This document discusses magnetic properties of soils in Brazil. Certain Brazilian soils called latosols show spontaneous magnetization above 1 J/T kg, meaning they can be picked up by a hand magnet. Magnetization is greatest in soils derived from mafic or iron-rich rocks that have experienced little yellowing process. The magnetic phase is fully-oxidized titanomaghemite, inherited directly from weathered bedrock. Simple magnetic measurements are recommended to aid in classifying tropical latosols.
This document discusses magnetic properties of soils in Brazil. Certain Brazilian soils called latosols show spontaneous magnetization above 1 J/T kg, meaning they can be picked up by a hand magnet. Magnetization is greatest in soils derived from mafic or iron-rich rocks that have experienced little yellowing process. The magnetic phase is fully-oxidized titanomaghemite, inherited directly from weathered bedrock. Simple magnetic measurements are recommended to aid in classifying tropical latosols.
This document discusses magnetic properties of soils in Brazil. Certain Brazilian soils called latosols show spontaneous magnetization above 1 J/T kg, meaning they can be picked up by a hand magnet. Magnetization is greatest in soils derived from mafic or iron-rich rocks that have experienced little yellowing process. The magnetic phase is fully-oxidized titanomaghemite, inherited directly from weathered bedrock. Simple magnetic measurements are recommended to aid in classifying tropical latosols.
322 Eart h a n d Pl ane t ar y Sc i e nc e Letto:~.
78 (1986) 322 326
Elsevier Science Publ i sher s B.V., Ams t e r d a m - Pr i nt ed in The Ne t he r l a nds [31 The magnetic soils of Brazil Ma u r o Re s e n d e ~, J a c que l i ne Al l an 2 a nd J . M. D. Co e y 2 J De par t me nt o f S o i l Sci ence, Federal UniversiO, o f Vi~osa, Vigosa. MG ( Brazi l ) -" De par t me nt o f Pur e a n d Ap p l i e d PIwsi cs, Tr i ni t y College, Dubl i n 2 ( I rel and) Recei ved Augus t 29, 1985; revi sed ver si on accept ed Febr uar y 25, 1986 Cer t ai n Brazi l i an l at osol s show a s pont a ne ous magnet i zat i on of t he cl ay size fract i on in excess of 1 J / T kg: t hey can be pi cked up by a ha nd magnet . Magnet i zat i on is a good i ndi cat or of soil type, bei ng gr eat est in t hos e soils deri ved f r om maf i c or itabiritic rocks whi ch have been little i nf l uenced by xant hi zat i on (t he soil yel l owi ng process). The magnet i c phas e is ful l y-oxi di zed t i t anomaghemi t e whi ch is i nheri t ed di rect l y f r om weat her ed bedrock. Si mpl e magnet i c me a s ur e me nt s are r e c omme nde d as an ai d in cl assi f yi ng t ropi cal l at osol s. Tropi cal latosols (also known as Oxisols or Ferralsols) are composed mostly of quartz, kaolin- ite and oxides [1] of iron or aluminium. Iron oxides are typically 10- 30 wt.