Soils, Plants and Clay Minerals: Mineral and Biologic Interactions

354 Pages·2010·5.966 MB·English

by  Pierre Velde, Pierre Barré (auth.)

Soils, Plants and Clay Minerals
·
Bruce Velde Pierre Barré
Soils, Plants and Clay
Minerals
Mineral and Biologic Interactions
123
Prof.Dr.BruceVelde Dr.PierreBarré
LaboratoiredeGéologie LaboratoiredeGéologie
ÉcoleNormaleSupérieure ÉcoleNormaleSupérieure
24rueLhomond 24rueLhomond
75231Paris 75231Paris
France France
ISBN978-3-642-03498-5 e-ISBN978-3-642-03499-2
DOI10.1007/978-3-642-03499-2
SpringerHeidelbergDordrechtLondonNewYork
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Preface
Thisbookrepresentsarathercomplicatedhistoryofencounters,changesinresearch
interestandsomeveryinterestingresults.Initiallyitistheveryfruitfulinteraction
of Ecology and Geology. The point of view of ecologists is extremely refreshing
forhardsciencepeople.Interactionandinter-relationshipsarethefocusofEcology
whereas the traditional sciences, such as Geology, have tried to isolate the natural
phenomenasothatthyecouldbestudiedinamorerigorousmanner.
The traditionalsciences wereof course natural science –based sincethe world
tobeobservedwasatthedoorstepofeveryone,mountains,weatherpatterns,plants
and so forth. Chemistry and Physics were defined after Mathematics in order to
establish more precise and viable principles of the behavior of the materials that
formedtheworldaroundmankind.Itbecamequiteclearthattheobservationofthe
natural world was too complicated to consider all of the possible variables which
couldaffectanobservedprocessorsituation.Thesystemsweresimplifiedandtaken
intothelaboratoryinordertobettermasterthephenomenaobserved.Physicscon-
cerneditselfwithnon-reactingmaterials,subjectedtoessentiallymechanicalforces.
Chemistrywasgiventhetaskofunderstandingtheinteractionsandtransmutations
of matter according to the affinities of atoms and ions. As it turned out the inter-
actions of electrons was the key to the chemical problem. In these endeavors, the
systems were simplified to better understand the fundamental principles. However
nature remains a multidimensional problem and although great progress has been
madeusingthediscoveriesofChemistryandPhysicstounderstandtheunderlying
principlesofphenomenainnaturalsystems,muchescapesstill.
One of the major problems today in the study of the earth’s surface: contact
between rock, plant and atmosphere, is the understanding of the interactions and
influences possible in this zone of intersection of phenomenological forces. For
example,mostmineralogistsconcernedwithclays,thosesilicatespresentandactive
in the surface zone, feel that the influence of the bio-zone is only negative, one of
destruction and dissolution, being part of the general degradation of silicate mate-
rials by surface interactions. Plants and bio-agents are generally considered to be
classified in the alteration category such as that encountered in the contact of rain
water with rocks. However, numerous, little heard authors have insisted for quite
some time, over a hundred years, that the interactions can be important and trans-
fer of materials from depth to the surface can condition the soil, interaction zone.
v
vi Preface
Plants, minerals, bio-agents such as micorrhize and bacteria all interact to form a
livingcommunity,intheEcologicalsense.
Theinteractionofthesphereoflivingmaterials(plantsandbio-agents)withthe
slowly reacting and stable silicate (rock) material under the influence of climate
(rain)arethesubjectofthisnewapproachtoscienceatthesurfaceoftheearth.
Wewouldliketothankourmanycollaboratorsfortheirenthusiastichelp,from
various parts of China, to the Unites States and Canada and parts of Europe. It is
clearthatScienceisaworldventure,andapleasuretobepartof.
Closer to us, our colleagues in our laboratory and the technical staff without
whichwewouldbemoreorlesshelpless,havebeenagreatinspirationduringthe
preparationofthisbookandthescientificstudiesthathaveleduptoitsexpression.
Nooneisaloneinthiscomplexmodernworld.Wewishtothankallofthosewho
havecontributedtooruefforts.
