exceptions are systems in which evaporite minerals are available for dissolution by groundwater or where human activities are major sources of sulfate or chloride inflow. 

More CO2 can actually be absorbed chemically into the ocean than the above reaction sequence suggests. Terrestrial weathering of rocks containing carbonate, such as limestone, and subsequent aerial or riverine transport, means that the ocean is enriched in carbonate. Keeping and Kj constant implies, through eqns. (3) and (4), that enhancing the oceanic [COj ] leads to a greater level of... 

Another major process at the Earth s surface not involving rapid exchange is the chemical weathering of rocks and dissolution of exposed minerals. In some instances the key weathering reactant is H30 in rainwater (often associated with the atmospheric sulfur cycle), while in other cases H30" comes from high concentrations of CO2, e.g., in vegetated soils. 

The soil may represent a thin film on the surface of the Earth, but the importance of soils in global biogeochemical cycles arises from their role as the interface between the Earth, its atmosphere, and the biosphere. All terrestrial biological activity is founded upon soil productivity, and the weathering of rocks that helps to maintain atmospheric equilibrium occurs within soils. Soils provide the foundation for key aspects of global biogeochemical cycles. 

Note that this estimate of the annual O2 loss to weathering processes is approximately equal to the estimated annual production of oxygen estimated above. Hence, the weathering of rocks and burial of organic carbon in sediments during their formation are important processes for the oxygen content of the atmosphere. 

Weathering of rocks is also a sink for CO2. Garrels and Mackenzie (1971) have estimated that the formation of 1500 g of sedimentary rocks requires 100 g of CO2. If we use the same... 

Table 8-8 Average oxygen consumption during weathering of rocks"...

Clayton, J. L. (1986). An estimate of plagioclase weathering rate in the Idaho batholith based upon geochemical transport rates. In "Rates of Chemical Weathering of Rocks and Minerals" (S. M. Coleman and D. P. Dethier, eds). Chap. 19, pp. 453-466. Academic Press, New York. 

Fig. 14-4 Schematic representation of the transport of P through the terrestrial system. The dominant processes indicated are (1) mechanical and chemical weathering of rocks, (2) incorporation of P into terrestrial biomass and its return to the soil system through decomposition, (3) exchange reactions between soil interstitial waters and soil particles, (4) cycling in freshwater lakes, and (5) transport through the estuaries to the oceans of both particulate and dissolved P.

The materials that accumulate to form sedimentary rocks are (i) products of disintegration (weathering) of rocks, (ii) volcanic ejecta, (iii) insoluble decomposition products, (iv) precipitated substances from aqueous solutions, and (iv) bio-organically derived substances. 

Soil is a relatively thin layer of unconsolidated matter on the surface of the earth, in which there is biological activity. The bulk of most soil consists of a mixture of extremely small, loose particles of minerals and organic matter the mineral particles are derived from the weathering of rocks the organic matter from the dead remains of living organisms (Rowell 1994 Limbrey 1975). The composition and texture of the soil are altered by human habitation humans change the natural flora and fauna of entire areas, their activ-... 

Sulfur enters the current geochemical cycle with the weathering of rocks and conversion to either S02 or S042 -bearing species, and subsequent uptake by plants and microorganisms and conversion into a variety of organic forms. Despite the... 

The systematic removal of elements by runoff and the reimmobilization from solution by organic matter are continuously counterbalanced by the new input of chemical species, which maintain both biological and biogeochemical cycles. The main sources of water-soluble elements are oceanic aerosols deposited on the land surface and the weathering of rocks. The airborne input of the trace metals may be ranked as follows for the Spitzbergen island ecosystems (Table 4). 

Section 4.3 sets out the principles underlying the structure of the silicate mineral family. Natural clay deposits are formed by the chemical weathering of rocks -largely as a result of the attack by slightly acidic surface waters. Rainwater,... 

Adsorption influences the reactivity of surfaces. It has been shown that the rates of processes such as precipitation (heterogeneous nucleation and surface precipitation), dissolution of minerals (of importance in the weathering of rocks, in the formation of soils and sediments, and in the corrosion of structures and metals), and in the catalysis and photocatalysis of redox processes, are critically dependent on the properties of the surfaces (surface species and their strucutral identity). 

The geochemical fate of most reactive substances (trace metals, pollutants) is controlled by the reaction of solutes with solid surfaces. Simple chemical models for the residence time of reactive elements in oceans, lakes, sediment, and soil systems are based on the partitioning of chemical species between the aqueous solution and the particle surface. The rates of processes involved in precipitation (heterogeneous nucleation, crystal growth) and dissolution of mineral phases, of importance in the weathering of rocks, in the formation of soils, and sediment diagenesis, are critically dependent on surface species and their structural identity. 

Clay mineral A layered aluminosilicate, such as kaolinite, dUte, chlorite, and montmordlonite. Most are formed by chemical weathering of rocks on land. 

The arguments treated in the two preceding sections were developed in terms of simple equilibrium thermodynamics. The weathering of rocks at the earth s surface by the chemical action of aqueous solutions, and the complex water-rock interaction phenomena taking place in the upper crust, are irreversible processes that must be investigated from a kinetic viewpoint. As already outlined in section 2.12, the kinetic and equilibrium approaches are mutually compatible, both being based on firm chemical-physical principles, and have a common boundary represented by the steady state condition (cf eq. 2.111). 

Academic press Rates of Chemical Weathering of Rocks Minerals (Colman Dethier, eds.), Eggleton, 21-40, copyright (1986) Academic press J. Solid. State Chem. 139, Tronc et al., 93-104, copyright (1998) Academic press J. Coll. Int. Sci.,... 

The lateritic hydrous nickel silicate ores are formed by the weathering of rocks rich in iron and magnesium in humid tropical areas. The repeated processes of dissolution and precipitation lead to a uniform dispersal of the nickel that is not amenable to concentration by physical means therefore, these ores are concentrated by chemical means such as leaching. Fateritic ores are less well defined than sulfide ores. The nickel content of lateritic ores is similar to that of sulfide ore and typically ranges from 1% to 3% nickel. Important lateritic deposits of nickel are located in Cuba, New Caledonia, Indonesia, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, and Brazil. Fossil nickeliferous laterite... 

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