Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T15:54:03.589Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Hornblende etching and quartz/feldspar ratios as weathering and soil development indicators in some Michigan soils

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Leslie R. Mikesell ,
Randall J. Schaetzl  and
Michael A. Velbel
Leslie R. Mikesell
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 United States
Randall J. Schaetzl*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1115, United States
Michael A. Velbel
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 United States
*
*Corresponding author. Department of Geography, Michigan State University, 314 Natural Science Building, East Lansing, MI 48824-1115. Fax: +1 517 432 1671. E-mail address:[email protected](R.J. Schaetzl).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Weathering can be used as a highly effective relative age indicator. One such application involves etching of hornblende grains in soils. Etching increases with time (duration) and decreases with depth in soils and surficial sediments. Other variables, related to intensity of weathering and soil formation, are generally held as constant as possible so as to only minimally influence the time–etching relationship. Our study focuses on one of the variables usually held constant–climate–by examining hornblende etching and quartz/feldspar ratios in soils of similar age but varying degrees of development due to climatic factors. We examined the assumption that the degree of etching varies as a function of soil development, even in soils of similar age. The Spodosols we studied form a climate-mediated development sequence on a 13,000-yr-old outwash plain in Michigan. Their pedogenic development was compared to weathering-related data from the same soils. In general, soils data paralleled weathering data. Hornblende etching was most pronounced in the A and E horizons, and decreased rapidly with depth. Quartz/feldspar ratios showed similar but more variable trends. In the two most weakly developed soils, the Q/F ratio was nearly constant with depth, implying that this ratio may not be as effective a measure as are etching data for minimally weathered soils. Our data indicate that hornblende etching should not be used as a stand-alone relative age indicator, especially in young soils and in contexts where the degree of pedogenic variability on the geomorphic surface is large.

Keywords

Relative age datingSoil developmentHornblendeQuartz/feldspar ratiosSurface exposure datingSpodosols
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 62 , Issue 2 , September 2004 , pp. 162 - 171
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, B.L., Hajek, B.F., (1989). Mineral occurrence in soil environments. Dixon, J.B., Weed, S.B., Minerals in Soil Environments second ed. Soil Science Society of America vol. 1, Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI., 199–264.Google Scholar
April, R., Newton, R., Coles, L.T., (1986). Chemical weathering in two Adirondack watersheds: past and present-day rates. Geological Society of America Bulletin 97, 1232–1238.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrett, L.R., Schaetzl, R.J., (1992). An examination of podzolization near Lake Michigan using chronofunctions. Canadian Journal of Soil Science 72, 527–541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrett, L.R., Schaetzl, R.J., (1993). Soil development and spatial variability on geomorphic surfaces of different age. Physical Geography 14, 39–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berner, R.A., Schott, J., (1982). Mechanism of pyroxene and amphibole weathering: II. Observations of soil grains. American Journal of Science 282, 1214–1231.Google Scholar
Berner, R.A., Sjöberg, E.L., Velbel, M.A., Krom, M.D., (1980). Dissolution of pyroxenes and amphiboles during weathering. Science 207, 1205–1206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blackburn, W.H., Dennen, W.H., (1988). Principles of Mineralogy. Wm.C. Brown Publishers, Dubuque, IA., 413 pp.Google Scholar
Blewett, W.L., (1991). Characteristics, correlations, and refinement of Leverett and Taylor's Port Huron Moraine in Michigan. East Lakes Geography 26, 52–60.Google Scholar
Blewett, W.L., Winters, H.A., (1995). The importance of glaciofluvial features within Michigan's Port Huron moraine. Annals of the Association of America Geographers 85, 306–319.Google Scholar
