Mineralogical composition of northern Karelia soils, and biotite transformation into opa

Parfenova, Ye. I.

English

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TRANSFORMATION OF BIOTITE INTO OPAL 
I N  THE SOILS OF NORTHERN KARELIA 
Y e .  I. Parfenova, Pedalogical I n s t i t u t e  im. V.  V .  Dokuchayev, 
Academy of Sciences , USSR 
Translat ion of "Zapiski Vsesoyuznogo Mineralogicheskogo Obshchestva 
Series 2 ,  Vol 8 5 ,  pp. 585-586, 1966 
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Microfiche (MF) 6 - c  r PROPULSION MORATORY 
Pasadena, California c2llOS 
October, 1967 ff 663 July 66 
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Y, 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19680005979 2020-03-12T12:04:17+00:00Z
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I .  
TRANSFORMATION OF BIOTITE I N T O  OPAL 
I N  THE SOILS OF NORTHElU KARELIA 
Y e .  I. Parfenova, Pedplogical  I n s t i t u t e  i m .  V. V. Dokuchayev, 
Academy of Sciences,  USSR 
I n  a n  i n v e s t i g a t i o n  of t h e  mine ra log ica l  composition of t h e  upper levels /585* . 
of podzo l i c  s o i l s  of Northern Karelia i t  w a s  found t h a t  b i o t i t e  w a s  transformed 
i n t o  opal .  
Among t h e  mine ra l s  of t h e s e  s o i l s  f a l l i n g  i n t o  t h e  group w i t h  s p e c i f i c  
g r a v i t y  <2.20 are t h e  t r a n s p a r e n t  i s o t r o p i c  lamellae of a n  o p a l  material w i t h  
an index of r e f r a c t i o n  of N = 1.458. The proof t h a t  t h e s e  lamellae are nothing 
but  transformed b i o t i t e  is  t h e  presence of t h e  s a g e n i t i c  l a t t i ce  w i t h  t h e  char- 
acter is t ic  i n t e r s e c t i o n  of t h e  l i n e s  a t  a 60" ang le  bo th  i n  o p a l  lamellae (Fig. 
1) and b i o t i t e  lamellae which have no t  y e t  l o s t  their  o r i g i n a l  p r o p e r t i e s ,  as 
w e l l  as t h e  presence of a number of t r a n s i t i o n a l  forms from b i o t i t e  t o  opal .  
I n  t h e  rock underlying t h e  s o i l  -- 
. .  ..WA .I . . , g r a n i t e  -- t h e  o r i g i n a l  b i o t i t e  i s  o l i v e  
green; i ts  i n d i c e s  of r e f r a c t i o n  are N = " * ,  e.-+-% 
= 1.665 - 1.669, N = 1.610; s p e c i f i c  g ,.' & ". .. I ' .  ., / .  
,' '. . I "  ,\ g r a v i t y  i s  >2.75. 'In t h e  s o i l  t h e  b i o t i t e  
1 .  a': :j s u f f e r s  severe changes; t h e  o l i v e g r e e n  
lamellae are r a r e l y  encountered h e r e  -- 
t h e i r  c o l o r a t i o n  changes t o  brownish yellow 
and they even become c o l o r l e s s .  The 
g r a v a t a t i o n a l  a n a l y s i s  of t h e  s o i l ,  bio- 
t i t e  f a l l s  w i t h i n  t h e  groups whose s p e c i f i c  
g r a v i t y  ranges from >2.75 t o  ~2.20; t h e  
i n d i c e s  of r e f r a c t i o n  of b i o t i t e  from t h e  
s o i l  are always lower than  t h o s e  of t h e  
a s  t h e  s p e c i f i c  g r a v i t y  goes down: from 
N- = 1.654 i n  t h e  f r a c t i o n s  of s p e c i f i c  
* . ,  i 
' ,  I -  
.! 
! 1 s p e c i f i c  g r a v i t y  begins t o  vary -- i n  
$, ..-. 
..- 
, *  
4 '.. . ' . ' .  ,. ;/ :. . --.. .. . ., . J 
, r 
I 
, -  j 
. 1. ' " / \. 
.. L 
.\. . . 
\ I ,  
I. . , 
, . .  L . mineral  from rock, and they  become smaller *. . ' .,' .. 
'. 
--.. I 0  ' -' . 
g 
g r a v i t y  3 - 2.75 and t o  N = 1.458 i n  a F igure  1. Opal L a m e l l a  w i t h  S a g e n i t i c  
Network (Magnification 80).  g 
f r a c t i o n  w i t h  s p e c i f i c  g r a v i t y  K2.20. 
The d e c o l o r i z a t i o n  of b i o t i t e ,  t h e  r educ t ion  of i t s  s p e c i f i c  g r a v i t y ,  and 
t h e  lowering of i ts  index of r e f r a c t i o n  i n d i c a t e  t h a t  during t h e  p rocess  of 
