Applied Geochemistry 23 (2008) 3651–3665

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Applied Geochemistry

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The normative mineralogy of 10 soil profiles in Fennoscandia andnorth-western Russia

R. Salminen a,*, V. Gregorauskiene b,c, T. Tarvainen a

a Geological Survey of Finland, P.O. Box 96, FIN-02151 Espoo, Finlandb Geological Survey of Lithuania, S:Konarskio g. 35, LT-03123 Vilnius, Lithuaniac Vilnius University, M.K.Ciurlionio g. 21/27, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history:Received 28 April 2008Accepted 11 September 2008Available online 26 September 2008

Editorial handling by Dr. R. Fuge

0883-2927/$ - see front matter � 2008 Elsevier Ltddoi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2008.09.007

* Corresponding author.E-mail address: reijo.salminen@gtk.fi (R. Salmine

The mineralogical composition of soil horizons in different soil types of different ages wasestimated by applying the NORMA software, which was developed originally for calculat-ing the normative mineralogical composition of young podsols. Ten soil profiles from sixsites in NW Russia, two in Finland, and one in NE Norway were sampled in 1999 as a partof the pilot phase of a large geochemical mapping project. Total element concentrationswere determined from the <2 mm fraction by XRF from powdered pellets for Al, Ca, Cr,Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, S, Si, Ti, and Zr, and for Ba by ICP-AES after HF+HClO4 extraction.Extractable concentrations for Al, Ca, Cr, Fe, K, Mn, Mg, Na, P, S, Ti, Zr, and Ba were deter-mined by ICP-MS or ICP-AES after aqua regia (a 1:3 mixture of strong HCl and HNO3)extraction. Total C was determined using a thermal conductivity detector from a sampleburned in an O2 stream. The NORMA software was used to calculate the percentage of nor-mative soluble minerals pyrite, apatite, titanite, calcite, biotite, chlorite, weathered albite,hydrous Al-silicate, goethite and soluble residue. The percentages of non-soluble norma-tive minerals rutile, hornblende, K-feldspar, albite, anorthite, tremolite, wollastonite, kao-linite, magnetite, zircon, quartz, carbon (graphite), and non-soluble residue werecalculated after soluble minerals.

The calculated mineralogical composition of C-horizon samples in each profile reflectedthe known geological composition of the bedrock from which the soil parent material wasderived during geological processes. Secondary minerals including goethite and hydrousAl-silicates, were detected in upper soil horizons reflecting the development of soils. Ratherthan age, the local bedrock geology together with the mineralogical composition andchemical properties of the parent material proved to be the controlling factor in the forma-tion of secondary minerals. The results showed that the NORMA method can be used indefining the mineralogy of soil horizons in a large variety of soil types.

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1. Introduction

The mineralogy of soils is complicated and difficult tostudy because of their small grain sizes and the presenceof both various weathering products, and precipitatednew minerals that have not yet developed the crystallinelattices that are the basis of all mineralogical studies. Thusthe literature on this topic is not very prevalent, actually

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n).

starting as recently as the late 1970s in the famous workof Dixon and Weed (1977) and continued later by a fewresearchers (see e.g. Menegetto and Formoso, 1983). Itwould, however, be easier to understand the geochemicalprocesses going on in soils if their mineralogical composi-tion were known.

The normative mineralogy involves the systematic dis-tribution of elements to particular minerals in a sequencederived from observed petrographic relationships ofintrusive rocks (Cross et al., 1902; Barker, 1983; Johans-sen, 1969). Later this CIPW norm (named after the four

3652 R. Salminen et al. / Applied Geochemistry 23 (2008) 3651–3665

petrologists, Cross, Iddings, Pirsson, and Washington;Cross et al., 1902) calculation was applied in sedimentaryrocks (Cohen and Ward, 1991). Koljonen and Carlson(1975) tested the method with soil samples. However,hydrosilicates such as biotite and chlorite, which areimportant minerals in soil research, are not included inthe original method. Therefore Melkerud (1992) devel-oped the UPPSALA model to estimate the mineralogy ofSwedish forest soils. Since weathering is an essential soilforming process, especially in podzolic soils in the glaci-ated areas of Northern Europe (Gjems, 1967; Melkerud,1983), the method was further developed by includingthe quantification of easily weathered minerals, second-ary precipitates and the more resistant silicates, and itwas called the NORMA method (Räisänen et al., 1995;Tarvainen et al., 1996). The NORMA method has beenused to estimate the mineralogy of podzol profiles forweathering rate calculations (Starr et al., 1998, 2003), tocompare the podzol profiles developed on three Quater-nary deposits in Northern Europe (Melkerud et al.,2000) and to estimate changes in mineralogy from theuppermost mineral soil horizon in relation to the age ofthe soil profile (Starr and Lindross, 2006).

