| Abstract: | The majority of geomorphological papers about Dartmoor have been essentially speculative, particularly when discussing weathering processes and the evolution of the Dartmoor landscape. In contrast, this article presents a synthesis of several experimental investigations aimed at studying the chemical weathering of Dartmoor granite through the systematic analysis of soil and water samples. This involved the computation of a geochemical budget to determine the amount of erosion in the catchment, as well as more detailed mineralogical investigations within a soil profile. The annual output of solutes due to weathering was 116 kg ha?1 a?1 of which the majority was silica (93 kg ha?1 a?1). From an examination of the soil mineralogy, it was calculated that these solutes were derived from the dissolution of approximately 200 kg ha?1 a?1 plagioclase, 90 kg ha?1 a?1 biotite, and 40 kg ha?1 a?1 orthoclase. As well as the weathering of granite, there was also the production of kaolinite (150 kg ha?1 a?1) and gibbsite (0.02 kg ha?1 a?1). Analysis of the soil water chemistry confirmed that kaolinite was the stable mineral phase in the regolith, although in areas where interflow was the dominant mode of water movement, the solute composition was in equilibrium with both kaolinite and gibbsite. Examination of the clay mineralogy confirmed these results. The microtexture of quartz grains was examined by the scanning electron microscope as another means of investigating the hydrochemical environment in the soil. Silica was found precipitated on all the grains examined but the maximum amount occurred in the Bs horizon. This evidence showed that, firstly, the dissolution of aluminosilicate minerals is greater than that calculated by the chemical budget and, secondly, that models of granite weathering must take localized weathering in the soil profile into account. The final part of the paper highlights the limitations of calculating denudation rates for an entire catchment and stresses the need to consider weathering as a highly localized phenomenon, particularly where there are high volumes of interflow at hill crest sites. Observations on granite decomposition in the future should be quantitative in approach and be related to the local site conditions. |
