Micromorphological Evidences of Basalt and Volcanic Glass Weathering in Semi-arid Soils of Middle Alborz

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor Soil Science Department, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, College of Agriculture and Natural Resource, University of Tehran, Karaj-Iran

2 Professor, Soil Science Department, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, College of Agriculture and Natural Resource, University of Tehran, Karaj-Iran

3 MSc Student Soil Science Department, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, College of Agriculture and Natural Resource, University of Tehran, Karaj-Iran

Abstract

As regards Iran is covered by many arid and semi-arid regions, the formation of soil-pedogenic features are very important and effective to have a better understanding of the topics of the soil sciences in these regions. Parent material is one of the main factors controlling soil properties in arid and semiarid regions. Basalt and volcanic glass are among igneous rocks that contain minerals susceptible to weathering minerals. Their weathering products are deposited as secondary minerals and different cations in the soil and the consumption of weathering products accelerate the weathering, soil formation and evolution during these processes. In this study, morphological and physicochemical properties of eight soil profiles formed on basalt rocks in semiarid region of middle Alborz were investigated and micromorphological properties were studied in six thin sections. Micromorphological observations showed different evidences of the occurrence of weathering processes. Formation of hypocoating and nodules of iron oxide and manganese, cubic microstructure and its evolution in different soils from semi-angular to angular cubic, layered clayey clusters indicating periodic deposition of this. Also, the layers were in favorable conditions, and the formation of a variety of pedogenic carbonate effects such as nodules, coating and hypocoating, cavities filled by micritic and sparite crystals were suggested alternating dry and wet periods, and the effect of these periods on progresses in weathering processes. One of the unanticipated consequences in the micromorphological study was the large volume of clay produced in some soil profiles due to the greater weathering intensity of volcanic glass.