The NORMA software developed by Räisänen et al.(1995) and Tarvainen et al. (1996) handles element con-centrations of minerals which are soluble in hot aqua regia,and total element concentrations. Minerals dissolved bythe hot aqua regia are presumed to be trioctahedral micas,clay minerals, and primary and secondary salts and hydro-xy-oxides (Räisänen et al., 1992; Aatos et al., 1994). Themethod was initially designed for till fines with the rangeof minerals defined by Räisänen et al. (1995) and applica-ble to earlier till investigations (Soveri and Hyyppä,1966; Perttunen, 1977; Räisänen et al., 1992). Use of differ-ent extraction methods for chemical analysis now makes itpossible to estimate the weathering process acting on theminerals of the soil’s parent material.

Räisänen et al. (1995) and Tarvainen et al. (1996) testedthe NORMA software with till samples from the C-horizonof podsolic soils and rock samples from the same areasfrom western and northern Finland. Their results showeda positive correlation between NORMA mineralogy of theC-horizon soils and the rock samples. In this study, theNORMA method was applied to different soil types devel-oped on different parent materials. Ten soil horizons fromnine areas from boreal and arctic regions in NW Russia,Finland and NE Norway were selected. The sites studiedextends the use of the NORMA method to some new soiltypes.

2. Material and methods

2.1. Study sites

The samples were collected during the pilot phase ofthe Barents Ecogeochemistry project (Salminen, 2000;Salminen et al., 2004) from six catchment areas in NW Rus-sia, two in Finland and one in NE Norway (Fig. 1). Six of thesites (Kingisepp, Arkhangelsk, Monchegorsk, Berlevåg,Kuhmo, and Urjala) are located in areas that were covered

by the last phase of the Weichsel glaciation. During the gla-ciation the soil material was heavily eroded and re-sedi-mented. In these areas, the age of soil profile is around10 ka or less. Conversely, at the three other sites (Vorkuta,Korjazhma, and Narjan-Mar), the age of soil profile esti-mated on the basis of the glacial history of the area variesfrom 60 to 150 ka (Thiede et al., 2001).

The sampling and field observations are described indetail in the Field Manual of the project (Gregorauskieneet al., 2000). From each catchment, 14–17 sites were stud-ied and sampled for geochemical analysis. At three of thesites the complete soil profile was studied in detail. Onecomplete soil profile site from each catchment area was se-lected for the NORMA mineralogy test, except in Kingiseppwhere two sites representing different bedrock and soilparent material were selected. Geological and morpholog-ical features of each catchment have been described in de-tail by Bogatyrev et al. (1999) who compiled the data fromdifferent original sources. The main features of local geol-ogy, relief, climatic conditions and vegetation in the se-lected study sites are described in Table 1.

2.2. Normative mineralogy (NORMA method)

For the NORMA method, minerogenic samples were airdried and sieved to fraction <2 mm. Total concentrationswere determined by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) for Al, Ca,Cr, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, Si, Ti, and Zr. Total Ba concentrationwas determined by ICP-AES after HF+HClO4 extraction. An-other aliquot of sample was extracted by hot aqua regia(1:3 mixture of strong HCl and HNO3) and the concentra-tions of Al, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ca, Cr, Na, K, Ti, P, S, Zr, and Ba weredetermined by ICP-MS or ICP-AES. Weight percentages of Cand N (although N was not used in the NORMA calculation)were measured using an Elemental varioMAX CN analyserby burning the sample in an O2 stream and detecting con-centrations with a thermal conductivity detector.

For studying soil properties, the following parameterswere also determined: pH was measured in the laboratorypotentiometrically from a water–soil suspension, loss onignition (LOI) was determined by ignition of the sampleat 1000 �C, and N was determined as described above.

The NORMA procedure (Räisänen et al., 1995; Tarvainenet al., 1996) starts with analytical data input. From the ana-lytical results, the following oxide values were calculated:SiO2, Al2O3, FeO, MgO, CaO, Na2O, K2O, TiO, P2O5, BaO, andZrO. Weight percentages of C were also used. When usingthe total dissolution method, the total oxide sum is com-monly less than 100%; at least part of this discrepancy islikely to arise from H2O, which was not determined. Theweight percentage of each oxide component was con-verted to a ‘‘molecular proportion” (MP) by dividing theweight percentage by the molecular weight of that oxideand multiplying the result by 1000. This step is similar tothe calculation of the CIPW norm (Barker, 1983). The MPof BaO is added to the MP of CaO.

All aqua regia soluble normative minerals were calcu-lated before non-soluble ones (Räisänen et al., 1995). Thefirst normative mineral is pyrite, FeS2. All S is assigned tonormative pyrite, and twice the MP of S is subtracted fromthe MP of aqua regia soluble FeO.

Fig. 1. Location of sampling sites and ages of soils. The extent of the most recent (Weichsel) glaciation and the Saale glacial maximum are according toThiede et al. (2001).

