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The Recognition of Amorphous Silica in Indurated Soil Profiles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

Balbir Singh  and
R. J. Gilkes
Balbir Singh
Affiliation:
Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, School of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, 6009, Australia
R. J. Gilkes
Affiliation:
Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, School of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, 6009, Australia
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Abstract

Silica-indurated subsurface horizons of an in situ lateritic profile in semi-arid western Australia were investigated using a range of electron-optical and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. These indurated materials were compared with underlying non-indurated pallid zone material. The secondary silica content of the indurated horizons, as determined by electron microprobe analysis, varied from 8 to 33%. Quantitative digital images for secondary silica, generated by mathematical manipulation of digital Si and AI-Kα: images, showed that kaolinite pseudomorphs after mica contained the lowest amounts of secondary silica, with the highest amounts being present in the inter-pseudomorph clay matrix. Variations in the amount of silica in the matrix are considered to reflect variations in the initial porosity of the clay matrix. Such variations may arise from differences in the Al/Si ratio of parent minerals. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that amorphous silica adhered to the (001) face of kaolinite crystals. The secondary silica could not be detected by either standard or differential XRD procedures.

Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 28 , Issue 3 , September 1993 , pp. 461 - 474
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1993

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