Determining Weathering Rates of Soils in China
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______________________________________________________http://www.paper.edu.cn Geoderma 110 (2002) 205–225 www.elsevier.com/locate/geoderma Determining weathering rates of soils in China Lei Duan a,*, Jiming Hao a, Shaodong Xie b, Zhongping Zhou a, Xuemei Ye a aDepartment of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China bCenter of Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China Received 10 October 2001; received in revised form 14 May 2002; accepted 12 July 2002 Abstract As an important parameter for critical load calculation and soil acidification simulation, weathering rates of soils in China were studied using different methods of calculation. The approaches used were the mass balance approach, the soil mineralogical classification, the total analysis correlation, the PROFILE model, the MAGIC model and a simulated leaching experiment. Since chemical weathering of secondary minerals usually plays a much more important role in neutralizing the long-term acidification of soils in China than that of parent material, soil mineralogy rather than parent rock/material type, which is regarded as the most suitable factor representing weathering rates in Europe, should be adopted as the basis for soil classification. The weathering rate assigned to each soil should also be corrected when the effect of temperature is considered. Due to the variation in experimental conditions, the weathering rates of soils from laboratory experiment may be difficult to compare with field determined rates, and should be adjusted by pH and percolation rate. The comparison of various methods in this study shows that the weathering rates of soils estimated by the PROFILE model coincide well with those from other independent methods such as the dynamic modeling by MAGIC and the modified leaching experiment. The weathering rates were very low (usually lower than 1.0 kEqÁha À 1Áyear À 1) for Allites (including Latosol, Lateritic Red Earth, Red Earth, Yellow Earth and Yellow-Brown Earth) in south China and Silalsols (consisting of Dark Brown Forest Soil, Black Soil and Podzolic Soil) in northeast China, and very high for Alpine Soils, Desert Soils and Pedocals in west China. The content of weatherable minerals in soil is the most important factor in determining the spatial distribution of weathering rate in China, while the difference in temperature may be the reason why the weathering rate of soil in northeast China was lower than that in southeast China. D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Weathering rate; Critical load; Soil acidification; China * Corresponding author. Tel.: +86-10-62782030; fax: +86-10-62773650. E-mail address: [email protected] (L. Duan). 0016-7061/02/$ - see front matter D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S0016-7061(02)00231-8 中国科技论文在线______________________________________________________http://www.paper.edu.cn ______________________________________________________http://www.paper.edu.cn 206 L. Duan et al. / Geoderma 110 (2002) 205–225 1. Introduction The supply of base cations from chemical weathering of soil minerals is an important geochemical process determining the long-term availability of plant nutrients and the chemical status of soils. In particular, the weathering of soil provides the major long-term source of alkalinity and, thus, determines the susceptibility of a soil to acidification. If the rate of weathering cannot compensate for the depletion of base cations by biomass uptake and drainage, it is inevitable that acidification occurs (Langan et al., 1996; Sverdrup and Warfvinge, 1988; White and Brantley, 1995). The role of SO2 and NOx emissions (the precursors of acid deposition) in enhancing the rate of soil and freshwater acidification is widely recognized. Critical load, which is defined as the highest deposition of acidifying compounds that will not cause long-term harmful effect to the ecosystem (Nilsson and Grennfelt, 1988), has come into wide use for planning emission abatement of sulphur and nitrogen compounds. For example, the second Sulphur Protocol signed in 1994 by the member countries in Europe prescribed that a reduction of the excess of sulphur deposition over critical loads by 60% (‘‘60% gap closure,’’ 1990 as basic year) should be fulfilled before 2000 (Hettelingh et al., 1995). The Chinese govern- ment has also adopted critical load as a guide to formulating strategies of acid deposition control. In 1998, the Acid Rain Control Zone and Sulphur Dioxide Pollution Control Zone (called the two Control Zones for short) were designated in China for those areas which are, or could become, affected by acid deposition or ambient sulphur dioxide concentrations (Hao et al., 1998). Critical