R. Salminen et al. / Applied Geochemistry 23 (2008) 3651–3665 3653

The composition of the second normative mineral, apa-tite, can be expressed as 10CaO�3P2O5�H2O. The amount ofapatite is limited by either CaO or P2O5; the amount ofwater is not given for aqua regia soluble analyses. Usuallyall P2O5 was used to form normative apatite, and the needfor CaO was (10/3) times the amount of P2O5 and the needfor H2O was (1/3) times the amount of P2O5. The amount ofapatite-CaO was subtracted from the MP of aqua regia sol-uble CaO.

If any CaO remained and if there was any TiO2 available,titanite CaO�TiO2�SiO2 was formed. Other aqua regia solu-ble normative minerals were produced in the order pre-sented in Table 2. The amounts of oxides that wereassigned were subtracted from the oxide proportions after

each step, and the sums of the required SiO2, CO2, and H2Owere calculated. Any oxides that were left after all norma-tive aqua regia soluble minerals were formed are given as aresidual component.

Non-soluble normative minerals were calculated bysubtracting the aqua regia soluble molecular proportionsfrom the total values. Table 3 lists the non-soluble norma-tive minerals in the order of calculation. The non-solubleresidual component is produced if necessary. The molecu-lar proportions were recalculated in the form of the weightpercentages of the normative minerals and residual com-ponents. Weight percentages and their sum are writteninto the ASCII data file of the ALKEMIA program (Ahlsvedet al., 1991).

Table 1Geology, morphology, relief, climate, vegetation, soil type and the estimated age of the soils of the study sites.

Site no. Age(ka)

Altitude(m asl)

Parent material Bedrock Landform Relief Waterregime

Climatezone

Vegetation belts Vegetation type Soil type

Vorkuta 1-8 90 180 Glaciolacustrinefine sand

Sandstone,aleurolite

Low-gradientsloping

Hillslope

Welldrained

Arctic Dwarf birch tundra Betula nana, Empetrum nigrum, Vacciniumvitis-idaea

GelicPodzol

Narjan-Mar2-6

60 20 Fluvial sand Claystone,sandstone

Plain Flat Welldrained

Arctic Forest tundra withconiferous trees

Larch & scots pine wood with lichen layer &Empetrum nigrum

HaplicPodzol

Arkhangelsk3-8

15 64 Glaciomarinesand/glacial till

Sandstone,dolomite

Plain Flat Moderatelydrained

Boreal Northern taiga Semi-natural scots pine & birch wood withVaccinium myrtillus & herbaceous layer

GleyicPodzol

Korjazhma4-16

150 74 Glaciolacustrine/fluvial sand

Aleurolite,marl

Plain Flat Imperfectlydrained

Boreal Mid taiga Scots pine & spruce wood with Vacciniummyrtillus

Fluvi-gleyicPodzol

Kingisepp5-2

13 42 Glaciolacustrinesand

Silstone Plain Flat Imperfectlydrained

Boreal totemperate

Southern taiga Semi-natural scots pine wood with Vacciniummyrtillus & herbaceous layer

Ferri-gleyicPodzol

Kingisepp5-23

13 46 Calcareousglacial till

Limestone,dolomite

Plain Flat Imperfectlydrained

Boreal totemperate

Southern taiga Spruce & grey alder mixed wood withherbaceous layer

CalcicGleysol

Monchegorsk6-9

9 130 Glacial till Gabbro,gabbrodiorites

Mountainoushighland

Flat Welldrained

Boreal Northern taiga Industrial stands of spruce & birch wood ErodedFerricPodzol

Berlevåg7-23

9 80 Colluvialdeposits

Sandstone,phyllite

Medium-gradientmountain

Hillslope

Moderatelydrained

Arctic Dwarf birch tundra Betula nana, Empetrum nigrum, Vacciniumvitis-idaea

EutricLeptosol

Kuhmo 8-23 10 230 Glacial till Granite,granodiorite

Undulatingplain

Hilltop

Welldrained

Boreal Mid boreal forest Semi-natural scots pine wood with Vacciniummyrtillus & moss layer

HaplicPodzol

Urjala 9-23 11 130 Glacial till Mica shist andgneiss

Undulatingplain

Flat Welldrained

Boreal totemperate

Southern borealforest

Spruce wood with moss & Vaccinium myrtilluslayer

CambicPodzol

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Table 2Normative minerals soluble in hot aqua regia and their oxide formulas inthe order of calculation by the NORMA program (Räisänen et al., 1995).

1. Pyrite FeS2

2. Apatite 10CaO�3P2O5�H2O3. Titanite CaO�TiO2�SiO2

4. Calcite CaO�CO2

5. Biotite K2O�Al2O3�MgO�5FeO�6SiO2�2H2O6. Chlorite 5MgO�Al2O3�3SiO2�4H2O7. Weathered albite Na2O�Al2O3�SiO2

8. Hydrous aluminosilicates (HAS) SiO2�Al2O3�2H2O9. Goethite 2Fe2O3�H2O10. Soluble residues

Table 3Non-soluble normative minerals and their oxide formulas in their order ofcalculation by the NORMA program.

