The dissolution of naturally weathered feldspar and quartz

Surface area measurements and dissolution experiments were performed on subsamples from a naturally weathered mineral assemblage (100–1000 μm) consisting of feldspar and quartz. The subsamples were obtained by splitting the assemblage into four different ranges of grain density, each of which was sieved to three different size fractions. BET-krypton and geometric surface areas, combined with mineralogical data and average grain diameters, showed that (1) surface roughness factors of the subsamples are generally much higher than those of freshly created surfaces by grinding and (2) for individual density ranges (i.e., at constant mineralogical composition), the surface roughness factor decreases linearly with decreasing grain diameter. Scanning electron microscopy and X-Ray diffraction showed that contributions to the surface roughness factors from secondary mineral coatings, macropores (diameters >50 nm) and etch pits are insignificant. In contrast, krypton adsorption data indicated that by far most surface roughness is due to the presence of micropores and mesopores (diameters