Paris BruceVelde
PierreBarré
Contents
1 Introduction:ObjectivesandBackground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 TheNeedtoUnderstandthePlant–EarthInterfacein
theFutureWorldofPollution,IncreasedExploitationof
NaturalResourcesandtheQuestofaBio-FriendlySociety . . . . 2
1.2 Understanding How and Where the Plants We Know
TodayOccurandInteractwiththeMineralWorld:The
SettingthatweLiveinTodayanditsHistory . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2.1 ConfigurationoftheSurfaceEnvironmentofthe
Earth:MountainsandClimate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.2 VegetationandClimateTodayandYesterday. . . . . . . . 9
1.2.3 PresentDayContextofPlantBiomes. . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.2.4 Local Variations in the Chemical Context
(Geology)andClimaticVariablesofPlant–SoilInteraction 13
1.2.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.3 AnUnorthodoxbutOperationalDefinitionMineralTypes
andFunctionsforPhyllosilicateClayMinerals . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.3.1 NetworkStructures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.3.2 SubstitutionsandLayerCharge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.3.3 InterlayerIonOccupancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.3.4 IdentificationofPhyllosilicateClayTypes . . . . . . . . . 24
1.3.5 Classificationof2:1Minerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.3.6 IdentificationofSmectitesandIllites . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.3.7 MixedLayerIllite/SmectiteCrystals . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.3.8 IdentificationofSoilHIMinerals(“Vermiculite”) . . . . . 31
1.3.9 PotassiumSaturationandIdentificationof2:1ClayTypes . 31
1.3.10 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
1.4 Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
1.5 KSaturation(1MSolution) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1.5.1 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2 TheSoilProfile:TheStructureofPlant–MineralInteractionSpace 41
2.1 OriginsofAlterationClayMineralFormation . . . . . . . . . . . 41
vii
viii Contents
2.2 SomeFundamentalPrinciplesintheAlterationofaRock
areasFollows: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.2.1 Thermalexpansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.2.2 ChemicalControls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.2.3 BiologicalDegradationofRocksandMinerals . . . . . . . 52
2.2.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
2.3 TheAlteration–SoilProfile:TransformationofRocks
intoClay,SandandOrganicMatterComplexes . . . . . . . . . . 62
2.3.1 TheTransformationofBedrockintoSoilClays . . . . . . 64
2.3.2 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.3.3 TheAlterationProfile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
2.3.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
2.3.5 ThePlant–MineralContinuum,theAHorizon . . . . . . 75
2.4 SoilClassifications:DescriptionsandFactorsAffecting
AlterationProfiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
2.4.1 Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
2.4.2 ResultsofSoilFormingProcessesontheStructure
ofanAlterationProfile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
2.4.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3 Physical Factors Affecting Soil Profiles: The Three
DimensionalAspectofPlant–MineralInteraction:Displacements . 93
3.1 MovementofClayandSoilMaterial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
3.1.1 MovementofClayParticlesWithintheSoilZone:
InternalLossofMaterial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
3.1.2 Erosion of Fine Grained Materials From the
SurfaceandTransportationbyWater . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
3.1.3 SurfaceErosionbyWindActionandConsequent
LoessDeposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
3.1.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
3.1.5 Transportation and Displacement by Mass
MechanicalFailure:LandslidesandSlumps . . . . . . . . 104
3.2 RetentionofSoilsandClayMaterialbyPlants . . . . . . . . . . . 107
3.2.1 SurfaceDisplacementandPlants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
3.2.2 ThePhysicalRoleofRootsinStabilizingAlterationMaterials110
3.3 FixingandAccumulatingClaysintheSurfaceHorizons. . . . . . 119
3.3.1 PlantsasAccumulatorsofSoilMaterials . . . . . . . . . . 119
3.3.2 PlantsandClaysinProfiles:StabilizationandRegeneration 122
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
4 ClayMineralsinSoils:TheInterfaceBetweenPlantsand
theMineralWorld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
4.1 TheSilicateClayMineralTypesPresentinSoils . . . . . . . . . . 129
4.1.1 KaoliniteandHalloysite,1:1Minerals . . . . . . . . . . . 130
4.1.2 The2:1ClayMineralsinSoils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Contents ix
4.1.3 ComplexMixedLayerMinerals(KS):Smectite,
KaoliniteandKaolinite/SmectiteMixedLayerMinerals . . 146
4.1.4 OxidesandHydroxides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
4.1.5 Poorly Crystallized Silicates Imogolite and
Allophone(AllophoneSi–Rich,ImogoliteSi=Al) . . . 150
4.1.6 SomeMineralsFormedandFoundattheSurface
butNotinSoils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
4.2 TheCriticalClays,the2:1ClayMineralsintheAHorizon:
ExamplesinSoilProfilesShowingtheEffectsofPlants
andTheirBio-agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
4.2.1 TreesofDifferentTypes:ConiferandDeciduous . . . . . 156
4.2.2 TreesandPrairies:ContrastsBroughtAboutbyPlantRegime 156
4.2.3 Climate,PlantsandSoilClays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
5 The Chemistry and Mineralogy of Plant
andSoilInteractions:PlantasManipulatorsofTheirEnvironment 171
5.1 SoilPropertiesPertinenttotheProsperityofPlants . . . . . . . . 171
5.1.1 TerrestrialPlantsandPeri-MaritimePlants:AlkaliContent 171
5.1.2 ElementsNeededbyPlants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
5.1.3 ClayMinerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
5.1.4 CationExchangeinSoils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