% of the clay f r ac- tion, al t hough somet i mes they can be much more. The main iron phases, aluminous hemat i t e and al umi nous goethite, impart, respectively, the char- acteristic red or yellow col our to the soils [2]. Maghemi t e has somet i mes been suggested as a possible const i t uent . Accordi ng to Mullins [3] and Fi t zpat ri ck [4], it coul d be formed (a) from the ot her iron oxides in a surface l ayer in the presence of burni ng organi c mat t er [5], (b) by pedogeni c t ransformat i on under hydr omor phi c conditions, formi ng localized concret i ons [6], and (c) by in- heri t ance and alteration of t i t anomagnet i t e. Following observat i ons in the field that the entire soil col umn at cert ai n locations in Brazil is easily at t ract ed by a hand magnet [7], we investi- gat ed the origin and significance of these unusual magnetic propert i es. Here we discuss results for the following materials: (1) A series of 15 represent at i ve latosols selected by the Brazilian Soil Survey (samples B0- B14) which includes two except i onal l y iron-rich materi- als derived from itabirite [8,9]. (2) A vertical sequence (samples V1- V4) in- cl udi ng soil from the B and C hori zons at a site near Vicosa in the Zona da Mat a of Mi nas Gerais. (3) A hori zont al t oposequence (samples G1 G6) from the B2 hori zon of a shallow hill slope (1%) about 200 m long in I t umbi ar a in sout hern Goi as [9]. It represents in mi crocosm the xanthiza- tion or yellowing process in tropical soil i nduced by climatic and pedogeni c factors (e.g. moist soil climate, high organi c matter), which favour trans- f or mat i on of hemat i t e into goethite [10,11]. On passing f r om summi t (G6) to foot sl ope (G1) the soil col our changes from red to yellow as it be- comes richer in goethite and kaolinite, but poor er in hemat i t e and gibbsite. Our measurement s were made on the clay fract i on whose magnet i zat i on is especially sensitive to these factors. Magnet i zat i on curves for some represent at i ve samples are shown in Fig. l a. Two paramet ers are derived: sat urat i on magnet i zat i on o~ obt ai ned by ext rapol at i on to zero appl i ed field, and the high- field slope X= d ~ / d B0 defi ned in the interval 0 . 3 < B, , < 1 . 5 T. Values of o~ and )t for all 24 samples are listed in Tabl e 1. Variations in o~ for the soils span more t han three orders of magni- t ude whereas X is relatively const ant . Magnetiza- tion is expressed here per kg of Fe20~, since Mossbauer spectra show t hat pract i cal l y all the iron in the soils is oxidized to Fe 3+ (1 J / T kg = 1 emu/ g) , o~ reflects quant i t at i vel y the presence of ferri magnet i c oxides, whereas ), arises mainly f r om ant i ferromagnet i c oxides or paramagnet i c iron. These data, t oget her with extensive observat i ons in the field, establish that magnet i zat i on is sub- 0012- 821X/ 86/ $03. 50 ~:' 1986 Elsevier Science Publ i sher s B.V. b 0 30 Slope X / T- O6 f j a i , i , l J , , , 20 I 0 b i . . . . I . . . . . . . 0 O5 GI v 2 m v l m v1 10 B,~ r r ) Z5 Fig. 1. Room t emper at ur e magnet i zat i on curves for (a) t he clay fract i on sampl es GI and G6 and the whol e soil V4, and (b) t he whol e rock V1 and t he magnet i c ext ract s of t he rock and yel l ow r i nd Vl m and V2m. ( Not e the di f f er ent vertical scale.) st ant i al onl y when the soil derives f r om maf i c rock or f r om t he except i onal l y i ron-ri ch itabirites. Al- t hough t here can be l arge vari at i ons of os rel at ed to local fact ors such as relief and dr ai nage ( G1 - G6 : the t wo ext remes are i ncl uded in the figure), as well as br oad di fferences in cl i mose- quence in di fferent regions of the count r y ( B9- B12), the magnet i c soils t end to be those t hat are high in phos phor us and t race el ement s [12,13]. They are