1. Rutile TiO2

2. Hornblende Na2O�2CaO�8MgO�4FeO�A12O3�24SiO2�6H2O3. Potassium feldspar K2O�Al2O3�SiO2

4. Albite Na2O�Al2O3�6SiO2

5. Anorthite CaO�Al2O3�2SiO2

6. Tremolite 2CaO�5MgO�8SiO2�H2O7. Wollastonite CaO�SiO2

8. Kaolinite 4SiO2�2Al2O3�2H2O9. Magnetite FeO�Fe2O3

10. Zircon ZrO2�SiO2

11. Quartz SiO2

12. Carbon (graphite) C13. Non-soluble residuals

R. Salminen et al. / Applied Geochemistry 23 (2008) 3651–3665 3655

2.3. Counted mineral composition of samples

In order to verify the calculated results, the mineralog-ical composition of the same samples from three of thestudied soil profiles (Monchegorsk, Kingisepp, and Vorku-ta) were counted under a binocular microscope. Some300 mineral grains were identified from each sub sampleand the percentages of the identified minerals were calcu-lated. This kind of microscopical study does not, however,enable full quantitative measurement from the finest grainsizes and it over-estimates the abundance of resistant min-erals such as quartz, zircon, etc.

3. Results

3.1. NORMA minerals

The normative mineralogical composition was calcu-lated separately for each soil horizon at each site. The per-centages of each calculated mineral are shown in Figs. 2–6.

The results show enrichment of both goethite and hy-drous Al-silicates in the B-horizons (Fig. 2). This result isexpected. Enrichment of goethite and HAS in the B-horizonis indicative of podsolization, coniferous forest litter (or-ganic acidity), excess rainfall and freely draining soil, andprobably would have required 100–1000s of years to haveoccurred. This situation is typical of the prevailing condi-tions in most of the study sites since kaolinite in contrastcannot be classified as a secondary mineral in the studysites. Kaolinite formation demands warm and dry climatic

conditions and much longer times. The ages of the currentsoils are quite young (see Fig. 1) and depend on the lateexposure of the geological formations after the retreat ofthe last glacier or glacial lakes or the latest ocean phase.Kaolinite does exist in the soils in the region (see e.g. Lin-tinen, 1995), but it was formed earlier in warm and dry cli-matic conditions in the mid Tertiary (Hyyppä, 1983) andwas reworked perhaps several times by geological pro-cesses such as glacial erosion, fluvial and glacial transportand, finally, sedimentation in the current soil parent mate-rial. An exception is Berlevåg (site 7-23), where the soilparent material is a weathering crust (regolith) that wasnot eroded significantly during the last glaciation becausethe area belonged to the ice divide area. Kaolinite formedin the Mid Tertiary can now be described from an old soilin which soil forming processes stopped for a long timeduring the glaciations.

Resistant minerals such as zircon, magnetite and quartz(Fig. 3) do not take part in soil forming processes and, be-cause of the leaching of other minerals, are thus relativelyenriched in A- and E-horizons compared to parent mate-rial. This is generally reflected in the NORMA mineral com-position, the only exception being Kuhmo (site 8-23)where the magnetite content is lower in the A-horizon.

All feldspars (Fig. 4) weather during soil formation. Themost resistant to weathering is albite, which shows someenrichment in the topmost horizons in Kingisepp (site 5-23). The weathering products are leached throughout allhorizons. The leached ions have for the most part formedhydrous aluminous silicates.

Both biotite and chlorite (Fig. 5) are easily weatheredminerals and their NORMA percentage has decreased mostin the upper (A and E) horizons. Both contain much Fe,which has moved downwards in the soil profile and pre-cipitated as goethite mainly in the B-horizons in each ofthe studied soils.

Hornblende is similar in chemical composition to bio-tite and chlorite and is also quite easily weathered liberat-ing Fe (and Mg) ions, which forms goethite in the B-horizon. The high percentage of hornblende in Monche-gorsk compared to other places is due to the bedrock type(gabbroic rock) from which the parent material (till) is de-rived. Hornblende is one of the main minerals of gabbroicrocks, and thus the NORMA calculated mineralogical com-position of the overburden is much as expected.

The amount of NORMA calculated calcite (Fig. 6) is verylow except in Kingisepp (site 5-23) and Monchegorsk (site6-9). Calcite does not occur as one of the minerals in bed-rock and parent material in Monchegorsk (site 6-9) but themain minerals of the parent material, hornblende and pla-gioclase, contain high amounts of Ca and the program cal-culates part of it as calcite. At Kingisepp (site 5-23), calcitehas leached away from upper horizons as would beexpected because of the acidic conditions. Apatite, as aneasily weathered mineral, has also been leached out ofthe A-horizon.

