Intemperismo químico de rochas graníticas na zona bragantina nordeste do Pará

Abstract

Profiles of residual soils derived from granitic rocks which occur in the Bragantina Region, Northeastern Pará, were studied chemically and mineralogically. These soils were developed in an ares of gentle topography and good drainage under tropical conditions with well defined "dry" and rainy seasons. The mineral composition of these soils consists essentially of quartz and with decreasing abundantes also appear kaolinite, muscovite, secondary oxides, feldspar and heavy minerals. This mineral assemblage resulted from the chemical weathering of the parent granitic rocks wh.ose original minerals were decomposed in the following sequence: biotite, feldspars, muscovite, quartz and heavy minerals. The soils are dominantly sandy from which significant amounts of kaolinite, produced during the earlier stages of weathering, were lost in consequente of the intense leaching that is favored by the high pluvial precipitation oves the region. The great stability of quartz under tropical conditions together with the intense leaching of the regolith has led to the development of texturally homogeneous soils in the Bragantina Region.