Broadening Theories of Soil Genesis: Insights from Tanzania and Simple Models Mark Gabriel Little Doctor of Philosophy
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RICE UNIVERSITY Broadening Theories of Soil Genesis: Insights from Tanzania and Simple Models by Mark Gabriel Little A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE Doctor of Philosophy APPROVED, THESIS COMMITTEE: Cin-Ty ee, Chair, Assistant Professor Earth Science Andreas Liittge, Associ e Professor Earth Science and Chemistry ~~d/Maso~Olh~ Pl"()fussor Civil and Environmental Engineering Jo Anderson, W. Maurice Ewing Pr: essor in Oceanography Earth Science Carrie Masiello, Assistant Professor Earth Science HOUSTON, TEXAS MAY2007 ABSTRACT Broadening Theories of Soil Genesis: Insights from Tanzania and Simple Models by Mark Gabriel Little Three basic assumptions of soil formation are challenged herein: the degree of chemical weathering decreases with depth; increased physical weathering due to high topographical gradients causes an in?rease in chemical weathering; and the mineral soil derives from the transformation of in situ parent material. The first part presents an investigation into the degree and nature of chemical weathering during soil formation on a volcanic substrate on Mt. Kilimanjaro in northern Tanzania. The degree of weathering was found to increase with depth in the soil profile. Observations show that the upper and lower layers of the weathering profile have undergone different weathering histories. The presence of a buried paleosol or enhanced weathering due to lateral subsurface water flow may explain the observations, the latter having novel implications for the transport of dissolved cations to the ocean. The second part presents a model to test the link between chemical weathering associated with soil fmmation and erosion associated with mass wasting. The predicted ratios suspended/dissolved ratios, however, are all higher than observed in rivers, the discrepancy worsening with increasing topographic relief. This discrepancy arises from the fact that in regions of high relief, mass wasting are so high that soil mantles do not reside on hillslopes long enough to allow for significant chemical weathering. The discrepancy between the model and observations can be explained by: over-estimate of predicted suspended load; absence of chemical weathering of deltaic/alluvial sediments from the model; or chemical weathering associated with groundwater weathering. The third part presents data from a sequential extraction on a basaltic soil from Mt. Meru in Northern Tanzania. The behavior of relatively immobile elements is consistent with soil formation being accompanied by mass loss due to chemical weathering. However, superimposed on this mass loss appears to be enrichment of most elements measured. These data suggest that the surface of the Meru soil columns may have experienced "re-fertilization" by the deposition of volcanic ash. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the fall of2003, I arrived in Houston to work with Cin-ty A Lee, the most inquisitive, challenging and creative advisor I could ask for. Cin-ty has shaped my concept of good science and the societal role of the scientist. He has also provided vital research funds and much of my stipend (through departmental funds and a Packard Fellowship). The bulk of my stipend has been generously provided by a Ford Foundation Fellowship and the Office of the President of Rice University. I came to Rice with the support of many former professors including Richard O'Connell, Daniel Schrag, John Shaw, Joseph Kalt and Otto Solbrig at Harvard and my senior thesis advisor, Maria Zuber, from M.I.T. Conversations with my thesis committee, Andreas Liittge, Mason Tomson, John Anderson and Carrie Masiello, have been central to my progress and research. Others have also been wonderful resources: Arnaud Agranier, Philip Bedient, Jim Blackburn, Joe Cibor, Paul Harcombe, Zhengxue Li, Neal Lane, Julie Morgan, Glen Snyder and Carter Sturm. Musa Naroro, Felix John and Nuru and A.S.S. Mbwana, George Sayulla and Rama Ngatoluwa were all invaluable during fieldwork in Tanzania. I am also grateful to the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy for providing me a way to engage the Houston community. And I am indebted to my students who inspired me while suffering through my disorganization. Of course, none of this would be possible without my parents, Shade Keys Little and Bernadette Gray-Little, my Grandma Little and all of my antecedents. v TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 TITLE PAGE 11 ABSTRACT lV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION 5 PART I: On the formation of an inverted weathering profile on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania: buried paleosol or groundwater weathering? 