3.2. Counted mineralogical composition of three soil profiles

The mineralogical composition of the same samplesthat were used for the NORMA calculation was determined

Fig. 2. The percentage of secondary minerals kaolinite, goethite and hydrous Al-silicates (HAS) at each study target. The soil parent material at sites 1-8, 2-6, 3-8, 4-16, and 5-2 is fluvial or lacustrine sand, at sites 5-23, 6-9, 8-23, and 9-23 tills, and at site 7-23 regolith. The age of soils at sites 1-8, 2-6 and 4-16 is60–150 ka, and at the other sites (except 7-23) around 10 ka.

3656 R. Salminen et al. / Applied Geochemistry 23 (2008) 3651–3665

by counting and identifying 200–300 mineral grains fromthe <2 mm fraction under a binocular microscope. Thismethod gives an estimate of mineralogical composition

of a sample. It is difficult to identify exactly mineral grainsthat are strongly weathered and changing to a new mineral(e.g. plagioclase to kaolinite). Another restrictive issue is

Fig. 3. The percentage of resistant minerals quartz, magnetite and zircon in each study target. For explanations see Fig. 2.

R. Salminen et al. / Applied Geochemistry 23 (2008) 3651–3665 3657

grain size. It is not possible to identify the mineralogy ofthe smallest grains with a normal microscope. The resultsof this mineral counting together with calculated NORMAmineral compositions are presented in Tables 4–6.

4. Discussion

Soil is not a pool of elements but a pool of minerals,where elements are chemically bound into the mineral

Fig. 4. The percentage of feldspars (K-feldspar, anorthite and albite) in each study target. For explanations see Fig. 2.

3658 R. Salminen et al. / Applied Geochemistry 23 (2008) 3651–3665

lattices. The strength of that lattice structure depends onthe crystal type. Weathering of the mineral crystals liber-ates elements (ions) to take part in chemical reactions dur-ing soil forming processes. Thus, always present in the soilare the primary rock forming minerals and the secondaryminerals that formed as a result of weathering and precip-itation and mineralization during the soil formation. In

many cases, weathering has started much earlier thanthe time at which a mineral became part of the loose over-burden and parent material of the current soil.

The geological features of the target areas of the studydiffer from each other in many ways, as has been describedabove (Table 1). Table 7 summarises the characteristics ofthe geological formations and the parent materials in each

Fig. 5. The percentage of biotite, chlorite and hornblende at each study target. For explanations see Fig. 2.

R. Salminen et al. / Applied Geochemistry 23 (2008) 3651–3665 3659

target area. It is assumed that the properties of the under-lying bedrock geology have the strongest direct influenceon the mineralogy of soil parent material. The table alsoshows the sums of the normative minerals of two groups:(1) secondary (such as kaolinite, goethite, chlorite, and hy-drous Al-silicates) and (2) resistant (mainly quartz, butalso, magnetite, rutile, and zircon).

The soil parent material was originally eroded andtransported from the local geological formations. As a re-sult of other geological processes such as glaciation, fluvialtransportation and sedimentation, the current soil parentmaterial finally formed. Thus the real mineralogical com-position of the soil parent materials can be estimated onthe basis of known lithology of the adjacent areas. In the

Fig. 6. The percentage of calcite and apatite in each study target. For explanations see Fig. 2.

Table 4Percentages of Norma minerals and counted minerals in different soil horizons in Monchegrosk target area, site 6-9. Eroded Ferric Podsol on glacial till.

Horizon E Bs1 Bs2 BC2

Mineralpercentage

NORMAminerals

Countedminerals

NORMAminerals

Countedminerals

NORMAminerals

Countedminerals

NORMAminerals

Countedminerals

Secondary minerals:HAS 1.11 7.65 5.53 4.95Goethite 1.26 2.18 1.54 1.68Chlorite 0.31 0.5 1.40 0.7 1.58 2.2 1.64 2.7

Primary minerals:Rutile 0.78 0.5 0.53 0.7 0.48 1.1 0.68 0.7K-feldspar 6.68 9.7 4.73 5.2 4.80 13.8 4.23 11.8Magnetite 0.68 1.6 0.41 2.2 0.00 1.1 0.15 2.1Kaolinite 4.07 2.2 3.86 1.60 0.6 5.56 3.2Quartz 22.01 22 9.27 14.6 7.90 18.8 6.01 18.3Plagioclase 25.92 23.7 25.66 30.7 27.33 24.9 19.84 17Hornblende 38.08 31.2 43.49 42.3 49.17 35.4 56.18 44.6Biotite 0.17 0.43 0.7 0.64 0.6 0.64 1.4Apatite 0.02 1.1 0.08 0.10 0.10 0Calcite 0.17 0.5 0.38 0.59 0.6 0.79Titanite 0.18 0.26 0.19 0.6 0.18Zircon 0.04 1.6 0.02 0.7 0.02 0.6 0.02 0.3Muscovite 0.5Garnet 1.6 1.1 0.8

Total 98.79 96.2 100.34 97.8 101.43 101.4 102.66 102.9

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Table 5Percentages of NORMA minerals and counted minerals in different soil horizons in Kingisepp target area, site 5-23. Calcic Gleysol on carbonate rich glacial till.

