Ninth Annual V. M. Goldschmidt Conference 7040.

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HOW DOES QUARTZITE WEATHER? A GEOCHEMICAL STUDY OF PROTEROZOIC QUARTZITE

IN THE SEMIARID REGIONS OF DELHI, INDIA. Jayant K. Tripathi and V. Rajamani, School of
Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India 110067.

Quartz is known to be the most resistant rock-
forming mineral during surface weathering.
However, a quartzite, a rock containing more
than 98% quartz, is shown to have many
weathering features that resemble those in
limestones (Wray, 1997). The nature of quartzite
weathering and the mechanism for the formation
of geomorphic features in quartzite are not
understood. In the area around Delhi and
Haryana, middle to late Proterozoic,
metamorphosed quartzite occurs as a series of
sub-parallel ridges. Hard, compact and bouldery
quartzite occurs on top of the ridges as tars and
domes. On the flanks, the rocks have undergone
extensive weathering in and around fractures,
oriented sub-parallel to the surface, through
infiltration of meteoric water. In extensively
weathered zones, the quartzite has become friable
reddish sands which are mined for construction
works. Large boulders left over within the
weathered zones and on top of the ridges show
the development of half to one meter thick, color
and texture zoned weathering rinds.
Mineralogical and geochemical changes
accompanying rind development within quartzite
containing more than 98% quartz were studied to
better understand the weathering mechanisms
under semiarid conditions of Delhi region.
pyrite by rain water; sulfate bearing acidic solution
broke down the primary silicates and quantitatively
mobilized the REE towards the clay-forming
weathering front; Fe2+ in solution reacted with quartz
grain surfaces to form hydrous ferrous silicate layers;
these layers broke down in near surface oxidizing
conditions to form goethite (red-coatings) and the
silica was released to the solution (Morris and
Fletcher, 1987). Therefore, the outer part became
friable and gained Fe as ferric oxi-hydroxide coatings.
Thus the presence of sulfides, albeit present in small
amounts, makes quartzite weatherable even under
semi-arid conditions for the terrain to acquire a rugged
topography.
References: [1] Morris, R. C. and Fletcher, A. B.
(1987) Increased solubility of quartz following ferrous
ferric iron reactions. Nature, 330, 558-561. [2] Wray,
R. A. L. (1997) A global review of solutional
weathering forms on quartz sandstones. Earth Science
Reviews, 42, 137-160.

Unweathered quartzite includes a few grains of

muscovite, biotite, feldspar, tourmaline, calcite and
pyrite, all together making up to 2%. Occasionally
large crystals of pyrite occur in visible concentrations,
up to several percents. In the weathering rind, the
fresh rock is followed by a white compact zone, then a
pink less compact zone and finally by a red friable
outer zone. The main secondary mineral formed in
the white zone is a few percentages of kaolinite by the
breakdown of all primary minerals with the exclusion
of quartz. The progressive weathering resulted in the
loss of Ca, Na and K with accompanying increase in
the CIA (Chemical Index of Alteration); REE and Al
show an increase in the white zone because of
illuviation processes; the REE show no fractionation
as a result of weathering, i.e. the REE patterns remain
invariant excepting a slight flattening because of the
greater mobility of HREE; the outer friable zone has
gained Fe. We suggest that all the mineral and
chemical changes were effected by the dissolution of