loads derived through a semiquantitative method (Duan et al., 2000) and critical load exceedances were adopted as the most important scientific basis for designation. Critical loads updated by the Steady State Mass Balance (SSMB) method (Duan et al., 2001) should also be applied in formulating national/regional acid deposition control strategies in China (Hao et al., 2001). Central to critical load calculation is the determination of the weathering rates of soils. Different measuring methods have been used, which ranges from field based studies, such as the watershed budget studies (Paces, 1983, 1986; Velbel, 1985; Drever and Clow, 1995) and the use of chronosequences (Bain et al., 1993), to laboratory studies involving Sr isotopic ratios (A˚ berg et al., 1989) or long-term leaching experiments (Hodson and Langan, 1999; Zulla and Billett, 1994). Many acidification models such as PROFILE (Warfvinge and Sverdrup, 1992) and MAGIC (Cosby et al., 1985) may also be applied to calculate weathering rate both for soils and cachments (Langan et al., 1995, 1996).To provide the necessary input data for critical load calculation and acidification simulation, weathering rates of soils in China were studied in 1990s. For instance, long-term leaching experiments (Liao et al., 1997; Liu et al., 1999; Qiu and Yang, 1998; Rong et al., 1997; Wu et al., 1998) and PROFILE model (Larssen et al., 2000; Xie et al., 1995, 1997; Zhao et al., 1995) was applied in determining weathering rates of soils in south and southwest China. However, these studies were confined to several soils and a few areas heavily polluted by acid deposition and cannot meet the requirement of critical load mapping for the whole country. Further studies on weathering rate are needed. Moreover, since the methods mentioned above were developed for European ecosystems, uncertainty may occur when they are applied in China, where the characteristics of soils are quite different. The object of this paper is to compare the weathering rates for spatially extensive and acid 中国科技论文在线______________________________________________________http://www.paper.edu.cn L. Duan et al. / Geoderma 110 (2002) 205–225 207 sensitive soils estimated through different methods, and to test the applicability of these methods in China. 2. Methods and materials The methods used to calculate weathering rate of soil in this study are briefly described below. 2.1. Mass balance approach The supply of base cations from chemical weathering of selected soil horizons can be calculated by comparing the chemical composition of each soil horizon with that of the C horizon, which is assumed to represent the unweathered parent material (Bain et al., 1993; White, 1995). It is considered that titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr) or quartz is stable and immobile through the pedogenlic process and, therefore, provides a reference against which the loss of base cations can be measured (White, 1995). The amount of base cations lost divided by the age of the soil profile produces the historical weathering rate, i.e., the long-term average of weathering rate in the past: X qSz 1 xS;R RW ¼ xP;i À xS;i ; i ¼ Ca; Mg; K; Na ð1Þ Dt i Mi xP;R where xS,R is the fraction of reference component in soil, xP,R is the fraction of reference component in parent material, xS,i is the fraction of element i in soil, xP,i is the fraction of element i in parent material, Mi is the equivalent mass of element i, qS is the bulk density of soil, z is the soil depth and Dt is the soil age. For this study, Ti was used as the conservative element because of its relatively high content in the soil samples. The soils were assumed with large uncertainty to be formed during the last period of glaciation, which ended 12,000 years ago. 2.2. Soil classification At a workshop on critical loads held at Skokloster, Sweden, in 1988, five critical load (assumed to be equal to the weathering rate) classes for forest soils were proposed based on the dominant mineralogy of the soils’ parent materials (as shown in Table 1; Nilsson and Grennfelt, 1988). Soils in Class 1 (with lowest weathering rates) are derived from highly siliceous parent rocks such as quartzite and K-feldspar-rich granite, and soils in Class 5 (with the highest weathering rates) are from parent materials with free carbonates (Marls, limestone and lime-rich proluviun, sediment and aeolian deposit, etc.). Between these extremes are soils derived from plagioclase-rich granite, gneiss, etc. (Class 2), granodiorite, schist, etc. (Class 3), and gabbro and basalt, etc. (Class 4). As compared with soil mineralogy, parent rock/material, the geological origin of Skokloster mineral classes, is less suitable for assessing weathering rates of soils in China, although it is regarded as the most suitable variable representing