Horizon AEg Btg1 Btg2 Btg3 2BCg 3BCg

Mineralpercentage

NORMAminerals

Countedminerals

NORMAminerals

Countedminerals

NORMAminerals

Countedminerals

NORMAminerals

Countedminerals

NORMAminerals

Countedminerals

NORMAminerals

Countedminerals

Secondary minerals:HAS 4.1 3.3 3.5 0 2.5 0.0 0.0Kaolinite 4.4 4.2 5 7.2 13 8.1 11 8.7 12.6 8.8 9.8Goethite 2.0 2.4 2 2.8 4 2.0 2 1.8 1.5 0.5Chlorite 0.8 0.9 1.5 5 3.5 2 4.5 5.7 4.7 4.2

Primary minerals:Rutile 0.50 0.41 0.53 0 0.49 0.48 0.46K-feldspar 17.3 40% 17.9 20 19.3 15 18.4 20 18.4 20 18.3 23.4Magnetite 0.40 0.21 0.22 1 0.51 0.60 0.51 1Quartz 48.9 >50% 51.4 60 44.5 41 38.9 43 37.3 46.5 37.6 42Plagioclase 15.9 14.9 9 13.8 14 10.9 10 11.9 5.7 11.8 11.7Hornblende 1.9 1.6 1 2.6 2 3.6 3 3.6 2.9 3.2 1.4Biotite 1.2 1.7 1 3.0 2 2.9 3 3.3 3.4 3.4 3.7Apatite 0.37 0.30 0.39 0 0.29 1 0.29 0.6 0.29 1Calcite 0.36 0.33 0.42 0 7.53 6.41 2.4 5.91 2.3Titanite 0.04 0.08 0.12 0 0.11 0.13 0.14Zircon 0.084 0.072 0.067 0 0.061 0.06 0.6 0.056

Total 86.86 c. 90 88.92 91 84.97 75 83.72 95 82.56 100.4 81.63 101

Table 6Percentages of NORMA minerals and counted minerals in different soil horizons in Vorkuta target area, site 1-8. Gelic Podsol on clayey glaciomarine sediment.

Horizon AE Bhs BC1 BC2

Mineralpercentage

NORMAminerals

Countedminerals

NORMAminerals

Countedminerals

NORMAminerals

Countedminerals

NORMAminerals

Countedminerals

Secondary minerals:HAS 0.4 4.3 1.5 1.2Kaolinite 2.4 2.4 1.1 1.0 0.8Goethite 0.2 2.2 0.8 0.9Chlorite 0.0 1.1 1.1 0.5 0.5 0.7 1.4

Primary minerals:Rutile 0.44 0.4 0.37 0.22 0.5 0.18 0.5K-feldspar 4.9 3.7 6.4 4.4 6.6 3.0 5.6 2.8Magnetite 0.28 1.1 0.09 0.4 0.21 1.0 0.11 0.9Quartz 85.3 90.4 71.4 85.4 78.6 87.8 81.9 86.4Plagioclase 4.5 2.6 8.0 4.6 9.2 3.9 7.0 3.7Hornblende 0.6 0.7 1.7 1.1 0.8 2.4 0.7 2.3Biotite 0.2 0.4 0.9 1.1 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.5Apatite 0.03 0.4 0.11 0.4 0.10 0.5 0.16 0.9Calcite 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00Titanite 0.00 0.00 0.03 0.11Zircon 0.058 0.4 0.044 0.7 0.038 0.029 0.5

Total 99.24 100.1 89.04 98.1 100.06 100.1 99.67 99.9

R. Salminen et al. / Applied Geochemistry 23 (2008) 3651–3665 3661

areas of sedimentary rocks (Vorkuta, Narjan-Mar, Arkhan-gelsk, Korjazhma, and Kingisepp), the lithological composi-tion is quite homogeneous over wide areas. In the areas ofmetamorphosed rocks (Monchegorsk, Berlevåg, Kuhmo,and Urjala), it varies much more making the estimationof the mineralogy of the surficial deposits more difficult.An estimation (Table 8) of the relative abundances of themain minerals in the surficial deposits was carried outbased on the known lithology of the bedrock in the nearbyadjacent areas as described by Bogatyrev et al. (1999).

The weathering properties of minerals cause enrich-ment of some minerals and depletion of others during geo-logical processes. However, the mineralogical composition

of soil material calculated by the NORMA software is inaccordance with the expected composition (Table 8). TheNORMA method seems to underestimate carbonate,although calcite was detected in each site where it was ex-pected to be present. The reason for this phenomenon isthat easily weatherable minerals such as carbonates, espe-cially calcite, have leached away. The soil is acid at all sitesexcept Kingisepp 5-23 and secondary carbonates do notform in acid conditions.

The NORMA method generally calculated secondaryminerals satisfactorily, as shown especially in the Berlevågtarget, where the secondary minerals are abundantalthough they were not formed in the current soil as a

Table 8Estimated relative abundances of main minerals in the surficial deposits,based on known mineralogy of the bedrock in the area of the target.QV = quarz, PFS = potassium feldspar, PL = plagioclase, CRB = carbonates,BT = biotite, HB = hornblende.

