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Mineralogy of Soil Profiles: Iredell and Durham Soils from the Piedmont Province of North Carolina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

B. N. Rolfe
B. N. Rolfe*
Affiliation:
U. S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
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Abstract

A comparative study of two soil profiles derived from a biotite-granite and from a metagabbro in the Piedmont Province of North Carolina was made. Intensive weathering of the granite has yielded a soil (Durham) with a clay fraction composed of a kaolinite-halloysite intermediate, mica, and quartz. Restricted weathering of the metagabbro has resulted in a soil (Iredell) with a clay fraction composed of a complex assemblage of chlorite, beidellite, vermiculite, interlayered talc-like minerals, and quartz.

The data indicate that the Durham soil is derived from the severe alteration of a granite and that it represents an advanced stage in soil formation. The Iredell soil has been derived from the less active weathering of a metagabbro and represents a retarded, youthful stage in soil formation. The clay mineral assemblage of the Durham is that of a comparatively stable end product of weathering; that of the Iredell is indicative of a complex, unstable early stage in weathering.

Type
Article
Information
Clays and Clay Minerals (National Conference on Clays and Clay Minerals) , Volume 2: Publication 327, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, October 15-17, 1953 , February 1953 , pp. 183 - 189
Copyright
Copyright © The Clay Minerals Society 1953

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Footnotes

Publication authorized by Director, U. S. Geological Survey.

References

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