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| Author(s): |
Jean Cheyson Barros dos Santos
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | Piracicaba. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC) |
| Defense date: | 2015-08-11 |
| Examining board members: |
Antonio Carlos de Azevedo;
Tiago Osorio Ferreira;
Fabrício de Araujo Pedron;
Valdomiro Severino de Souza Júnior;
Pablo Vidal Torrado
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| Advisor: | Antonio Carlos de Azevedo |
| Abstract | |
The regolith is the mantle of weathering above the rocks. This mantle may consist of three structurally distinct entities denominated sediment, soil and saprolite. All are products of rock weathering. Saprolite is defined as the product of in situ, isovolumetric weathering of the lithotype. Unlike the soils, sediments or rocks, there is no specific science dedicated to the study of saprolite. The saprolihtology does not exist formally. However, it can implicitly be found in scientific papers from around the world. The first chapter of the thesis presents the state of the art of saprolite studies and suggests the consolidation of saprolithology in order to encourage the development of research focused in this entity poorly known. In fact, the processes related to the isovolumetric weathering of rocks are not yet fully understood. In this context, the Pernambuco State in Northeastern Brazil have geomorphological and climatic conditions prone to the study of the saprolite formation and evolution. The second chapter of this thesis demonstrates that the isovolumetric weathering of the thirteen crystalline rocks was more influenced by microenvironmental conditions, such as the water dynamics through the microstructure, than the macro-environmental conditions. Subsequent to isovolumetric weathering, morphological and geochemical differenciation occur during the vertical evolution of regolith. However, it is difficult to differentiate the domains of saprolithogenesis and pedogenesis. The third chapter of the thesis reports the morphological, structural and geochemical evolution of the thirteen profiles formed by soil-saprolite systems derived from the crystalline basement of the Pernambuco State. Anomalies in the weathering measurement indexes showed that the gradual increase in the degree of weathering from the surface horizons towards the subsurface horizons is not the rule for the vertical development of regolito. In addition, the geochemistry and the morphology of the studied profiles indicate that some soil-saprolite systems evolved in an interconnected way and others provide evidence that the formation of saprolite may have occurred after the formation of the overlying soil. During the regolith evolution, soil and saprolite influence key environmental processes. The fourth chapter describes the agricultural and environmental implications of the processes acting in the thirteen profiles described in the third chapter. The results suggest that existing processes in geochemical soil-saprolite systems, such as the mineral carbonation, have influenced the elements flow through the surrounding ecosystem and demonstrate that saprolites have agricultural and environmental importance analogous to soil, influencing processes such as water fluxes, retention and transport of nutrients and/or of contaminants or pollutants. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 12/12711-6 - ATTRIBUTES MORPHOLOGICAL, PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL AND MINERALOGICAL OF SHALLOW SOILS AND SAPROLITE IN THE SEMI-ARID REGION OF THE PERNAMBUCO STATE |
| Grantee: | Jean Cheyson Barros dos Santos |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |