Home Physical Sciences Formation and transformation of clay minerals influenced by biological weathering in a red soil profile in Yangtze River, China
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Formation and transformation of clay minerals influenced by biological weathering in a red soil profile in Yangtze River, China

  • Yiming Wang ORCID logo , Qian Fang EMAIL logo , Hanlie Hong , Lulu Zhao ORCID logo , Anbei Deng , Ke Yin and Zhong-Qiang Chen
Published/Copyright: December 4, 2025
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Abstract

Organic acids involved in biological weathering exhibit a strong affinity toward aluminum, thereby facilitating mineral decomposition and leading to the preferential loss relative to immobile elements. Consequently, the process impedes the reprecipitation of clay minerals and affects the congruency of mineral weathering and elemental cycling. However, the effects of organic acid-dominated biological weathering on the composition and structure of clay minerals in natural systems, including sediments, sedimentary rocks, and soils, remain unclear. In this study, we focused on a reticulate laterite profile from the middle reach of the Yangtze River in China, which is characterized by distinct redox features. We conducted a detailed investigation into various indicators, including clay mineral content and crystallinity, iron minerals, weathering intensity, weathering congruency, and biotic weathering proxies along the profile. Our findings reveal a gradual decrease in weathering intensity from the bottom to the top of the profile, concomitant with a transition from warm, humid to arid conditions. The clay-mineral characteristics show significant differences between the upper modern soil layer, which is nearly devoid of smectite, and the lower plinthic horizon, which is almost entirely devoid of vermiculite. Enhanced biotic weathering was associated with organic acid-driven congruent weathering, favoring the preservation of illite and inhibiting its transformation into kaolinite. However, in the lower part of the profile, there was no apparent coupling between clay mineral changes and congruent weathering. This observation suggests that different organic acids dominate weathering processes in the upper and lower layers. Moreover, the alkaline environment and frequent wetting and drying cycles in the lower soil layers favored the formation of smectite. Compared with biotic weathering, the transformation of clay minerals showed a closer association with the overall trend in changes in weathering intensity, suggesting that both biotic and abiotic weathering factors influence the genesis and transformation of clay minerals. The influence of biotic weathering on the composition and structure of clay minerals in natural systems could have significant implications for global elemental cycling, warranting further exploration.

Acknowledgments and Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (41930322, 42572402, 42472064, 42172045, and 42102031), National Key Research and Development Program of China (2024YFF0808000), and “CUG Scholar” Scientific Research Funds at China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) (Project No. 2023057 and 2023073). We thank Zhendong Liu and Chen Liu for laboratory assistance.

References Cited

Andrade, G.R.P., Furquim, S.A.C., Nascimento, T.T.V.D., Brito, A.C., Camargo, G.R., and Souza, G.C.D. (2020) Transformation of clay minerals in salt-affected soils, Pantanal wetland, Brazil. Geoderma, 371, 114380, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2020.114380.Search in Google Scholar

Arab, M., Bougeard, D., and Smirnov, K.S. (2002) Experimental and computer simulation study of the vibrational spectra of vermiculite. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 4, 1957–1963, https://doi.org/10.1039/b110768b.Search in Google Scholar

Barré, P. and Velde, B. (2010) Clays developed under sequoia gigantia and prairie soils: 150 years of soil-plant interaction in the parks of French Châteaux. Clays and Clay Minerals, 58, 803–812, https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.2010.0580608.Search in Google Scholar

Beaty, B.J. and Planavsky, N.J. (2021) A 3 b.y. record of a biotic influence on terrestrial weathering. Geology, 49, 407–411, https://doi.org/10.1130/G47986.1.Search in Google Scholar

Berner, R.A., Lasaga, A.C., and Garrels, R.M. (1983) The carbonate-silicate geochemical cycle and its effect on atmospheric carbon dioxide over the past 100 million years. American Journal of Science, 283, 641–683, https://doi.org/10.2475/ajs.283.7.641.Search in Google Scholar

Brantley, S.L. (2008) Kinetics of mineral dissolution. In S. Brantley, J. Kubicki, and A. White, Eds., Kinetics of Water-Rock Interaction, p. 151–210. Springer.Search in Google Scholar

Brantley, S.L., Goldhaber, M.B., and Ragnarsdottir, K.V. (2007) Crossing disciplines and scales to understand the Critical Zone. Elements, 3, 307–314, https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.3.5.307.Search in Google Scholar

Deng, K., Yang, S., and Guo, Y. (2022) A global temperature control of silicate weathering intensity. Nature Communications, 13, 1781, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29415-0.Search in Google Scholar

Ellerbrock, R.H., Höhn, A., and Gerke, H.H. (1999) Characterization of soil organic matter from a sandy soil in relation to management practice using FT-IR spectroscopy. Plant and Soil, 213, 55–61, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004511714538.Search in Google Scholar

