The role of parent lithology in nanoscale clay-mineral transformations in a subtropical monsoonal climate
-
Lulu Zhao
,
Hanlie Hong
Abstract
Clay minerals are among the most important reactive components of soil systems, acting as a bridge linking organic and inorganic components. Lithology is a key factor in clay-mineral genesis and transformation, yet it has received scant attention to date at the nanoscale. Inferences regarding pedogenic clay-mineral transformations based on X-ray diffraction (XRD) are sometimes speculative, whereas mineralogic relationships documented by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) are more robust due to direct evidence from lattice-fringe observations. In this contribution, the mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of four soils derived from different parent rock types (a gneiss, an Fe-rich siltstone, a sandstone, and a dolostone) from subtropical China were determined using HRTEM, XRD, and geochemical elemental data. The predominance of 2:1 clay minerals and kaolinite in the investigated soils is typical of subtropical climatic settings. Lattice-fringe images suggest the prevalence of topotactic transformations during clay-mineral alteration. Two distinct alteration pathways were observed in the investigated soils, one starting with chlorite and the other with illite, with convergence of mineralogic compositions toward kaolinite and crystalline iron and aluminum (oxyhydr)oxides. In the early stages of weathering, chlorite transformed into expandable clays through a continuous, solid-state mechanism with corrensite and/or randomly interstratified chlorite-vermiculite/chlorite-smectite as intermediate products. Unlike chlorite, which tends to form a 1:1 regularly interstratified phase, the weathering of illite commonly starts at layer edges. Under subtropical monsoonal climates, the precursor minerals in host rocks and aeolian materials determine the starting composition and, to a certain extent, the trajectory of clay-mineral transformation over time. With advanced weathering, mineralogic convergence toward kaolinite and Fe/Al-(oxyhydr)oxides tends to obscure the initial substrate composition. This study advances our understanding of the role of parent lithology in clay-mineral evolution at the nanoscale.
Funding statement: This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (42002042, 41972040, 42172045, and 42102031), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2020M672440), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) (No. CUG170106), and National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFF0504000).
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Pengtao Yang, Li Chen, Qian Fang, Chen Liu, and Yanlong Dong for field and laboratory assistance. We also thank the editor Lindsay J. McHenry and the anonymous reviewers for their suggestions and constructive comments that substantially improved the manuscript.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Experimental study of apatite-fluid interaction and partitioning of rare earth elements at 150 and 250 °C
- Assimilation of xenocrystic apatite in peraluminous granitic magmas
- Cathodoluminescence of iron oxides and oxyhydroxides
- The effect of elemental diffusion on the application of olivine-composition-based magmatic thermometry, oxybarometry, and hygrometry: A case study of olivine phenocrysts from the Jiagedaqi basalts, northeast China
- Characterization of nano-minerals and nanoparticles in supergene rare earth element mineralization related to chemical weathering of granites
- Atomic-scale interlayer friction of gibbsite is lower than brucite due to interactions of hydroxyls
- The spatial and temporal evolution of mineral discoveries and their impact on mineral rarity
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- Microstructural changes and Pb mobility during the zircon to reidite transformation: Implications for planetary impact chronology
- Thermal equation of state of ice-VII revisited by single-crystal X-ray diffraction
- Empirical electronic polarizabilities for use in refractive index measurements at 589.3 nm: Hydroxyl polarizabilities
- High-pressure behavior of 3.65 Å phase: Insights from Raman spectroscopy
- High-pressure phase transition and equation of state of hydrous Al-bearing silica
- Memorial of Maryellen Cameron (1943−2022)
- New Mineral Names
Articles in the same Issue
- Experimental study of apatite-fluid interaction and partitioning of rare earth elements at 150 and 250 °C
- Assimilation of xenocrystic apatite in peraluminous granitic magmas
- Cathodoluminescence of iron oxides and oxyhydroxides
- The effect of elemental diffusion on the application of olivine-composition-based magmatic thermometry, oxybarometry, and hygrometry: A case study of olivine phenocrysts from the Jiagedaqi basalts, northeast China
- Characterization of nano-minerals and nanoparticles in supergene rare earth element mineralization related to chemical weathering of granites
- Atomic-scale interlayer friction of gibbsite is lower than brucite due to interactions of hydroxyls
- The spatial and temporal evolution of mineral discoveries and their impact on mineral rarity
- The role of parent lithology in nanoscale clay-mineral transformations in a subtropical monsoonal climate
- Discovery of terrestrial andreyivanovite, FeCrP, and the effect of Cr and V substitution on the low-pressure barringerite-allabogdanite transition
- Microstructural changes and Pb mobility during the zircon to reidite transformation: Implications for planetary impact chronology
- Thermal equation of state of ice-VII revisited by single-crystal X-ray diffraction
- Empirical electronic polarizabilities for use in refractive index measurements at 589.3 nm: Hydroxyl polarizabilities
- High-pressure behavior of 3.65 Å phase: Insights from Raman spectroscopy
- High-pressure phase transition and equation of state of hydrous Al-bearing silica
- Memorial of Maryellen Cameron (1943−2022)
- New Mineral Names