Study target The relative abundance of main mineralsin the soil parent material at each target.

Vorkuta 1-8 QV > PFS = PL > CRBNarjan-Mar 2-6 QV > PFS = PLArkhangelsk 3-8 QV > PFS > PL > CRBKorjazhma 4-16 QV > PFS > PL > CRBKingisepp 5-2 QV > PFS > PL > HBKingisepp 5-23 CRB > PL > QV > PFSMonchegorsk 6-9 HB > PL > PFS > QVBerlevåg 7-23 QV > PL = PFS > HB = BTKuhmo 8-23 QV > PL > PFS > HB > BTUrjala 9-23 QV > PL > PFS > BT > HB

Table 7The surficial geological formation and the soil parent material of each target, and the percentage of secondary, resistant and non-resistant minerals in each soilprofile. The percentage is the average of all soil horizons.

Study target Geologicalformation

Type ofparentmaterial

Secondary minerals (kaolinite,goethite, hydrous Al-silicates, chlorite)(%)

Resistant minerals (quartz,magnetite, rutile, zircon) (%)

Other minerals (biotite,hornblende, feldspars, calcite)(%)

Vorkuta 1-8 Glaciolacustrine Sand 3.6 81.9 14.5Narjan-Mar

2-6Fluvial Sand 2.6 75 22.4

Arkhangelsk3-8

Glaciolacustrine Sand 4.5 47.5 48

Korjazhma4-16

Glaciolacustrine Sand 1.6 87.9 10.7

Kingisepp5-2

Fluvial Sand 2.2 82 15.8

Kingisepp5-23

Basal moraine Till 15 37.6 47.4

Monchegorsk6-9

Basal moraine Till 13.9 6 80.1

Berlevåg7-23

Weatheringcrust

Regolithin situ

32.7 32.7 34.6

Kuhmo 8-23 Basal moraine Sandy till 2.3 45.7 52Urjala9-23 Basal moraine Till 8 41.9 50.1

3662 R. Salminen et al. / Applied Geochemistry 23 (2008) 3651–3665

result of weathering processes in different climatic condi-tions before the last glaciations.

The amount of secondary minerals in soils should in-crease as the age of the soil increases. In this study, threeof the profiles were aged between 60 and 150 ka old whilethe rest were much younger, being around 10 ka old (seeTable 1 and Fig. 1). Starr and Lindross (2006) found a clearcorrelation between the enrichment of hydrous Al-silicatesin the B-horizon and the age of the soil profile. The resis-tant mineral quartz was enriched in the uppermost soillayers while the amounts of easily weathered biotite andhornblende declined with increasing age of the profile.Their study area was a geologically homogenous transecton the western coast of Finland, and the ages of the profilesvaried from 339 to 5276 a. However, in the present studythe percentage of HAS, goethite and kaolinite is lower inthe oldest profiles (Vorkuta 1-8, Narjan Maar 2-6 and Kor-jazhma 4-16) than in the younger profiles (Fig. 2). This isdue to the different mineralogical composition and thechemical properties of the soil parent material comparedwith the study of Starr and Lindross (2006). In the oldest

profiles, the soils consist mainly of resistant minerals suchas quartz, magnetite, rutile and zircon. The percentage ofthese minerals varies from 75% to 87% in the three oldestprofiles (Table 7). Thus the soil parent material containsonly small amounts of easily weathered Fe–Mg–Al miner-als, and only a limited amount of secondary minerals can,therefore, be formed from their weathering products evenin the old soil profiles. Finally, the geology of the adjacentareas is the controlling factor in the formation of the sec-ondary minerals.

During weathering, the percentage of quartz normallyincreases in the fine fraction of the overburden comparedwith the original total material. The grain size decreasesand because of the bimodal terminal grade of quartz grainsin tills, a maximum including mainly monomineral grainsis reached in the 0.01–0.5 mm fraction (Dreimanis andVagners, 1971). When till is attacked by fluvial processesduring the melting of the glaciers, the relative amount ofquartz increases compared to the till or bedrock fromwhich it was originally derived. Thus glaciofluvial material,for example, generally includes more quartz than till aswas reported by Haldorsen (1983). In this study, the high-est percentages of quartz in all horizons were found in Kor-jazhma (87.9%), Narjan-Mar (75.0%), Kingisepp 5-2 (82.0%)and Vorkuta (81.9%) (Fig. 7). In all of these cases the mate-rial is fluvial or lacustrine sand, in which the resistant min-erals have been enriched. These high percentages of quartzare even more easily understood when it is rememberedthat the bedrock of the area consists of sandstones andaleurolites. Fluvial and other sediments have been re-worked from till or regoliths during the exogenic geologi-cal processes and thus certain residual minerals such asquartz, rutile, magnetite and zircon have been enrichedand other easily weathered minerals such as pyroxenes,amphiboles, olivine and plagioclase have been depleted.

