Influence of parent rock on soil clay mineralogy and physicochemical properties: a case study from the O’Higgins region, central Chile
Eduardo Navarro-Hasse A , Ursula Kelm B , Oscar Jerez B , Carolina Yáñez C and Alexander Neaman
D *
A
B
C
D
Abstract
Lithology plays a crucial role in soil formation processes, and its interaction with soil properties is closely tied to climatic factors, making regional-scale investigations essential.
This study aimed to investigate the impact of lithology on both clay mineralogy and the physicochemical properties of soils in the O’Higgins region of central Chile.
We examined soils derived from seven distinct rock types: (1) lithic tuff (volcanoclastic, felsic); (2) andesite (volcanic, intermediate); (3) ash tuff (volcanoclastic, felsic); (4) breccia flow (volcanoclastic, intermediate; (5) granite (plutonic, felsic); (6) quartz schist (metamorphic); and (7) muscovite schist (metamorphic). A total of 21 topsoil samples (0–10 cm) and seven rock samples were collected for analysis.
Kaolinite and illite were ubiquitous in all soil samples, whereas smectite and vermiculite were restricted to soils derived from volcanic and volcanoclastic parent materials. Notably, the physicochemical characteristics of the soils converged toward a sandy loam texture with high base saturation levels (>90%).
The parent material exerts a significant influence on the clay mineral composition of soils in the study area. Conversely, the underlying lithology appears to have a negligible impact on the physicochemical properties of the soils in the region.
The findings of this study highlight the need for a more extensive and diverse sampling strategy to elucidate the complex relationships between lithology, soil clay mineralogy, and soil physicochemical properties. A more comprehensive understanding of these interactions can only be achieved through the inclusion of a larger and more representative sample set.
Keywords: Alfisols, central Chile, clay minerals, Inceptisols, lithology, lithosequence, O’Higgins region, phyllosilicates.
References
Andrade GRP, Azevedo ACd, Lepchak JK, Assis TC (2019) Weathering of Permian sedimentary rocks and soil clay minerals transformations under subtropical climate, southern Brazil (Paraná State). Geoderma 336, 31-48.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Arbelo CD, Rodríguez-Rodríguez A, Guerra JA, Mora JL, Notario JS, Fuentes F (2006) Soil degradation processes and plant colonization in abandoned terraced fields overlying pumice tuffs. Land Degradation & Development 17(6), 571-588.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Árkai P, Abad I, Nieto F, Németh T, Horváth P, Kis VK, Judik K, Jiménez-Millán J (2012) Retrograde alterations of phyllosilicates in low-grade metapelite: a case study from the Szendrő Paleozoic, NE-Hungary. Swiss Journal of Geosciences 105, 263-282.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Aspandiar MF, Eggleton RA (2002) Weathering of chlorite: I. Reactions and products in microsystems controlled by the primary mineral. Clays and Clay Minerals 50(6), 685-698.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Bakhshandeh S, Norouzi M, Heidari S, Bakhshandeh S (2014) The role of parent material on soil properties in sloping areas under tea plantation in Lahijan, Iran. Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences 9(3), 159-170.
| Google Scholar |
Beck HE, Zimmermann NE, McVicar TR, Vergopolan N, Berg A, Wood EF (2018) Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution. Scientific Data 5, 180214.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Bertrand S, Fagel N (2008) Nature, origin, transport and deposition of andosol parent material in south-central Chile (36–42°S). CATENA 73(1), 10-22.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Blaser P, Graf Pannatier E, Walthert L (2008) The base saturation in acidified Swiss forest soils on calcareous and noncalcareous parent material. a pH–base saturation anomaly. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 171(2), 155-162.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Bower CA, Reitemeier RF, Fireman M (1952) Exchangeable cation analysis of saline and alkali soils. Soil Science 73(4), 251-262.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Cacciuttolo C, Atencio E (2022) Past, present, and future of copper mine tailings governance in Chile (1905–2022): a review in one of the leading mining countries in the world. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19(20), 13060.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |
Casanova M, Salazar O, Seguel O, Luzio W (2013) ‘The soils of Chile.’ (Springer: Dordrecht) 10.1007/978-94-007-5949-7
Chorover J, Sposito G (1995) Colloid chemistry of kaolinitic tropical soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal 59(6), 1558-1564.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Chorover J, Amistadi MK, Chadwick OA (2004) Surface charge evolution of mineral-organic complexes during pedogenesis in Hawaiian basalt. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 68(23), 4859-4876.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Churchman GJ (2010) Is the geological concept of clay minerals appropriate for soil science? A literature-based and philosophical analysis. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C 35(15–18), 927-940.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Clark JS, Nichol WE (1966) The lime potential – percent base saturation relations of acid surface horizons of mineral and organic soils. Canadian Journal of Soil Science 46(3), 281-285.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Desyatkin RV, Lesovaya SN, Okoneshnikova MV, Zaitseva TS (2011) Palevye (pale) soils of Central Yakutia: genetic specificity, properties, and classification. Eurasian Soil Science 44(12), 1304-1314.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Dill HG (2017) Residual clay deposits on basement rocks: the impact of climate and the geological setting on supergene argillitization in the Bohemian Massif (Central Europe) and across the globe. Earth-Science Reviews 165, 1-58.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Dirección Meteorológica de Chile (2023) Viento Predominante Anual (16 Direcciones). Estación Portezuelo-Codelco (340093). Available at https://climatologia.meteochile.gob.cl/