s o i l  formation i t  l o s e s  i r o n  f o r  t h e  most p a r t ,  wh i l e  i t s  f i n a l  conversion i n t o  
o p a l  a l s o  i n d i c a t e s  t h e  l o s s  of a l l  t h e  elements comprising i t  except  Si02 (and 
ri l ) l ) i i i*~!~i~ly pir L: OL chc nluiiiiiiuiia) . 
*Numbers i n  t h e  margin i n d i c a t e  pag ina t ion  i n  t h e  o r i g i n a l  f o r e i g n  t e x t .  
1 
. 
Fur ther  i n v e s t i g a t i o n  made i t  c l e a r  t h a t  i n  many b i o t i t e  lamellae wi th  a 
s p e c i f i c  g r a v i t y  less than  t h e  o r i g i n a l  c h a r a c t e r i s t i c  microorganisms l i k e  fung i  
have developed. 
t h e  b i o t i t e  lamella (Fig. 3 ) .  
t h e s e  columns. 
Thei r  hyphae, i n  growing, form s o l i d  columns c o n s i s t i n g  of 
. rounded and somewhat e longated cel ls  (Fig. 2) p a r t i a l l y  o r  completely covering 
About 25 - 30% of t h e  lamellae are populated by 
The f a c t  t h a t  microorganisms of t h i s  spec ie s  here populate  only b i o t i t e  
lamellae and a r e , n o t  encountered on o the r s  which do no t  con ta in  i r o n  (quar tz ,  
microc l ine ,  p l ag ioc la se )  poss ib l e  i n d i c a t e s  a p a r t i c u l a r  s e l e c t i v e  absorp t ion  of 
i r o n  on t h e i r  p a r t .  
nated on b i o t i t e  may be explained by the comparat ivelybw s t a b i l i t y  of t h i s  
metal, which makes i t  poss ib l e  f o r  microorganisms t o  e x t r a c t  from it the mineral 
n u t r i t i v e  elements which they r e q u i r e  -- potassium above a l l .  
On t h e  o the r  hand, t h e  f a c t  t h a t  they are c h i e f l y  dissemi- 
The ques t ion  of whether t h e  l o s s  of co lo r  by the b i o t i t e  is caused by t h e  
d i r e c t  abso rp t ion  of i r o n  by the  microorganisms can be solved only by s p e c i f i c  
experimentat ion wi th  t h e  inocu la t ion  of a c u l t u r e  on d i f f e r e n t  n u t r i t i v e  media. 
But t h e i r  i n d i r e c t  e f f e c t  is l ikewise  not excluded: l i b e r a t i o n  of i r o n  from t h e  
c r y s t a l  l a t t i c e  of t h e  minera l  may occur wi th  d e s t r u c t i o n  of t h e  l a t t i ce  i n  t h e  
process  of abso rp t ion  of o the r  elements by t h e  microorganisms. Under ac id  s o i l -  
formation condi t ions ,  t h e  i r o n  may d i s s o l v e  and migra te  wi th  n a t u r a l  waters. 
both cases, however, t h e r e  is no doubt t h a t  microorganisms p a r t i c i p a t e  i n  t r ans -  
formation of t h e  mineral .  The f a c t  descr ibed se rves  as new material t o  supple- 
ment t h e  f a m i l i a r  conclusions by 3. B. Polynov as t o  t h e  geologica l  r o l e  of t h e  
organisms (1947, 1953). It is  a l s o  of i n t e r e s t  i n  t h a t  i t  i n d i c a t e s  t o  us one 
more source  f o r  t h e  accumulation of s i l i c a  i n  t h e  upper l e v e l s  of podzol ic  s o i l s  
i n  t h e  form of opa l  as the r e s i d u a l  product of m i c a  breakdown. 
I n  /586 
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' ', 
. ",' 
Figure 2. Gungous Hyphae (Magnifica- F igure  3 .  B i o t i t e  L a m e l l a  Completely 
t i o n  400). Covered wi th  Hyphae (Magnification 80). 
1 ~ 1 S l W Z K N C I ~ ~  
1.. l'o,.l.ynov, 11. 11. " l h t ~ k  Ldaitt; on tlic Gunchls of E luv ia l  S o i l s  i n  t h e  Light  of 
Prcscnt-Day Knowlcdge" i n  t h e  book: On t h e  T h i r t i e t h  Anniversary of t h e  
2 
.- Great October Socialist Revolution (XXX-letiyu Velikoy Oktyabr'skoy 
sotsialisticheskoy revolyutsii). 
Sciences USSR, 1947. 
Questions of Geography (Voprosy geografii), p. 33, 1953. 
Publishing House of the Academy of 
2. Polynov, B. B. "On the Geological Role of Organisms," in the collection: 


Transformation of biotite into opal in the soils of northern Karelia

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