During the exogenic geological processes one of themost easily weathered minerals is calcite and it has veryoften been leached away almost totally in the studyareas. According to the composition of the local bedrock,

R. Salminen et al. / Applied Geochemistry 23 (2008) 3651–3665 3663

calcite and dolomite should be much higher than the re-sults indicate in Kingisepp 5-23 and Korjazhma (Figs. 7and 8). In Kingisepp 5-23, the material is till and thusonly a little reworked by the geological processes (e.g.mixing of material derived from the areas of other rocktypes) whereas in Korjazhma the material consists of flu-vial and lacustrine sediments that are the result of muchstronger reworking. Thus, easily soluble carbonates aremore likely to have been leached away and also morematerial from the areas of other rock types have beenmixed in the current parent material. The results supportthis clearly: in Kingisepp 5-23 (Fig. 8) calcite (+horn-

Fig. 7. The NORMA mineral composition (%) of C-horizon in Korjazhma and BCfluvial or lacustrine sand in each of these targets.

3

Fig. 8. The NORMA mineral composition (%) of BC-horizo

blende) form 9.2%, while the percentage in Korjazhmais less than 1% (even this low percentage is high com-pared with other areas).

In Monchegorsk (Fig. 9) the bedrock consists of gabbroicrocks, which are clearly reflected in the normative miner-alogy of the overburden (till). The most common mineralsare hornblende and plagioclase. The NORMA software doesnot, however, calculate pyroxenes and other amphibolesseparately, so all these Fe-, Mg-, Ca-bearing minerals arecalculated as hornblende. On the other hand, hornblendeis the most resistant mineral of this group, as was shownby Menegetto and Formoso (1983) in Brazil where, in

-horizon in Kingisepp, Narjan-Mar and Vorkuta. Parent material of soil is

n in Kingisepp. Parent material of soil is glacial till.

Fig. 9. The NORMA mineral composition (%) of BC-horizon in Monchegorsk. Parent material of soil is glacial till.

3664 R. Salminen et al. / Applied Geochemistry 23 (2008) 3651–3665

tropical conditions, weathering is more effective than inarctic Monchegorsk. Thus the calculated results may beconsidered correct.

Berrow and Mitchell (1991) studied trace element con-centrations in soils and one of their sites was on a maficintrusion similar to the Monchegorsk target. They con-cluded that elements liberated from ferromagnesian min-erals by weathering were not leached downwards fromupper soil horizons. The present results, however, showthat main elements (Fe and Mg) must have leached, other-wise the observed change in calculated mineralogical com-position – the decrease in hornblende and the increase inthe resistant minerals, quartz and magnetite especially –would not be possible.

5 Conclusions

The NORMA method proved to be a simple and objec-tive tool for deriving the mineralogy of soils, a characteris-tic that is otherwise difficult and, therefore, rarelydetermined. In the areas of glacial tills, the NORMA miner-alogy of C-horizon samples of young (around 10 ka) soils iswell in accordance what could be expected on the basis ofthe mineralogical composition of bedrock in the adjacentareas. In the old (60–160 ka) profiles, where the parentmaterial is alluvial sediments, the NORMA mineralogy alsoreflected the mineralogy of underlying bedrock.

The NORMA method correctly calculated the amount ofsecondary minerals goethite, HAS and kaolinite in all hori-zons of each study site. The amount of secondary mineralsdepended more on the mineralogical composition andchemical properties of the parent material than on theage of the soil. In Berlevåg, the C-horizon material is mostlyphysically and chemically in situ weathered regolith con-taining much kaolinite that formed mainly during the Ter-tiary or even earlier. This kind of weathered bedrock isknown in many places in Northern Finland and Norway,mainly in sheltered places in the ice divide area wherethe glacial erosion was weak. Thus, the parent material inBerlevåg represents the original weathering crust betterthan the parent material in the other areas. Although thesoil material is much older, the NORMA results in Berlevågfit very well with the observed mineralogy.

The hornblende calculated by NORMA also includesolivine and most pyroxenes and other amphiboles. In Mon-chegorsk, the material is till derived from gabbro and gab-bronorite, which includes mainly plagioclase andpyroxenes, olivine and amphiboles (hornblende, hypersth-enes). The NORMA calculations over-estimated horn-blende, as expected, because its chemical composition isclose to pyroxenes and olivine and the weathering proper-ties are also similar. This result is considered acceptablesince NORMA cannot take into account different the crystalstructure of minerals.

Dolomite is not included in the minerals calculated byNORMA. In Kingisepp 5-23, Korjazhma and Arkhangelsk,however, the material includes some dolomite. In theseareas, Mg and Ca, which should belong to dolomite, are cal-culated as calcite and hornblende. The software should beimproved and modified by adding dolomite to the list ofminerals to be calculated if the method is used in the areasof calcareous sedimentary rocks.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Shaun Reeder and an reviewerfor constructive comments that much improved themanuscript.

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