Ewing SA, Sutter B, Owen J, Nishiizumi K, Sharp W, Cliff SS, Perry K, Dietrich W, McKay CP, Amundson R (2006) A threshold in soil formation at Earth’s arid–hyperarid transition. Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta 70(21), 5293-5322.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Ezzaïm A, Turpault M-P, Ranger J (1999) Quantification of weathering processes in an acid brown soil developed from tuff (Beaujolais, France) part I. formation of weathered rind. Geoderma 87(3–4), 137-154.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Ginocchio R, de la Fuente LM, Sánchez P, Bustamante E, Silva Y, Urrestarazu P, Rodríguez PH (2009) Soil acidification as a confounding factor on metal phytotoxicity in soils spiked with copper-rich mine wastes. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 28(10), 2069-2081.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |
Hailegnaw NS, Mercl F, Pračke K, Száková J, Tlustoš P (2019) Mutual relationships of biochar and soil pH, CEC, and exchangeable base cations in a model laboratory experiment. Journal of Soils and Sediments 19(5), 2405-2416.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Hirata Y, Chigira M, Chen Y (2017) Spheroidal weathering of granite porphyry with well-developed columnar joints by oxidation, iron precipitation, and rindlet exfoliation. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 42(4), 657-669.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Huang C, Zhao W, Liu F, Tan W, Koopal LK (2011) Environmental significance of mineral weathering and pedogenesis of loess on the southernmost Loess Plateau, China. Geoderma 163(3–4), 219-226.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Jeong GY (2000) The dependence of localized crystallization of halloysite and kaolinite on primary minerals in the weathering profile of granite. Clays and Clay Minerals 48(2), 196-203.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Johnson BG, Verburg PSJ, Arnone JA III (2014) Effects of climate and vegetation on soil nutrients and chemistry in the Great Basin studied along a latitudinal-elevational climate gradient. Plant and Soil 382(1), 151-163.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Lagaly G (2006) Colloid clay science. Developments in Clay Science 1, 141-245.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Lessovaia SN, Dultz S, Plötze M, Andreeva N, Polekhovsky Y, Filimonov A, Momotova O (2016) Soil development on basic and ultrabasic rocks in cold environments of Russia traced by mineralogical composition and pore space characteristics. CATENA 137, 596-604.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Lulli L, Bidini D (1980) A climosequence of soils from tuffs on slopes of an extinct volcano in Southern Italy. Geoderma 24(2), 129-142.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Luo Z, Feng W, Luo Y, Baldock J, Wang E (2017) Soil organic carbon dynamics jointly controlled by climate, carbon inputs, soil properties and soil carbon fractions. Global Change Biology 23(10), 4430-4439.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |
Luzio W (1972) Pedogénesis de la toposecuencia Lo Vásquez-Las Rosas. II Análisis químico, granulométrico y mineralógico. Agricultura Técnica 32(2), 57-65.
| Google Scholar |
Matschonat G, Falkengren-Grerup U (2000) Recovery of soil pH, cation-exchange capacity and the saturation of exchange sites from stemflow-induced soil acidification in three Swedish beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research 15(1), 39-48.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Matschonat G, Vogt R (1997) Effects of changes in pH, ionic strength, and sulphate concentration on the CEC of temperate acid forest soils. European Journal of Soil Science 48(1), 163-171.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Matus F, Amigo X, Kristiansen SM (2006) Aluminium stabilization controls organic carbon levels in Chilean volcanic soils. Geoderma 132(1–2), 158-168.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
McGahan DG, Southard RJ, Zasoski RJ (2003) Mineralogical comparison of agriculturally acidified and naturally acidic soils. Geoderma 114(3–4), 355-368.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Molina Ballesteros E, Garcia-Talegon J, Herrero Fernandez H, Iñigo Iñigo AC (2013) Changes of porosity due to weathering in quartzites and slates of a Raña profile (Montes de Toledo, Central Spain). Estudios Geológicos 69(2), 179-191.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Montenegro G, Ginocchio R, Segura A, Keely JE, Gómez M (2004) Fire regimes and vegetation responses in two Mediterranean-climate regions. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 77(3), 455-464.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Navarro-Hasse E, Yáñez C, Neaman A, Pinochet D (2023) The effects of parent rock on soil clay mineralogy and soil physicochemical properties: a review. Idesia (Chile) 41(4), 125-139.
