The experimental chemical weathering of silicates

Abstract

Experiments carried out in the author's laboratory on the artificial weathering,: in an open system, of potash felspar, albite, leucite, tre-molite, olivine, sideromelane, muscovite, and clay minerals are reviewed, The results are assessed, and eventually compared on the basis of the amount of SiO2 removed after leaching with 4 1 solvent. The phenomena of weathering are of considerable significance in relation to geochemistry, sediment formation, and soil chemistry. These phenomena can be studied in various ways--for example~ examination of weathering profiles can lead to deductions about the process, or attempts can be made in the laboratory to reproduce the weathering processes of nature. In this paper a report will be given on some such attempts at experimental weathering. In connection with laboratory experiments one can again dis-tinguish between two types--namely, those carried out in an open