To further understand the roles of carbonate and silicate rocks in regulating the atmosphere/soil CO_2level,the flux of CO_2 consumed by the chemical weathering of silicate and carbonate rocks was determined from the elemental change in soil profiles.Results showed that the chemical weathering of carbonate rocks mainly occurred at the rock-regolith interface,and that the further weathering of the residua soil on the carbonate rocks was similar to that of the granite profile.Chemical weathering of the silicate rocks occurred through the whole profiles.Therefore,CO_2 consumed per volume by the silicate profiles[M_(sr)(CO_2)]and the residues on carbonate rocks[M_(cr)(CO2)]were calculated based on the elemental weathering gradients.CO_2 consumed by carbonate protolith[M_(cp)(CO_2)]was calculated from the elemental change at the rock-regolith interface.The M_(sr)(CO_2) were about tens to thousands orders of magnitude greater than M_(cr)(CO_2).Even so,this demonstrated that the residues on carbonate rocks could be a sink of CO2_ on long-term scales.The M_(cp)(CO_2) was about four times larger than M_(sr)(CO_2),which demonstrated that carbonate rocks played a more important role in regulating the CO_2 level than the silicate rocks did during the pedogenic process of the profiles.
In this study, we investigated the spatial characteristics of the rate of soil distribution and the mechanism of major element migration in a typical karst hillslope in Guangxi Province, Southwestern China. Soil redistribution was examined using (137~)Cs technique under different hillslope components. With the combination of geochemical methods, the migration characteristics of major elements in soils of three hillslope components in both the horizontal and vertical directions were determined. Thirty-seven soil samples were collected and analyzed for 137 Cs and the major elements were determined. By using the profile distribution model the mean soil redistribution rates were found to be-17.01, 0.40 and-23.30t ha-1 yr-1 in the summit(BYSD), shoulder(BYSY) and toeslope(BYSJ) components of the studied hillslope, respectively. In comparison to BYSD, the sesquioxides of Fe_2O_3 and TiO_2 tend to be enriched, whereas the alkalis(CaO, MgO, Na_2O and K_2O) tend to be depleted, both in the shoulder and toeslope components. Due to human and animal activities, the contents of CaO, MgO, K_2O and Na_2O have somewhat increased within the topsoil. The results indicated that (137~)Cs activities are significantly correlated with clay particles and organic matter, and are affected by the pedogenic process and vegatation. Overall, it maybe necessary to use techniques such as (137~)Cs to investigate soil erosion with the combination of geochemical methods.
SONG Chang-shunJI Hong-bingHoward Omar BECKFORDCHU Hua-shuoZHANG KunWANG Shi-jie