| Google Scholar |
Norambuena VP, Luzio LW, Zepeda O, Stern J, Reinoso F (2011) Preliminary survey of some soils from Chilean altiplano near iquique. Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition 11(2), 62-71.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Pelayo M, Schmid T, Díaz-Puente FJ, López-Martínez J (2022) Characterization and distribution of clay minerals in the soils of Fildes Peninsula and Ardley Island (King George Island, Maritime Antarctica). Clay Minerals 57(3-4), 264-284.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Piquer J, Hermosilla J, Oyarzún N, Cuadra P, Floody R, Troncoso L, Pardo R (2023) Geology and structural evolution of the la huifa ore deposit, Central Chile: a newly discovered porphyry Cu-Mo system in the El teniente district. Economic Geology 118(2), 371-390.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Poppe LJ, Paskevich VF, Hathaway JC, Blackwood DS (2001) A laboratory manual for X-Ray powder diffraction. Open-File Report 01-041. U. S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA. Available at https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/of01-041/index.htm
Regassa A, Van Daele K, De Paepe P, Dumon M, Deckers J, Asrat A, Van Ranst E (2014) Characterizing weathering intensity and trends of geological materials in the Gilgel Gibe catchment, Southwestern Ethiopia. Journal of African Earth Sciences 99, 568-580.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Rich CI, Obenshain SS (1955) Chemical and clay mineral properties of a red-yellow podzolic soil derived from muscovite schist. Soil Science Society of America Journal 19(3), 334-339.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Sangsefidi E, Black PM, Wilson DJ, Larkin TJ (2021) A comparison of weathering process of andesitic UGMs in two quarries in New Zealand. Construction and Building Materials 279, 122422.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Sipos P, Kis VK, Balázs R, Tóth A, Németh T (2021) Effect of pedogenic iron-oxyhydroxide removal on the metal sorption by soil clay minerals. Journal of Soils and Sediments 21(4), 1785-1799.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Soriano-Soto MD, Calvo-Cases A, Boix-Fayos C, Imeson AC (1995) Effect of climate on some soil properties and related thresholds controlling the erosional response of soils in a limestone area. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 20(3–4), 281-286.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Sposito G (2016) ‘The chemistry of soils.’ (Oxford University Press: New York) 10.1093/oso/9780190630881.001.0001
Środoń J (2013) Identification and quantitative analysis of clay minerals. Developments in Clay Science 5, 25-49.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Stolpe N, Undurraga P (2016) Long term climatic trends in Chile and effects on soil moisture and temperature regimes. Chilean Journal of Agricultural Research 76(4), 487-496.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Strawn DG (2021) Sorption mechanisms of chemicals in soils. Soil Systems 5(1), 13.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Sugimori H, Iwatsuki T, Murakami T (2008) Chlorite and biotite weathering, Fe2+-rich corrensite formation, and Fe behavior under low PO2 conditions and their implication for Precambrian weathering. American Mineralogist 93(7), 1080-1089.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Tapia-Gatica J, González-Miranda I, Salgado E, Bravo MA, Tessini C, Dovletyarova EA, Paltseva AA, Neaman A (2020) Advanced determination of the spatial gradient of human health risk and ecological risk from exposure to As, Cu, Pb, and Zn in soils near the Ventanas Industrial Complex (Puchuncaví, Chile). Environmental Pollution 258, 113488.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |
Wang YL, Wang Q, Yuan R, Sheng XF, He LY (2019) Isolation and characterization of mineral-dissolving bacteria from different levels of altered mica schist surfaces and the adjacent soil. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 35(1), 2.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Watanabe T, Hasenaka Y, Hartono A, Sabiham S, Nakao A, Funakawa S (2017) Parent materials and climate control secondary mineral distributions in soils of Kalimantan, Indonesia. Soil Science Society of America Journal 81(1), 124-137.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
White AF, Blum AE, Schulz MS, Vivit DV, Stonestrom DA, Larsen M, Murphy SF, Eberl D (1998) Chemical weathering in a tropical watershed, luquillo mountains, puerto rico: I. long-term versus short-term weathering fluxes. Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta 62(2), 209-226.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Wilkinson JJ, Baker MJ, Cooke DR, Wilkinson CC (2020) Exploration targeting in porphyry Cu systems using propylitic mineral chemistry: a case study of the El Teniente deposit, Chile. Economic Geology 115(4), 771-791.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Wilson MJ (2004) Weathering of the primary rock-forming minerals: processes, products and rates. Clay Minerals 39(3), 233-266.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Wilson SG, Lambert J-J, Nanzyo M, Dahlgren RA (2017) Soil genesis and mineralogy across a volcanic lithosequence. Geoderma 285, 301-312.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Yatno E, Zauyah S (2008) Properties and management implications of soils formed from volcanic materials in Lembang area, West Java. Indonesian Journal of Agricultural Science 9(2), 44-54.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Yu Z, Zhang Y, Sheng H, Zhang L, Zhou Q, Yan X (2020) Composition of clay minerals and their pedogenetic and taxonomic implications for stagnic anthrosols derived from different parent materials in hunan province, China. Journal of Soils and Sediments 20(3), 1558-1570.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Zarin DJ, Johnson AH, Thomas SM (1998) Soil organic carbon and nutrient status in old-growth montane coniferous forest watersheds, Isla Chiloe, Chile. Plant and Soil 201(2), 251-258.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
