Date of Award:

5-1959

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Plants, Soils, and Climate

Department name when degree awarded

Soil Science

Committee Chair(s)

LeMoyne Wilson

Committee

LeMoyne Wilson

Abstract

A knowledge of the clay minerals in a particular soil series would aid in the characterization and classification of that soil. The physical and chemical properties of a soil are largely controlled by the properties of the clay minerals in the soil.

This thesis presents the results of a study of the weathering products in a calcareous soil, with a B horizon high in clay content, attempting to determine if the clay accumulation is a product of in situ weathering. It was decided to study soil profiles from within the Bonneville Basin, since a fair estimate of time of in situ weathering could be made. This thesis is confined to studies of the clay materials found in three profiles of the Payson soil series. The Payson soil occurs on the low lake terraces of prehistoric Lake Bonneville and is extensive. Profiles selected for this study were taken from Davis and Weber Counties, Utah.

Clays are composed of two groups of minerals: those which are the remnants of larger, partially decomposed minerals (primary minerals), and recrystalization products (secondary minerals). Clay minerals are secondary minerals that are essentially hydrous aluminum silicates, or occasionally hydrous magnesium silicates (23). Clay, or clay material, characterizes minerals of very small size which may be clay minerals. Clay minerals occur in most clay materials in particles less than 5 (.005 mm.) in diameter.

Clay minerals are products of chemical weathering. The relation of clay minerals to chemical weathering in calcareous soils has long been a moot question. Reiche (56) states, "Chemical weathering, under calcification, is retarded; and there is some suggestion from the laboratory that bentonitic, rather than kaolinitic clay minerals, may be the normal end-products." Grim (21, p. 343) believes there can be no silicate alteration until all calcium has been leached out; which can be interpreted as meaning that clay minerals can not decompose or precipitate in the presence of calcium. Jenny (38, p. 71) concluded that ". . . only after the removal of the carbonates are the characteristic regional profile differentiations instigated." Most authors agree that weathering in calcareous soils will proceed slowly, if at all.

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