Primary Sediment Production from Granitic Rocks in Southeastern Arizona
Author
Acaba, Joseph MichaelIssue Date
1992Keywords
Arizonaclay mineralogy
Arizona
Benson Arizona
biotite
clay mineralogy
clay minerals
Cochise County Arizona
feldspar group
framework silicates
grain size
granodiorites
igneous rocks
mica group
mineral composition
montmorillonite
plutonic rocks
quartz monzonite
sheet silicates
silicates
soil profiles
southeastern Arizona
Texas Canyon
United States
vermiculite
weathering
X-ray diffraction data
Committee Chair
Schreiber, Joseph F., Jr.
Metadata
Show full item recordPublisher
The University of Arizona.Rights
Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Antevs Library, Department of Geosciences, and the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author or the department.Abstract
Isolated granitic rock bodies (granites, granodiorites, quartz monzonites) in the vicinity of Benson in southeastern Arizona were studied to trace the behavior of rock weathering. Thin sections of fresh granites were examined to characterize the original mineralogy which consisted mainly of quartz, feldspars, and micas. The weathering products show up on the granites as grus and soil profiles as well as down slope in the basin deposits. X -ray diffraction studies of the < 2 micrometers fraction of the weathering products proved illite, smectite, illite-smectite mixed layer, and kaolinite to be the dominant clays; quartz and feldspar also persisted into this size fraction. Silt sized material produced similar results. The quartz monzonite of Texas Canyon afforded a special study of the initial weathering stages of feldspars and micas. In the < 2 micrometers fraction obtained from granitic material placed in an ultra sonic bath, the feldspars weathered to a Na-montmorillinite while biotite weathered to vermiculite.Type
textThesis-Reproduction (electronic)
Degree Name
M.S.Degree Level
mastersDegree Program
Graduate CollegeGeosciences