Blewett, W.L., Winters, H.A., Rieck, R.L., (1993). New age control on the Port Huron moraine in northern Michigan. Physical Geography 14, 131–138.Google Scholar
Bockheim, J.G., Marshal, J.G., Kelsey, H.M., (1996). Soil-forming processes and rates on uplifted marine terraces in southwestern Oregon, USA. Geoderma 73, 39–62.Google Scholar
Cremeens, D.L., Darmody, R.G., Norton, L.D., (1992). Etch-pit size and shape distribution on orthoclase and pyriboles in a loess catena. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 56, 3423–3434.Google Scholar
Dorronsoro, C., Alonso, P., (1994). Chronosequence in Almar River fluvial-terrace soil. Soil Science Society of America Journal 58, 910–925.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dreimanis, G.H., Reavely, G.H., Cook, R.J.B., Knox, K.S., Moretti, F.J., (1957). Heavy mineral studies in till of Ontario and adjacent areas. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 27, 148–161.Google Scholar
Dworkin, S.I., Larson, G.J., Monaghan, G.W., (1985). Late Wisconsinan ice-flow reconstruction for the central Great Lakes region. Canadian Journal of Earth Science 22, 935–940.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eichenlaub, V.L., Harman, J.R., Nurnberger, F.V., Stolle, H.J., (1990). The Climatic Atlas of Michigan. Univ. Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, IN., 165 pp.Google Scholar
Farrand, W.R., Bell, D.L., (1982). Quaternary Geology (map) of Southern Michigan with surface water drainage divides. 1:500,000 scale. Department of Natural Resources, Geol. Survey Division, Lansing, MI.Google Scholar
Hall, R.D., Horn, L.L., (1993). Rates of hornblende etching in soils in glacial deposits of the northern Rocky Mountains (Wyoming–Montana, U.S.A.): influence of climate and characteristics of the parent material. Chemical Geology 105, 17–29.Google Scholar
Hall, R.D., Martin, R.E., (1986). The etching of hornblende grains in the matrix of alpine tills and periglacial deposits. Colman, S.M., Dethier, D.P., Rates of Chemical Weathering of Rocks and Minerals Academic Press, Inc., Orlando, FL., 101–128.Google Scholar
Hall, R.D., Michaud, D., (1988). The use of hornblende etching, clast weathering, and soils to date alpine glacial and periglacial deposits: a study from southwestern Montana. Geological Society of America Bulletin 100, 458–467.Google Scholar
Isard, S.A., Schaetzl, R.J., (1995). Estimating soil temperatures and frost in the lake effect snowbelt region, Michigan, USA. Cold Regions Science Techology 23, 317–332.Google Scholar
Jackson, M.L., Lim, C.H., Zelazny, L.W., (1986). Oxides, hydroxides, and aluminosilicates. Klute, A., Methods of Soil Analysis: Part 1. Physical and Mineralogical Methods. SSSA Book Series vol. 9(1), SSSA and ASA, Madison, WI., 101–150.Google Scholar
Jenny, H., (1941). Factors of Soil Formation. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY., 281 pp.Google Scholar
Lång, L.-O., (2000). Heavy mineral weathering under acidic soil conditions. Applied Geochemistry 15, 415–423.Google Scholar
Locke, W.W. III, (1979). Etching of hornblende grains in Arctic soils: an indicator of relative age and paleoclimate. Quaternary Research 11, 197–212.Google Scholar
Locke, W.W. III, (1986). Rates of hornblende etching in soils on glacial deposits, Baffin Island, Canada. Colman, S.M., Dethier, D.P., Rates of Chemical Weathering of Rocks and Minerals Academic Press, Orlando, FL., 129–145.Google Scholar
Loeppert, R.H., Inskeep, W.P., (1996). Iron. Bartels, J.M., Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 3. Chemical Methods. SSSA Book Series vol. 5(3), SSSA and ASA, Madison, WI., 639–663.Google Scholar
Lundström, U.S., van Breemen, N., Bain, N., (2000). The podzolization process: a review. Geoderma 94, 91–107.Google Scholar
McKeague, J.A., (1967). An evaluation of 0.1 M pyrophosphate and pyrophosphate–dithionite in comparison with oxalate as extractants of the accumulation products in podzols and some other soils. Canadian Journal of Soil Science 47, 95–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKeague, J.A., Day, J.H., (1966). Dithionite- and oxalate-extractable Fe and Al as aids in differentiating various classes of soils. Canadian Journal of Soil Science 46, 13–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Messenger, A.S., Whiteside, E.P., Wolcott, A.R., (1972). Climate, time, and organisms in relation to Podzol development in Michigan sands: I. Site descriptions and microbiological observations. Soil Science Society of America Proceedings 36, 633–638.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mikesell, L.R., (2002). Hornblende etching as an indicator of soil development and relative weathering among Spodosols.. MS thesis, Michigan State University.Google Scholar