among the mos t fertile soils in Brazil. Magnet i zat i on is t herefore a val uabl e i ndi cat or of soil type, and one t hat is mor e sensitive t han col our to i nci pi ent xant hi zat i on. B9 and B10, for exampl e, are qui t e alike in col our and f or m f r om si mi l ar rock but the l ower magnet i zat i on of the l at t er reflects a cooler, mor e moi st regime. I n or der to est abl i sh the origin of the magnet i - zat i on, we focussed our at t ent i on on the vert i cal 323 sequence, V1- V4. The magni t ude of o s for these, and ot her st rongl y magnet i c sampl es, is t oo large to be expl ai ned by any moder at el y- pur e cryst al l i ne i ron oxi de except f er r i magnet i c magnet i t e or mag- hemi t e. Ther e are some report s, f r om X- r ay dif- fract i on, of maghemi t e in the cl ay fract i on of i Brazilian soils [12-16], i ncl udi ng B0 and G6 [9]. Because of the l i kel i hood t hat i ron in the cl ay fract i on will be oxidized, it is general l y t aken for gr ant ed t hat the phase giving the di agnost i c peak near 2.95 A is maghemi t e r at her t han magnet i t e [7]. However, large magnet i t e and i l meni t e grai ns i nheri t ed di rect l y f r om the par ent rock can persi st in the coarse fract i on of t ropi cal soils, where t hey are f ound to be except i onal l y st abl e (e.g. t here is about 10% of the i ron present in i l meni t e bot h in V1 and V4). Magnet i zat i on of the whole soil mat eri al in the vert i cal sequence V2- V4 is of si mi l ar magni t ude to t hat of t he r ock V1 f r om which it is derived. V1 is a maf i c rock compos ed of quart z, plagioclase, pyr oxene and opaque oxides. The yel l ow rind, V2, 1- 10 mm thick, which f or ms di rect l y on the weat her ed rock provi des the clue needed to under - st and the magnet i zat i on of the soil. An at t empt at magnet i c separ at i on was i neffect i ve for sampl es f r om the B hori zons but we found t hat coarse, bl ack, sand-si zed grai ns (V2m) coul d easily be separ at ed f r om the yel l ow ri nd wi t h a hand mag- net ; X- r ay di ffract i on i ndi cat ed t hat maghemi t e ( a = 8.33(1) A) was present in these grai ns to- get her wi t h some ilmenite. X- r ay fl uorescence in- di cat ed t hat the ot her maj or met al l i c el ement pres- ent in the magnet i c ext ract was Ti ( Ti Oz/ Fe203 = 0.43). Magnet i zat i on of V2m was o 2 = 45 J / T kg (25 J / T kg of sampl e), while t hat of the clay fract i on of the yel l ow ri nd was onl y 0.1 J / T kg. The M0ssbauer spect r um of the ext ract (Fig. 2a) shows a ferric magnet i c pat t er n but there is no sign of the charact eri st i c Fe 2+/3+ hyper f i ne sextet f r om B-site i ron in magnet i t e [17]; a mi nor amount of i l meni t e is present . We t herefore i dent i fy the magnet i c const i t uent in V2 as coarse grai ns of fully oxi di zed t i t anomaghemi t e. The phase, whose composi t i on is est i mat ed to be F e l . 9 Ti 0 . 6 0 4 (aft er correct i on for the i ron in ilmenite), decomposes t her mal l y at 290 + 10C. The magnet i zat i on of ful l y-oxi di zed synt het i c t i t anomaghemi t e of this composi t i on is about 10 J / T kg [18], whereas the 324 TABLE 1 Magnetic properties of Brazilian latosols Sample Description Colour, Elevation (m) Fe203 o~ k No. bedrock (wt.