Fang, Q., Lu, A., Hong, H., Kuzyakov, Y., Algeo, T.J., Zhao, L., Olshansky, Y., Moravec, B., Barrientes, D.M., and Chorover, J. (2023) Mineral weathering is linked to microbial priming in the critical zone. Nature Communications, 14, 345, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35671-x.Search in Google Scholar

Farmer, V.C. (1974) The Layer Silicates. In V.C. Farmer, Ed., The Infrared Spectra of Minerals, Mineralogical Society Monograph, p. 331–363. Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland.Search in Google Scholar

Finlay, R.D., Mahmood, S., Rosenstock, N., Bolou-Bi, E.B., Köhler, S.J., Fahad, Z., Rosling, A., Wallander, H., Belyazid, S., Bishop, K., and others. (2020) Reviews and syntheses: Biological weathering and its consequences at different spatial levels—from nanoscale to global scale. Biogeosciences, 17, 1507–1533, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1507-2020.Search in Google Scholar

Harris, W.G., Hollien, K.A., Bates, S.R., and Acree, W.A. (1992) Dehydration of hydroxy-interlayered vermiculite as a function of time and temperature. Clays and Clay Minerals, 40, 335–340, https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.1992.0400314.Search in Google Scholar

Hong, H., Gu, Y., Yin, K., Wang, C., and Li, Z. (2013) Clay record of climate change since the mid-Pleistocene in Jiujiang, south China: Climate change since the mid-Pleistocene in Jiujiang, South China. Boreas, 42, 173–183, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3885.2012.00276.x.Search in Google Scholar

Hong, H., Churchman, G.J., Yin, K., Li, R., and Li, Z. (2014) Randomly interstratified illite-vermiculite from weathering of illite in red earth sediments in Xuancheng, southeastern China. Geoderma, 214–215, 42–49, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2013.10.004.Search in Google Scholar

Hong, H., Cheng, F., Yin, K., Churchman, G.J., and Wang, C. (2015) Three-component mixed-layer illite/smectite/kaolinite (I/S/K) minerals in hydromorphic soils, south China. American Mineralogist, 100, 1883–1891, https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2015-5170.Search in Google Scholar

Huang, W.H. and Keller, W.D. (1970) Dissolution of rock-forming silicate minerals in organic acids: Simulated first-stage weathering of fresh mineral surfaces. American Mineralogist, 55, 2076–2094.Search in Google Scholar

Jin, L., Ravella, R., Ketchum, B., Bierman, P.R., Heaney, P., White, T., and Brantley, S.L. (2010) Mineral weathering and elemental transport during hillslope evolution at the Susquehanna/Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 74, 3669–3691, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2010.03.036.Search in Google Scholar

Kahle, M., Kleber, M., and Jahn, R. (2002) Review of XRD-based quantitative analyses of clay minerals in soils: The suitability of mineral intensity factors. Geoderma, 109, 191–205, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7061(02)00175-1.Search in Google Scholar

Leake, J.R., Duran, A.L., Hardy, K.E., Johnson, I., Beerling, D.J., Banwart, S.A., and Smits, M.M. (2008) Biological weathering in soil: The role of symbiotic root-associated fungi biosensing minerals and directing photosynthate-energy into grain-scale mineral weathering. Mineralogical Magazine, 72, 85–89, https://doi.org/10.1180/minmag.2008.072.1.85.Search in Google Scholar

Lepre, C.J. and Olsen, P.E. (2021) Hematite reconstruction of Late Triassic hydroclimate over the Colorado Plateau. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118, e2004343118, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2004343118.Search in Google Scholar

Li, Z., Liu, L., Chen, J., and Teng, H.H. (2016) Cellular dissolution at hypha- and spore-mineral interfaces revealing unrecognized mechanisms and scales of fungal weathering. Geology, 44, 319–322, https://doi.org/10.1130/G37561.1.Search in Google Scholar

Madejová, J. (2003) FTIR techniques in clay mineral studies. Vibrational Spectroscopy, 959 31, 1–10. 960.Search in Google Scholar

Madejová, J., Gates, W.P., and Petit, S. (2017) IR spectra of clay minerals. In W.P. Gates, J.T. Kloprogge, J. Madejová, and F. Bergaya, Eds., Developments in Clay Science, p. 107–149. Elsevier.Search in Google Scholar

Mavris, C., Cuadros, J., Nieto, J.M., Bishop, J.L., and Michalski, J.R. (2018) Diverse mineral assemblages of acidic alteration in the Rio Tinto area (south-west Spain): Implications for Mars. American Mineralogist, 103, 1877–1890, https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2018-6330.Search in Google Scholar

Meunier, A. (2007) Soil hydroxy-interlayered minerals: A re-interpretation of their crystallochemical properties. Clays and Clay Minerals, 55, 380–388, https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.2007.0550406.Search in Google Scholar

