Links between physical and chemical weathering inferred from a 65-m-deep borehole through Earth's critical zone.

ABSTRACT: As bedrock weathers to regolith - defined here as weathered rock, saprolite, and soil - porosity grows, guides fluid flow, and liberates nutrients from minerals. Though vital to terrestrial life, the processes that transform bedrock into soil are poorly understood, especially in deep regolith, where direct observations are difficult. A 65-m-deep borehole in the Calhoun Critical Zone Observatory, South Carolina, provides unusual access to a complete weathering profile in an Appalachian granitoid. Co-located geophysical and geochemical datasets in the borehole show a remarkably consistent picture of linked chemical and physical weathering processes, acting over a 38-m-thick regolith divided into three layers: soil; porous, highly weathered saprolite; and weathered, fractured bedrock. The dat

SUBMITTER: Holbrook WS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6418305 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature