Cation and Silica Relationships of Mica Weathering to Vermiculite in Calcareous Harps Soil

A steady state reaction of apparent equilibrium of K mica + Ca 2+ ⇄ Ca vermiculite + K + was indicated by prolonged dissolution extractions from Blount soil clay (from northern Indiana) abundant in dioctahedral mica and vermiculite, with log K eq = 2.92 for the reaction when extrapolated to infinite time. From this and published free energies of formation of mica and kaolinite, a mineral phase stability diagram depicting the phase joins of Ca vermiculite, muscovite, and kaolinite was constructed with the solute activity functions pH-pK + , 2pH- p Ca 2+ , and p Si(OH) 4 . These solute functions for 14-day reactions of calcareous (and dolomitic), poorly drained Harps soil (from central Iowa) fell near the calcite-dolomite-CO 2 -H 2 O phase join, suggesting equilibrium. These functions for Harps soil and the control minerals muscovite, biotite, and (or) vermiculite plus calcite were plotted on the mica-vermiculite stability diagram for various CO 2 partial pressures. The points fell on the vermiculite-stable side of the mica-vermiculite plane at CO 2 partial pressures of 0.15 and 0.20 atm (similar to soil air that would exist under frozen soil during winter and early spring; 2pH-pCa 2+ ≃ 10.3). They fell on the muscovite-stable side of the muscovite-vermiculite plane at CO 2 partial pressures of 0.0001 and 0.001 atm (similar to soil air under natural summer conditions; 2pH- p Ca 2+ , 13.6 and 12.6, respectively) and therefore K + (and 137 Cs + in rainfall) would be expected to be fixed. The 2pH- p Mg 2+ values determined for Harps soil at the various CO 2 partial pressures plotted either in the Mg montmorillonite stability field or on the Mg-montmorillonite-kaolinite phase join, in concordance with the abundance of montmorillonite and some kaolinite in the medium and fine clay fractions. The solute values for the nearby Clarion soil (upland, noncalcareous) plotted on the montmorillonite-kaolinite join, or with higher CO 2 partial pressure, in the kaolinite stability area. The Gibbs free energy of formation (△G f 0 ) for a dioctahedral Ca vermiculite of −1303.7 kcal per 0 10 was determined from the K eq . The solute functions for the Blount soil showed kaolinite to be the thermodynamically stable phase with respect to dioctahedral mica and (or) vermiculite. The 14-day solute values for the Harps and upland Clarion soils were also on the kaolinite stability side of the kaolinite-vermiculite join. The kinetics of kaolinite formation in the upper midwestern U.S.A