Quaternary Paleoclimatic Implications of Soil Clay Mineral Distribution in a Sierra Nevada-Great Basin Transect

Birkeland, Peter W.

doi:10.1086/627436

Cited by 24 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…In general, montmorillonite abundance is greatest in lowprecipitation areas, vermiculite increases with moderate precipitation and then decreases rapidly with increasing precipitation, and kaolinite is most abundant in areas of high precipitation. Birkeland (1969) examined the clay mineralogy of soils along a transect from the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada to the western Great Basin. Norrish (1973) suggests that many soils with large amounts of secondary mica occur in arid environments and have acid parent material because mica is unstable and is a physical weathering product of primary mica.…”

Section: Background Theoretical Models Of Clay Mineral Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, the species are predicted to form within distinct ranges of climate. Unfortunately, field studies have often contradicted these predictions, especially with respect to the climatic conditions under which individual minerals are formed (Barshad 1966;Birkeland 1969). Furthermore, some investigators have found that the parent material type and time (duration of weathering) are more important than climate is in explaining particular clay mineral species (Barnhisel 1977;Birkeland 1984).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Climatic Control of the Geography of Clay Minerals Genesis

Folkoff

Meentemeyer

1987

Annals of the Association of American Geographers

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Concentrations of secondary clay minerals (mica, vermiculite, montmorillonite, chlorite, and kaolinite) in the A horizon of 99 U.S. soils were used in a stepwise regression with climate, parent material, and soil property variables to develop models of the occurrence and abundance of each clay mineral species. Climate-especially water balance estimates of soil water surplus, water deficit, and indicators of seasonality-were especially useful variables. These models correctly predicted the dominant (most abundant) clay minerals for 80 of the 99 sites even though the RZ values for individual clays were modest. Maps of predicted and actual clay dominance are in good agreement. In addition, the models may be used to devise a weathering sequence of clay minerals from least to most stable (i.e., mica < montmorillonite < vermiculite < kaolinite). Weathering sequences based on existing models place vermiculite before montmorillonite. The models in this study suggest that vermiculite with aluminum as the interlaying cation is common in U.S. soils and is formed in a more intense weathering environment than is montmorillonite; vermiculite should therefore follow montmorillonite in the weathering sequence. This result agrees with many field studies and suggests that the generally accepted sequences need additions and revision. Finally these models support geochemical theories that imply that seasonal wetting and drying are important controls of the formation of secondary clay minerals.

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Section: Background Theoretical Models Of Clay Mineral Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatic Control of the Geography of Clay Minerals Genesis

Folkoff

Meentemeyer

1987

Annals of the Association of American Geographers

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“…Halloysite has a broad X-ray diffraction peak at about 7.7 A, which, upon heating to 140 °C for 15 hours, becomes sharper, higher, and shifts to about 7.3-A (Birkeland, 1969). In addition, one of the X-ray traces of this sample contained a low, broad -11.5 A peak that was not affected by heating and might be an allophane peak; allophane is commonly associated with kaolinite and halloysite (Deer and others, 1962).…”

Section: Mordenitementioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrothermal alteration in research drill hole Y-3, Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Bargar¹,

Beeson²

1985

Professional Paper

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“…He found this index to be a good predictor of clay mineral occurrence; however the index is difficult to interpret in terms of physical and chemical processes of clay genesis and persistence. Birkeland (1969) estimated the intensity of weathering along a transect from the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada to the western Great Basin. He compared Arkley's leaching index (1963,1967) which is based on Thornthwaite's potential evapotranspiration, with clay mineral occurrence in each horizon.…”

Section: Climate and Clay Mineral Occurrencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of these, 5 are soils with an argillic B horizon (Argids) which is evidence of a wetter palaeoclimatic episode (Nettleton et al, 1975); four are mollisols or ultisols which have advanced profile characteristics suggesting formation under wetter conditions than presently exist at these sites. Three soils are argiaquolls with a well-developed argillic horizon and clay pan, which has been considered to be evidence of advanced soil profile development due to the age of these soils (Birkeland, 1974). Eight of the 37 misclassified soils appear to be influenced more by parent material than by climate.…”

Section: Misclassijied Sample Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatic control of the assemblages of secondary clay minerals in the A‐horizon of United States soils

Folkoff

Meentemeyer

1985

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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The concentrations (per cent) of secondary clay minerals (mica, vermiculite, montmorillonite, chlorite and kaolinite) in the A-horizon of 99 soil sample sites were entered into a cluster program to determine the common clay mineral assemblages found in U S . soils. Five major assemblages were identified with the most common assemblage consisting of mica, montmorillonite and kaolinite. A suite of climatic variables was determined for each of the 99 sites, including the water balance variables and Arkley's leaching index. A discriminant analysis was then used to predict the occurrence of a clay assemblage from the climate data. Sixty per cent of the sites could be correctly predicted, although not all assemblages could be predicted equally well; two assemblages could be predicted with 88 and 82 per cent accuracy. The precipitation of the wettest month and Arkley's leaching index accounted for most of the predictive power. Thus this study supports theoretical models which suggest that seasonal moisture supply is an important control of clay genesis and persistence. A residuals analysis indicated that many of the palaeosols in the data set and many of the soils from glacial parent materials possessed clay mineral assemblages not expected on the basis of modem climate.

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Quaternary Paleoclimatic Implications of Soil Clay Mineral Distribution in a Sierra Nevada-Great Basin Transect

Cited by 24 publications

References 20 publications

Climatic Control of the Geography of Clay Minerals Genesis

Climatic Control of the Geography of Clay Minerals Genesis

Hydrothermal alteration in research drill hole Y-3, Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Climatic control of the assemblages of secondary clay minerals in the A‐horizon of United States soils

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