Keywords

References

Abbasnejad, A.  (2005) Soil science for geologists. Shahid Bahonar University publication, Kerman.
Birkeland, P. W. (1999) Soils and Geomorphology (3th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Buol, S. W., Southard, R. J., Graham, R. C. and McDaniel, P. A. (2011) Soil Genesis and Classification (6th ed.). New York: Wiley.  
Caner, L., Radtke, L. M., Vignol-Lelarge, M. L., Inda, A. V., Bortoluzzi, E. C. and Mexias, A. S. (2014). Basalt and rhyo-dacite weathering and soil clay formation under subtropical climate in southern Brazil. Geoderma. 235-236: 100-112.
Carter, M. R., and Gregorich, E. G. (2008) Soil Sampling and Methods of Analysis (2nd ed.). Canadian Society of Soil Science.
Caspari, T., Bäumler, R., Norbu, C., Tshering, K. and Baillie, I. (2006). Geochemical investigation of soils developed in different lithologies in Bhutan, Eastern Himalayas. Geoderma. 136(1-2): 436-458.
Cecilia, J. A., Autie-Pérez, M. A., Labadie-Suarez, J. M., Castellón, E. R., and Molina, A. I. (2018) Volcanic Glass and its Uses as Adsorbent. Volcanoes: Geological and Geophysical Setting, Theoretical Aspects and Numerical Modeling, Applications to Industry and Their Impact on the Human Health, 239.
Chen, H., Liu, X. M., and Wang, K. (2020). Potassium isotope fractionation during chemical weathering of basalts. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 539, 116192.
Chorover, J, Amistadi, M. K, and Chadwick, O. A. (2004). Surface charge evolution of mineral-organic complexes during pedogenesis in Hawaiian basalt. Geochimical Cosmochimistry Acta. 68(23): 4859-4876.
Churchman, G. J., and Lowe, D. J. (2012) Alteration, formation, and occurrence of minerals in soils (pp. 1-72). CRC press.
De Melo, M. T. C., Shandilya, R. N., Silva, J. B. P., and Postma, D. (2020). Volcanic glass leaching and the groundwater geochemistry on the semi-arid Atlantic island of Porto Santo. Applied Geochemistry. 114, 104470.
Dessert, C., Dupre, B., Gaillardet, J., Francois, L. M. and Allegre, C. J. (2003). Basalt weathering laws and the impact of basalt weathering on the global carbon cycle. Chemical Geology. 202(3-4), 257-273.
Ghasemi, H., Teymouri S. and Asiabanha, A. (2012). Geochemistry, Tectonic setting and Petrogenesis of Jirandeh Volcanic Rocks, North-West of Qazvin, Quarterly Iranian Journal of Geology. 22: 17-33.
Gunal, H., and Ransom, M. D. (2006). Clay illuviation and calcium carbonate accumulation along a precipitation gradient in Kansas. Catena. 68(1), 59-69.
Hassannezhad, H., Pashaee, A., Khormali, F., and Mohammadian, M. (2007). The effect of soil moisture regime conditions and rice plantation on mineralogical properties of paddy soils in Amol region, Mazandaran province. 10th Iranian Soil Science congress, Karaj. (In Farsi).
Heidari, A., and Sahebjalal, E. (2011) Guidelines for Analysis and Description of Soil and Regolith thin Section, (by Stoops, G), University of Tehran Press, 278p. (In Farsi)
Karlstrom, E. T., Oviatt, C. G., and Ransom, M. D. (2008). Paleoenvironmental interpretation of multiple soil–loess sequence at Milford Reservoir, northeastern Kansas. Catena. 72(1), 113-128.
Kemp, R. A., Toms, P. S., Sayago, J. M., Derbyshire, E., King, M. and Wagoner, L. (2003). Micromorphology and OSL Dating of the basal part of the loessosol sequence at La Mesada in Tucuman province, Northwest Argentina, Quaternary International. 106: 111- 117.
Khademi, H. and A.R. Mermut, (2003). Micromorphology and classification of Argids and associated gypsiferous Aridisols from central Iran. Catena. 54: 439-455.
Khormali, F., Abtahi, A., and Stoops, G. (2006). Micromorphology of calcitic features in highly calcareous soils of Fars Province, Southern Iran. Geoderma. 132: 31-46.
Kunze, G.W., and Dixon, J.B. 1986. Pretreatments for Mineralogical Analysis. P91-100, In: Klute, A. (ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 1, Physical and Mineralogical Methods. 2nd Ed. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, Wisconsin.
Manafi, Sh., and Mahmoodi, Sh. (2005). Micromorphology of pedogenic calcium carbonate accumulation in the part of lands, around Lake Urmia. Iranian Journal of Agricultural Sciences. 36: 6. 1399-1411. (In Farsi)
Manafi, Sh., Mahmoodi, Sh., Sarmadian, F., Heidari, A., and Mariapoch, R. (2008).      Micromorphology of Secondary Calcium Carbonate Coatings in Some Arid and Semiarid Soils in Southern Alborz, Takestan-Iran. Iranian Journal of Soil and Water Research. 39(1): 57-75. (In Farsi)
Mirabella, A., Egli, M., Raimondi, S., and Giaccai, D. (2005). Origin of clay minerals in soils on pyroclastic deposits in the island of Lipari (Italy). Clays and clay minerals. 53(4), 409-421.
Moradi, Z. and Heidari, A. (2011). Micromorphological and Mineralogical Properties of Carbonates in Some Aridisols and Inceptisols. Iranian Journal of Soil and Water Research. 42(2): 279-289. (In Farsi)
Pal, D. K., Srivastava, P., and Bhattacharyya, T. (2003). Clay illuviation in calcareous soils of the semiarid part of the Indo-Gangetic Plains, India. Geoderma. 115(3-4), 177-192.
Raheb, A. R. (2017). The effects of bioclimatological factors on soil organic and inorganic carbon contents in basaltic geological formations. Ph.D. Thesis, College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, University of Tehran. (In Farsi)
Ramos, C. G., Querol, X., Dalmora, A. C., De Jesus Pires, K. C., Schneider, I. A. H., Oliveira, L. F. S., and Kautzmann, R. M. (2017). Evaluation of the potential of volcanic rock waste from southern Brazil as a natural soil fertilizer. Journal of Cleaner Production. 142, 2700-2706.
Sahandi, M. R. and Soheili, M. (2005) Geological map of Iran: scale 1:1000000. Geological Survey of Iran, Tehran.
Scarciglia, F., De Rosa, R., Vecchio, G., Apollaro, C., Robustelli, G., and Terrasi, F. (2008). Volcanic soil formation in Calabria (southern Italy): the Cecita Lake geosol in the late Quaternary geomorphological evolution of the Sila uplands. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 177(1): 101-117.
Soil Survey Staff. (2014) Keys to Soil Taxonomy (12nd ed.). United States Department of Agriculture. NRCS.
Sparks, D. L. (1996) Method of Soil Analysis. Part 3. Chemical Methods. American Society of Agronomy.
Stoops, G. (2003) Guidelines for analysis and description of soil and regolith thin sections. Soil Science Society of America Inc.
Stoops, G., Marcelino, V. and Mees, F. (2010) Interpretation of Micromorphological Features of Soils and Regoliths. Soil Science Society American Madison, WI.
Taylor, M. D., Lowe, D. J., Hardi, P., Smidt, G. A., and Schnug, E. (2016). Comparing volcanic glass shards in unfertilised and fertilised Andisols derived from rhyolitic tephras, New Zealand: evidence for accelerated weathering and implications for land management. Geoderma. 271, 91-98.
Tetsopgang, S., and Fonyuy, F. (2019). Enhancing growth quality and yield of cabbage (Brassica oleracea) while increasing soil pH, chemicals and organic carbon with the application of fines from volcanic pyroclastic materials on a tropical soil in Wum, Northwest Cameroon, Africa. Scientific African, 6, e00199.
Thanachit, S., Suddhiprakarn, A., Kheoruenromne, I. and Gilkes, R. J. (2006). The geochemistry of soils on a catena on basalt at Khon Buri, northeast Thailand. Geoderma. 135: 81-96.
Torabi Gelsefidi, H., Karimian Eghbal, M., Givi, M.J., and Khademi, H. (2001). Clay mineralogy of paddy soils developed on different landforms in the east of Guilan province, Northern Iran. Water Soil Science Journal. 15:1.122-139. (In Farsi).
USDA-NRCS. (2012) Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils. Version 3.0, National Soil Survey Center.
Zamanian, K., Pustovoytov, K., and Kuzyakov, Y. (2016). Pedogenic carbonates: Forms and formation processes. Earth-Science Reviews, 157, 1-17.
Iranian Journal of Soil and Water Research
Volume 52, Issue 2
May 2021
Pages 379-394

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics