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Mobilization and redistribution of elements in soils developed from extreme weathering basalt on Hainan Island

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Abstract

Major, trace and organic elements of a laterite profile developed on Neogene basalt on Hainan Island, South China were reported to investigate elements mobilization and redistribution in tropical regions. The results indicate that strong acid environment and organic matter (OM) can remarkably improve the transfer of insoluble elements. Among all the elements, Th is the least mobile. As for the general conservative elements during incipient chemical weathering, such as Ti, Zr, Hf and Nb, the removals are up to 30%–40% in the upper profile. And for Fe, Al, Cu and Ni, that tend to be combined with secondary minerals and to be retained in temperate zone, they are removed from the upper profile, transferred downwards, and then precipitated in the lower profile. In addition, atmospheric inputs, including sea salt aerosols and dust, have a profound effect on the budgets of elements that are susceptible to leaching losses (e.g. K, Na and Sr). Excluding the possibilities of groundwater and erosion, the remarkable increase of K, Na and Sr concentrations in the upper profile, together with dramatically upward increasing trends of the percentage changes of Sr/Th, K/Th and Na/Th ratios, show that atmospheric inputs, especially sea salt aerosols, contribute much extraneous seawater derived elements, such as K, Na and Sr to the soils. The overall elemental behaviors in this profile suggest that organic matter and atmospheric inputs play a very important role in the mobilization and redistribution of elements during extreme weathering in tropical regions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Carbon Cycling in Forest Ecosystems and Carbon Sequestration, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forest University, Hangzhou, 311300, China

    Jianwu Li

  2. State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Jianwu Li, Ganlin Zhang & Zitong Gong

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  1. Jianwu Li
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  2. Ganlin Zhang
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Correspondence to Ganlin Zhang.

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Li, J., Zhang, G. & Gong, Z. Mobilization and redistribution of elements in soils developed from extreme weathering basalt on Hainan Island. Chin. J. Geochem. 33, 262–271 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-014-0686-y

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