mineralogy. Actually, the types of microgranular structure appeared to be mainly related to soil bioturbation by termites and eventually secondarily by ants. Thus, the weak macrostructure and strong microgranular structure of the Latosols studied, the little vertical differentiation of the horizons, and the lack of a clear relationship between their landscape position and parent material characteristics would result from long-term biotic action with high probability.
Mineralogy of the Latosols of the Brazilian Central Plateau remains under discussion in the absence of clear relationship with their age according to their geomorphic location. The aim of this study was thus to clarify the origin the kaolinite and gibbsite content variation by studying a regional toposequence and using data from the literature. Chemical composition and soil color were used to discuss mineralogy. The mineralogy of the clay fraction was also 2 discussed by using X-ray diagrams. Our results showed, that the large variation of kaolinite and gibbsite content can be explained by taken into account both their local and regional location, the variation of the hematite and goethite content remaining limited. The model that is proposed to explain such a variation combines a regional component which is mainly associated to the age of the geomorphic surface and a local component which is mainly associated to the hydraulic conditions along the toposequence.
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