Neaman, A., Chorover, J., and Brantley, S.L. (2005) Element mobility patterns record organic ligands in soils on early Earth. Geology, 33, 117, https://doi.org/10.1130/G20687.1.Search in Google Scholar

Smits, M.M. and Wallander, H. (2017) Role of Mycorrhizal Symbiosis in Mineral Weathering and Nutrient Mining from Soil Parent Material. In N. Collins Johnson, C. Gehring, and J. Jansa, Eds., Mycorrhizal Mediation of Soil, p. 35–46. Elsevier.Search in Google Scholar

USDA Soil Survey Staff. (2010) Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Eleventh Edition. pp. 346. USDA.Search in Google Scholar

Sposito, G. (2008) The Chemistry of Soils, 2nd edition, 329 p. Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Taylor, L.L., Leake, J.R., Quirk, J., Hardy, K., Banwart, S.A., and Beerling, D.J. (2009) Biological weathering and the long-term carbon cycle: Integrating mycorrhizal evolution and function into the current paradigm. Geobiology, 7, 171–191, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1472-4669.2009.00194.x.Search in Google Scholar

Warr, L.N. (2022) Earth’s clay mineral inventory and its climate interaction: A quantitative assessment. Earth-Science Reviews, 234, 104198, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2022.104198.Search in Google Scholar

Wilson, M.J. (2004) Weathering of the primary rock-forming minerals: Processes, products and rates. Clay Minerals, 39, 233–266, https://doi.org/10.1180/0009855043930133.Search in Google Scholar

Yin, K., Hong, H., Churchman, G.J., Li, R., Li, Z., Wang, C., and Han, W. (2013) Hydroxy-interlayered vermiculite genesis in Jiujiang late-Pleistocene red earth sediments and significance to climate. Applied Clay Science, 74, 20–27, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2012.09.017.Search in Google Scholar

Yin, K., Hong, H., Churchman, G.J., Li, Z., and Fang, Q. (2018) Mixed-layer illite-vermiculite as a paleoclimatic indicator in the Pleistocene red soil sediments in Jiujiang, southern China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 510, 140–151, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.06.034.Search in Google Scholar

Zhao, L., Fang, Q., Algeo, T.J., Lu, A., Yin, K., Duan, Z., and Hong, H. (2021) Formation of plinthite mediated by redox fluctuations and chemical weathering intensity in a Quaternary red soil, southern China. Geoderma, 386, 114924, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2020.114924.Search in Google Scholar

Zhao, L., Hong, H., Algeo, T.J., Liu, C., and Lu, A. (2022) Fusion of visible near-infrared and mid-infrared data for modelling key soil-forming processes in loess soils. European Journal of Soil Science, 73, e13208, https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.13208.Search in Google Scholar

Zhao, L., Hong, H., Fang, Q., Hei, H., and Algeo, T.J. (2023) Hydrologic regulation of clay-mineral transformations in a redoximorphic soil of subtropical monsoonal China. American Mineralogist, 108, 1881–1896, https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2022-8706.Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2024-04-03
Accepted: 2025-04-17
Published Online: 2025-12-04
Published in Print: 2025-12-17

© 2025 Mineralogical Society of America

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Ertlite, NaAl3Al6(Si4B2O18)(BO3)3(OH)3O, a new mineral species of the tourmaline supergroup
  2. Synthesis of zircon-hafnon to determine oxygen isotope matrix effects in secondary ionization mass spectrometry
  3. Using multimodal X-ray computed tomography to advance 3D petrography: A non-destructive investigation of olivine inside a carbonaceous chondrite
  4. Pre-eruptive characteristics of “suspect” silicic magmas in Carlin-type Au-forming systems
  5. Accurate XANES determination of microscale Fe redox state in clinopyroxene: A multivariate approach with polarization-dependent Fe K-edge XAFS
  6. Apatite geochemistry records crustal anatexis: A case study of metapelites and granitic gneisses from the Cona area in the eastern Himalaya
  7. Formation and transformation of clay minerals influenced by biological weathering in a red soil profile in Yangtze River, China
  8. Mineralogy and precipitation controls on saprolite lithium isotopes during intensive weathering of basalt
  9. Texture and geochemistry of multi-stage hydrothermal scheelite in the Dongyuan porphyry-type W-Mo deposit, South China: Implications for the ore-forming process and fluid metasomatism
  10. Anoxic and iron-rich seawater conditions facilitated reverse weathering: Evidence from the Mesoproterozoic siliceous rocks
  11. The effect of H2O on the crystallization of orthopyroxene in a high-Mg andesitic melt
  12. Bradleyite, Na3Mg(PO4)(CO3), inclusion in diamond: Structure and significance
  13. Revision of Y3+ ionic radii in common minerals based on trace element partitioning
  14. Aqueous fluid drives rhenium depletion in the continental crust
  15. Letter
  16. Synthesis and crystal structure of V-rich tourmaline
Downloaded on 6.3.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.2138/am-2024-9412/html
Scroll to top button