Mokma, D.L., Vance, G.F., (1989). Forest vegetation and origin of some spodic horizons, Michigan. Geoderma 43, 311–324.Google Scholar
Muhs, D.R., (1982). A soil chronosequence on Quaternary marine terraces, San Clemente Island, California. Geoderma 28, 257–283.Google Scholar
Nebsitt, H.W., Markovics, G., (1997). Weathering of granodioritic crust, long-term storage of elements in weathering profiles, and petrogenesis of siliciclastic sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 61, 1653–1670.Google Scholar
Norton, D.C., Bolsenga, S.J., (1993). Spatiotemporal trends in lake effect and continental snowfall in the Laurentian Great Lakes, 1951–1980. Journal of Climate 6, 1943–1956.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parfitt, R.L., Childs, C.W., (1988). Estimation of forms of Fe and Al: a review, and analysis of contrasting soils by dissolution and Moessbauer methods. Australian Journal of Soil Research 26, 121–144.Google Scholar
Ross, G.J., Wang, C., (1993). Extractable Al, Fe, Mn, and Si. Carter, M.R., Soil Sampling and Methods of Analysis Canadian Society of Soil Science, Boca Raton, FL., 239–246.Google Scholar
Ruhe, R.V., (1956). Geomorphic surfaces and the nature of soils. Soil Science 82, 441–455.Google Scholar
Ruhe, R.V., Daniels, R.B., Cady, J.G., (1966). Landscape evolution and soil formation in southwestern Iowa. Technical Bulletin-United States Department of Agriculture 1349, 242 pp.Google Scholar
Schaetzl, R.J., (2002). A Spodosol–Entisol transition in northern Michigan: climate or vegetation?. Soil Science Society of America Journal 66, 1272–1284.Google Scholar
Schaetzl, R.J., Isard, S.A., (1991). The distribution of spodosol soils in southern Michigan: a climatic interpretation. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 81, 425–442.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaetzl, R.J., Isard, S.A., (1996). Regional-scale relationships between climate and strength of podzolization in the Great Lakes region, North America. Catena 28, 47–69.Google Scholar
Schaetzl, R.J., Mokma, D.L., (1988). A numerical index of podzol and podzolic soil development. Physical Geography 9, 232–246.Google Scholar
Soil Survey Division Staff(1993). Soil Survey Manual. USDA Handbook vol. 18, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC., 437 pp.Google Scholar
Soil Survey Laboratory Staff(1996). Soil survey laboratory methods manual. USDA-SCS, National Soil Survey Center. Soil Survey Investigations Report. 42, Version 3.0. National Soil Survey Center, Lincoln, NE.Google Scholar
Soller, D.R., Owens, J.P., (1991). The use of mineralogic techniques as relative age indicators for weathering profiles on the Atlantic Coastal Plain, USA. Geoderma 51, 111–131.Google Scholar
Ugolini, F.C., Minden, R., Dawson, H., Zachara, J., (1977). An example of soil processes in the Abies amabilis zone of central Cascades, Washington. Soil Science 124, 291–302.Google Scholar
Van der Plas, L., Tobi, A.C., (1965). A chart for judging the reliability of point counting results. American Journal of Science 263, 87–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Velbel, M.A., (1987). Rate-controlling factors in the weathering of some ferromagnesian silicate minerals. Transactions, 13th Congress of the International Society of Soil Science, Hamburg, Germany vol. 6, 1107–1118.Google Scholar
Velbel, M.A., (1989). Weathering of hornblende to ferruginous products by a dissolution–reprecipitation mechanism: Petrography and stoichiometry. Clays and Clay Minerals 37, 515–524.Google Scholar
Velbel, M.A., (1993). Formation of protective surface layers during silicate–mineral weathering under well-leached, oxidizing conditions. American Mineralogist 78, 405–414.Google Scholar
White, A.F., Brantley, S.L., (1995). Reviews in Mineralogy. Chemical Weathering Rates of Silicate Minerals vol. 31, Mineralogical Society of America, Washington, DC., 583 pp.Google Scholar