5.1.5 Role of Clay Minerals in Critical Nutrient
Exchange:PotassiumandAmmonium . . . . . . . . . . . 187
5.2 Organic Matter, Clay Minerals and Soil Aggregation
(WaterResourcesforPlants) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
5.2.1 ClayMineralsandOrganicMoleculesInteractions:
SoilStructureDevelopment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
5.2.2 ConsequencesofClay–OrganicInteractions:Soil
StructureandAggregation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
5.3 PlantsandSoilChemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
5.3.1 PlantCompositionsandChemicalNeeds . . . . . . . . . . 205
5.3.2 Chemical Profiles in Soils and Alterites
EngenderedbyPlantActivityandResultingClayMineralogy 211
5.4 ImpactofPlantsonClayMineralsandSoilFormation
AccordingtoBiomeType . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
5.4.1 PrairieandForestTypeProfiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
5.4.2 ComparingForestandPrairieSoils . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
5.4.3 Successions andSoilPropertiesInfluenced by
ChangeinPlantRegime. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
5.5 MineralElementTransferinSoils:TheTranslocationEffect . . . 231
5.5.1 ChemicalVariabilityasaFunctionofAlterationProfiles . 231
5.5.2 ParametersoftheTranslocationEffect . . . . . . . . . . . 240
5.5.3 ModellingMineralStability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
x Contents
6 ManandAgriculture:ManipulatingSoil–PlantInteractions . . . . 255
6.1 TheAdventureofAgriculture:theManipulationofNature
byMan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
6.1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
6.1.2 HistoryofTraditionalAgricultureinEurope:An
ExampleofSoil–PlantManipulation:Changing
theLandscapeThroughAgriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
6.1.3 SummaryofClassicalFarmingPractice . . . . . . . . . . 272
6.1.4 ScienceandAgriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
6.1.5 TheAmericanExperience:ACounterExampleof
SoilUseintheClassicalPeriod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
6.1.6 ChangeinAgriculturalLandUse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
6.2 EffectsofModernAgricultureonSoilProperties:Organic
andClayMineralChanges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
6.2.1 OrganicMatterandClayContent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
6.2.2 ClayContentofSoils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
6.2.3 TillagePractice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
6.2.4 AgriculturalPracticeandItsResults . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
6.2.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
7 PlantsandSoils:TheEcologicalParadigmofPlantsandClays . . . 305
7.1 Stabilizing2:1Clays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
7.2 PotassiumRetention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
7.3 HumicMatter,SoilAggregatesandWaterPotential . . . . . . . . 310
7.4 ModellingChemicalStability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
7.5 RootsandLandscapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
7.6 NewPathways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
AnnexA
Simplified Methods for the Interpretation of X-Ray
DiffractionDiagramsofSoilClayAssemblages . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
AnnexIX-rayDiffractionDiagramsofSoilClayAssemblages
andaSimplifiedMethodoftheirInterpretation . . . . . . . . . . 315
DecompositionMethods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
SomeFundamentalConceptsofDecompositionTechniques . . 317
AnnexIIIdentificationoftheMajorGroupsofClayMinerals . . . . . . 329
MajorMineralTypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
Inter-LayeringofStructuralTypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Chapter 1
Introduction: Objectives and Background
Contents
1.1 TheNeedtoUnderstandthePlant–EarthInterfaceintheFutureWorldof
Pollution,IncreasedExploitationofNaturalResourcesandtheQuestofa
Bio-FriendlySociety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 UnderstandingHowandWherethePlantsWeKnowTodayOccurand
InteractwiththeMineralWorld:TheSettingthatweLiveinTodayanditsHistory . 4
1.2.1 ConfigurationoftheSurfaceEnvironmentoftheEarth:Mountains
andClimate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.2 VegetationandClimateTodayandYesterday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.2.3 PresentDayContextofPlantBiomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.2.4 LocalVariationsintheChemicalContext(Geology)andClimatic
VariablesofPlant–SoilInteraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.2.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.3 AnUnorthodoxbutOperationalDefinitionMineralTypesandFunctions
forPhyllosilicateClayMinerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.3.1 NetworkStructures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.3.2 SubstitutionsandLayerCharge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.3.3 InterlayerIonOccupancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.3.4 IdentificationofPhyllosilicateClayTypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1.3.5 Classificationof2:1Minerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.3.6 IdentificationofSmectitesandIllites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.3.7 MixedLayerIllite/SmectiteCrystals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.3.8 IdentificationofSoilHIMinerals(“Vermiculite”) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
1.3.9 PotassiumSaturationandIdentificationof2:1ClayTypes . . . . . . . . . . 31
1.3.10Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
1.4 Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
1.5 KSaturation(1MSolution) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1.5.1 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
B.Velde,P.Barré,Soils,PlantsandClayMinerals, 1
DOI10.1007/978-3-642-03499-2_1,(cid:2)C Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelberg2010