%) ( J / T kg ( J / T 2 kg) of Fe203 ) (a) Representatiue Brazilian latosols B0 B 2 clay < 2 btm itabirite 63.3 6.43 0,52 B1 B z clay 10R3/ 6 1200 itabirite 47.4 2.91 0.30 B2 B 2 clay 7. 5YR5/8 850 gneiss 11.2 0.08 0.46 B3 B 2 clay 7.5YR4/5 950 charnockite 18.3 0,09 0.59 B4 B 2 clay 10YR5/6 480 Tertiary sediments 8.6 0.12 0.52 B5 B 2 clay 2. 5YR3/7 siltstone 16.6 2.08 0.35 B6 B 2 clay 4YR4/ 4 645 mafic 23.3 2.38 0.60 B7 B 2 clay 1. 5YR3/4 760 marie 26.4 8.05 0.30 B8 B 2 clay 1.5YR3.5/6 sandstone 10.4 0.89 0.16 B9 B 2 clay 1YR3/ 4 640 mafic 23.8 14.39 0.51 BIO B 2 clay 1YR3/ 5 760 marie 20,1 5.62 0,43 BI 1 B 2 clay 3.5YR3.5/5 920 mafic 20.6 1.22 0.35 B12 B 2 clay 5YR3,5/5 1100 mafic 19.9 0.25 0.49 B13 B 2 clay 1YR4/ 8 910 Tertiary sediments 10.8 0.56 0.31 BI4 B 2 clay 10YR6/ 8 860 migmatite 13.5 0.07 0.53 (b) Soi l profile VI C rock mafic 19.6 6.00 1.04 VI m C rock mafic 40.2 44.60 1.36 magnetic extract V2 C yellow rind mafic 31.9 8.60 0.78 V2c C yellow rind mafic 37.1 0.10 0.20 clay V2m C yellow rind mafic 55.4 45.20 1.26 magnetic extract V4 B 2 soil mafic 22.0 3.83 0.66 (c) Toposequence G1 B 2 clay (bottom) mafic 17.9 0.29 0.30 G2 B 2 clay mafic 16.6 0.48 0.45 G3 B 2 clay mafic 20.2 0.72 0.37 G4 B 2 clay mafic 20.9 1.01 0.38 G5 B 2 clay mafic 23.5 1.49 0,30 G6 B 2 clay (top) mafic 26.3 4.45 0,36 -. , 0 o ~ 6 C) t~ - Q 0 a i V2 m I t I I ' ' ' ' t I l 1 I I I -I0 -6 -2 2 6 I0 Veloc/ty (mm/s) Fig. 2. Room t emper at ur e M~Sssbauer spect r a of t he magnet i c ext ract s of (a) t he yel l ow r i nd V2m, and (b) t he basal t i c rock f r om whi ch it is deri ved Vl m as well as of t he whol e r ed magnet i c soil V4 (c). magnet i zat i on of t he nat ural mi neral in the mag- net i c ext ract s is about 50 J / T kg (Tabl e 1). This suggests t hat t here are significant di fferences in the cat i on di st ri but i on in nat ural and synt het i c samples. Knowi ng o S of the nat ural t i t anomag- hemite, it is possible to i nfer the quant i t y present in soils f r om magnet i zat i on measurement s. The magnet i cal l y separat ed fract i on of the rock Vl m gives a M~Sssbauer spect rum (Fig. 2b) similar to t hat of the magnet i c ext ract f r om the yellow rind (Fig. 2a). Fi t paramet ers of the magnet i c sextet are i somer shift relative to iron 0.32 r a m/ s , quadru- pol e shift 0.00 mm/ s , hyperfi ne field 49.7 T. The lattice par amet er for the spi nel -st ruct ure phase is a = 8.31(1) A. It t herefore appears t hat the t i t anomaghemi t e is i nheri t ed f r om the par ent rock and it is br oken down to finer part i cl es and in- t i mat el y mi xed with ot her soil material in the upper hori zons (Fig. 2c). The r emar kabl e decrease in magnet i zat i on in the r e d- ~ yellow sequence G6 - G1 , as well as the di fferences in B9- B12, 325 i ndi cat e t hat soil maghemi t e in the clay fract i on is mor e likely to be el i mi nat ed t han soil hemat i t e duri ng xant hi zat i on. In summar y we concl ude: (1) Magnet i c latosols formi ng on mafi c rocks are wi despread in Brazil; t hey cover perhaps 5% of its l and area. (2) Ti t anomaghemi t e in these soils is i nheri t ed f r om rock cont ai ni ng al ready-al t ered t i t anomag- netite. (3) Ti t anomaghemi t e in the clay fract i on is sensitive to pedocl i mat i c envi ronment s favouri ng i nci pi ent xant hi zat i on. (4) Magnet i zat i on measurement s can be useful in Oxisol t axonomy. Since