52 PART II: Physical and chemical weathering in mountainous regions: insights from a model linking chemical weathering to soil formation, creep and mass wasting 96 PART III: Element distribution in soils from Mount Meru, Tanzania: a combined bulk and leach study 157 APPENDIX A: Investigating the distribution of labile metals in a vertisol in southeastern Texas 180 APPENDIX B: Bulk composition tables from Mweka, Olmani and Monduli 200 NOTES 202 BIBLIOGRAPHY 1 INTRODUCTION 2 Soils form a thin chemical boundary layer between the oxidizing, wet atmosphere 6 8 and the solid earth. Compared to the radius of the earth (~ 10 · m) or the thickness of the 4 5 2 2 continents (~ 10 · m), soils are relatively thin (~ 10 to 1o- m). As such, soils account for small fraction of the total mass of the planet. However, soils are located at the boundary between the solid and fluid earth and are therefore exceedingly important for a number of processes including the global C02 cycle, sediment supply to the oceans and numerous other human activities including agriculture. The capacity of C02 to retain solar energy in the atmosphere as heat was suggested as early as 1896 by Svente Arhhenius. The recognition of C02 as an important greenhouse gas has become common knowledge as the combustion of fossil fuels has driven an unprecedented rise in atmospheric C02 (UNFCCC, 1998) (Somerville et al., 2007) (Petit et al., 1999). The relationship between C02 and climate on long time scales has been strongly asserted by the correlation of C02 measurements and temperature proxies in the Vostok ice core (Petit et al., 1999). C02 is removed from the atmosphere when silicate rocks are chemically weathered and on long time scales weathering of silicate rocks is the main sink for C02 (Berner, 1995; Berner et al., 1983a). As the by product of this process, soils retain the reaction products of chemical weathering reactions and are a record of these processes. Chemical weathering reactions liberate some fraction of every element contained in the protolith. These dissolved elements may be transported to the oceans via rivers. The time averaged flux of dissolved material can be deduced from the composition of the soil mantle when compared to samples of unweathered protolith. Physical weathering, e.g. soil creep and mass wasting, liberates un-dissolved solid material that may also be 3 transported to the ocean via rivers as suspended load. Both the dissolved and suspended fluxes are of interest to the sedimentology community and they are important for marine nutrient supply. Areas of high topographic relief are of particular interest because the major rivers of the world have their source in mountainous regions, mass wasting is correlated with topographic gradients and tectonic uplift has been related to weathering rates (Gaillardet et al., 1999; Millot et al., 2002; Raymo et al., 1988). Soils have direct impact on humans because they provide nutrients and a growth substrate for agriculture. Thus understanding the fate of soil nutrients and soil formation rates are important for agricultural planning in natural systems. Soils are also host to a variety of inorganic elements, e.g. Ph (Othman et al., 1997) that may be pernicious or toxic to humans. Therefore the mobility of elements of health concern is important to human health. In East Africa, soil erosion from overgrazing is a growing problem as population demands stress the agricultural and livestock sectors (Little et al., 2001; Scoones and Toulmin, 1999; Solomon et al., 2000). As the population and agricultural use of volcanic soils in Northern Tanzania increases, information about the nutrient availability as well as the distribution of heavy metals will be come more important (Anderson, 1982; Mlingano et al., 2006). The work presented here addresses aspects of each of these soil-related concerns. The first part presents an investigation into the degree and nature of chemical weathering during soil formation on a volcanic substrate on Mt. Kilimanjaro in northern Tanzania. The degree of weathering was found to increase with depth in the soil profile. Observations show that the upper and lower layers of the weathering profile have undergone different weathering histories. The presence of a buried paleosol or enhanced 4 weathering due to lateral subsurface water flow may explain the observations, the latter having novel implications for the transport of dissolved cations to the ocean. The second part presents a model to test the link between chemical weathering associated with soil formation and erosion associated with mass wasting. The predicted ratios suspended/dissolved ratios, however, are all higher than observed in rivers, the discrepancy worsening with increasing topographic relief. This discrepancy arises from the fact that in regions of high relief, mass wasting are so high that soil mantles do not reside on hillslopes long enough to allow for significant chemical weathering. The