The effects of weathering in a Mediterranean climate on the mineralogy and microfabric of Paleozoic plutonic rocks of Calabria have been studied. Deeply weathered plutonic rocks occur widely in the main mountain belts of Calabria, southern Italy as a result of changing climate and relief during the Cenozoic through Holocene time. Weathering strongly affects all rock types, including Paleozoic intrusive and metamorphic ones, Miocene sandstone and conglomerate, and Pliocene to Quaternary terrigenous clastic sequences. The minerals of the clay fraction of the weathered rocks or saprolite indicate development under humid temperature to subtropical environment, and a Miocene to Quaternary age for the deep weathering is generally favoured (Guzzetta, 1974; Le Pera & Sorriso-Valvo, 2000a, 2000b).In this note we present several examples of weathering profiles developed on granite, granodiorite and tonalite rocks, on both truncated saprolite mantle, in deep drillings, and in saprolite ma...
WEATHERING OF PLUTONIC ROCKS: AGES, MINERALOGY, MICROFABRIC AND GEOMORPHIC RELATIONSHIPS OF SAPROLITE MANTLES, CALABRIA, SOUTHERN ITALY
IETTO ANTONINO;LE PERA EMILIA;IETTO F;VIOLA S;FEDERICO M
2002-01-01
Abstract
The effects of weathering in a Mediterranean climate on the mineralogy and microfabric of Paleozoic plutonic rocks of Calabria have been studied. Deeply weathered plutonic rocks occur widely in the main mountain belts of Calabria, southern Italy as a result of changing climate and relief during the Cenozoic through Holocene time. Weathering strongly affects all rock types, including Paleozoic intrusive and metamorphic ones, Miocene sandstone and conglomerate, and Pliocene to Quaternary terrigenous clastic sequences. The minerals of the clay fraction of the weathered rocks or saprolite indicate development under humid temperature to subtropical environment, and a Miocene to Quaternary age for the deep weathering is generally favoured (Guzzetta, 1974; Le Pera & Sorriso-Valvo, 2000a, 2000b).In this note we present several examples of weathering profiles developed on granite, granodiorite and tonalite rocks, on both truncated saprolite mantle, in deep drillings, and in saprolite ma...I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