the original t i t anomag- net i t e associates with trace elements, the soil mag- net i zat i on correl at es with a number of desirable soil characteristics. (5) Ti t anomaghemi t e can be det er mi ned quant i - tatively f r om soil sat urat i on magnet i zat i on, pro- vi ded the magnet i zat i on of the pure mi neral is known. A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s We are grat eful to Dr. I. Sanders for help and advi ce on the pet rographi c analysis and to Mr. D. Si mpson for the el ect ron mi cr opr obe analysis. Thi s work was suppor t ed by the Uni t ed Na- tions Devel opment Project, under cont r act UNDP BRA 82/ 023. R e f e r e n c e s 1 " Oxi de s " are t aken t o i ncl ude hydr oxi des and oxyhydr ox- ides. 2 U. Schwer t mann and R. M. Taylor, I r on oxides, in: Mi ner- als in Soil Envi r onment s, J.B. Di xon and S.B. Weed, eds., 145 pp., Soil Science Society of Ameri ca, Madi son, Wisc., 1977. 3 C.E. Mullins, Magnet i c suscept i bi l i t y of t he soil and its si gni fi cance in soil s c i e n c e - - a review, J. Soil Sci. 28, 223-246, 1977. 4 R. W. Fi t zpat ri ck, The occur r ence and pedogeni c signifi- cance of Fe-oxi des in soils of t he sout her n hemi sphere, in: I r on in Soils and Clay Mi neral s, J.W. Stucki and B.A. Goodman, eds., Reidel, in press. 5 U. Schwer t mann and B. Hei nemann, Ober das Vor kommen und die Ent s t ehung von Maghemi t in nor ddeut s chen B6den, Neues Jahrb. Mi neral . Monat sh. 8, 174-181, 1959. 6 R. M. Tayl or and U. Schwer t mann, Maghemi t e in soils and its origins, Clay Mi ner. 10, 289-310, 1974. 7 M. Resende, Mi neral ogy, chemi st ry, mor phol ogy, and geo- mor phol ogy of some soils of t he Cent ral Pl at eau of Brazil, Ph. D. Thesis, Pur due Uni versi t y, 1976. 326 8 Sampl es B1- B14 bel ong to a set s t udi ed by Brazi l i an soil sci ent i st s in connect i on wi t h t he devel opment of a soil cl assi fi cat i on s ys t em unde r t he l eader shi p of S NL C S / EMBRAPA. 9 N. Curi and D. P. Fr anzmei er , Topos equence of Oxi sol s f r om t he Cent r al Pl at eau of Brazil, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 48, 341- 346, 1984. 10 U. Schwer t mann, Tr a ns f or ma t i on of hemat i t e to goet hi t e in soils, Na t ur e 232, 624- 625, 1971. 11 U. Schwer t mann, The effect of pedogeni c e nvi r onme nt s on i ron oxi de mi ner al s, Adv, Soil Sci. 1, 171- 200, 1985. 12 N. Curl , Li t hos equence and t opos equence of Oxi sol s f r om Goi as a nd Mi na s Ger ai s St at es, Brazil, Ph. D. Thesi s, Pur due Uni ver si t y, 1983. 13 M. Resende, unpubl i s he d dat a. 14 J. Esson and L.C. Sur can dos Sant os. Che mi s t r y and mi ner al ogy of a sect i on t hr ough t he l at eri t i c nickel deposi t at Li ber dade, Brazil, Tr ans . Inst . Mi n. Met al l . 87, B53- B60, 1978. 15 L. C. A. Pombo, E. Kl amt , I. Kus r a t h and D. Gi anl uppi , Identificaca~o de oxi dos de ferro na f r acao argi l a de Lat os - sol o Roxo, Rev. Bras. Ci en. Solo. 6. 13 17, 1982. 16 D. P. Sant ana, Ph. D. Thesi s, Pur due Uni ver si t y, 1984. 17 J. M. D. Coey, A. H. Mor r i s h and G. A. Sawat zky, A M6s s ba ue r s t udy of conduct i on in magnet i t e, J. Phys. 32, C1. 271- 273, 1971. 18 P. W. Re a d ma n and W, O' Rei l l y, Magnet i c pr oper t i es of oxi di zed t i t anomagnet i t es , J. Geomag. Geoel ect r. 24, 69 90, 1972.