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Weathering assessment in the Achala Batholith of the Sierra de Comechingones, Córdoba, Central Argentina. III: appraising chemical weathering

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Abstract

La Trucha is a small (~ 1.9 km2), mountainous (~ 1300 m a.s.l.) granitic drainage basin, demonstrative of hundreds of second-order basins in the Achala Batholith of the Sierras Pampeanas of Córdoba, Argentina. Dominated by physical weathering and a weathering-limited denudation regime, the coarse- and fine-grained regolith has shown scant geochemical differences with the country rock. Erosion and sediment transport mainly occurs during torrential rain events (austral summer), whereas surface waters classify as dilute (750 < TΣ+ < 375 µeq L−1) or very dilute (375 < TΣ+ < 185 µeq L−1) water types. The dynamics of chemical weathering at La Trucha was approached through the use of major dissolved chemical components, comparing the performance of different methodologies in its assessment: mineral stability diagrams (i.e., chemical equilibria), the RE chemical weathering index, ternary diagrams, and PHREEQC inverse modeling. The latter approach allowed to probe into subtleties of the geochemical processes indicating that, besides the morphological dependency on mineral hydrolysis/dissolution or precipitation, there is a marked seasonal control that promotes or limits the occurrence of geochemical reactions.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (SECYT) and by Argentina’s Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (PIP N° 112-200801-03160 CONICET). The authors wish to acknowledge the personnel of La Domanda inn for their assistance during fieldwork. We thank three anonymous reviewers and the Editor for their constructive comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra (CICTERRA), CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Avenida Vélez Sarsfield 1611, X5016DGA, Córdoba, Argentina

    J. O. Martínez, V. A. Campodonico & S. M. Formica

  2. Academia Nacional de Ciencias, Avenida Vélez Sarsfield 229-249, X5000WAA, Córdoba, Argentina

    P. J. Depetris

Authors
  1. J. O. Martínez
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  2. V. A. Campodonico
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  3. S. M. Formica
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  4. P. J. Depetris
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Correspondence to J. O. Martínez.

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This article is a part of Topical Collection in Environmental Earth Sciences on IV RAGSU—Advances in Geochemistry of the Surface in Argentina, edited by Dr. Americo Iadran Torres and Dr. Pablo Jose Bouza.

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Martínez, J.O., Campodonico, V.A., Formica, S.M. et al. Weathering assessment in the Achala Batholith of the Sierra de Comechingones, Córdoba, Central Argentina. III: appraising chemical weathering. Environ Earth Sci 77, 242 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-018-7417-3

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