Abstract
Since the Indonesian archipelago is part of the very active and dynamic Pacific Ring of Fires, the volcanic eruptions occur from time to time. Immediately after the eruption of Mount Talang in West Sumatra (April 12, 2005), volcanic ashes, both unleached and leached were collected. The deposits from Mt. Talang were andesitic to basaltic in composition. The volcanic ash consisted of volcanic glass, plagioclase feldspar in various proportions, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, olivine, amphibole, titanomagnetite. We conducted the total elemental analysis of the bulk samples of the volcanic ash. The contents of major, trace and rare elements as well as heavy metals were determined by wet chemical methods and x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses. Although the volcanic ash of Mt. Talang are still very new, an evaluation of the geochemical weathering indices was performed with the objective of showing the volcanic ash condition at the early stage of weathering. Eight weathering indices were evaluated. The results showed that the unleached volcanic ash has higher Ruxton Ratio (R), Weathering Index of Parker (WIP), Product of Weathering Index (PWI) and Silica Titanium Index (STI) values compared to the leached ash, while the leached ash exhibited higher Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA), Chemical Index of Weathering (CIW), Vogt’s Residual Index (VO), and Plagioclase Index of Alteration (PIA). These weathering indices can be used to quantify the condition of the volcanic ashes at the initial stage of weathering, to evaluate their fertility, to provide a better understanding of element mobility during weathering, and predict the source of soil nutrients as well as determine the products of primary minerals alteration.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
B. J. Alloway, “The Origin of Heavy Metals in Soils,” in Heavy Metals in Soils, Ed. by B. J. Alloway (Wiley, New York, 1990), pp. 29–80.
M. C. Arbestain, M. E. Barreal, and F. Macás, “Sulfate Sorption in Nonvolcanic Andisols and Andic Soils from Galicia, NW Spain,” Geoderma, 104, 75–93 (2001).
N. C. Brady and R. R. Weil, The Nature and Properties of Soils, 12th ed. (Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1999), 881 pp.
S. Brantley, L. J. Cesley, and L. L. Stillings, “Isotopic Ratios and Release Rates of Strontium Measured from Weathering Feldspars,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 62, 1493–1500 (1999).
T. Casadevall, W. Rose, T. Gerlach, et al., “Gas Emissions and the Eruptions of Mount St. Helens through 1982,” Science 221, 1383–1385 (1983).
D. J. Chittleborough, “Indices of Weathering for Soils and Paleosols Formed on Silicate Rocks,” Austr. J. Earth Sci. 38, 115–120 (1991).
M. Cortizas, E. G. R. Gayoso, J. C. N. Muoz, et al., “Distribution of Some Selected Major and Trace Elements in Four Italian Soils Developed from the Deposits of the Gauro and Vico Volcanoes,” Geoderma 117, 215–224 (2003).
R. A. Dahlgren and F. C. Ugolini, Effects of Tephra Addition on Soil Processes in Spodosols in the Cascade Range, Washington, USA, Geoderma 45, 331–355 (1989).
R. Dahlgren, S. Shoji, and M. Nanzyo, “Mineralogical Characteristics of Volcanic Ash Soils,” in Volcanic Ash Soil: Genesis, Properties, and Utilization. Developments in Soil Science 21, Ed. by S. Shoji, M. Nanzyo, and R. Dahlgren (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1993), pp. 101–144.
R. A. Dahlgren, J. P. Dragoo, and F. C. Ugolini. “Weathering of Mt. St. Helens Tephra under a Crying-Udic Climatic Region,” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 61, 1519–1525 (1997).
R. A. Dahlgren, M. Saigusa, and F. C. Ugolini, “The Nature, Properties, and Management of Volcanic Soils,” Adv. Agron. 82, 113–182 (2004).
E. Doelsch, V. Van de Kerchove, and H. S. Macary “Heavy Metal Content in Soils of Re’union (Indian Ocean),” Geoderma 134, 119–134 (2006).
H. Eswaran, G. Stoops, and R. De Paepe, “A Contribution to the Study of Soil Formation on Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos,” Pedologie 23, 100–122 (1973).
C. M. Fedo, H. W. Nesbitt, and G. M. Young, “Unraveling the Effects of Potassium Metasomatism in Sedimentary Rocks and Paleosols, with Implications for Paleoweathering Conditions and Provenance,” Geology 23, 921–924 (1995).
C. M. Fedo, K. A. Eriksson, and E. J. Krogstad, “Geochemistry of Shales from the Archean (F3.0 Ga) Buhwa Greenstone Belt, Zimbabwe: Implications for Provenance and Source-Area Weathering,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 60, 1751–1763 (1996).
D. Fiantis, M. Nelson, J. Shamshuddin, T. B. Goh and E. Van Ranst, “Changes in the Chemical and Mineralogical Properties of Mt. Talang Volcanic ash in West Sumatra during the Initial Weathering Phase,” Comm. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. (in press).
Q. Gall, “The Proterozoic Thelon Paleosol, Northwest Territories, Canada,” Precambrian Res., 68 (1994).
A. E. Gates and D. Ritchie, Encyclopedia of Earthquakes and Volcanoes, 3d ed. (Cherkmark Books, New York, 2007), 345 pp.
L. Harnois and J. M. Moore, “Geochemistry and Origin of the Ore Chimney Formation: a Transported Paleoregolith in the Grenville Province of Southeastern Ontario, Canada,” Chem. Geol. 69, 267–289 (1988).
A. J. Herbillon, “Chemical Estimation of Weatherable Minerals Present in the Diagnostic Horizons of Low Activity Clay Soils, in The VIII International Soil Classification Workshop, Brazil, 1986, pp. 39–48.
C. D. Ingamells, “Absorptiometric Methods in Rapid Silicate Analysis,” Anal. Chem. 38(9), 1228–1234 (1966).
P. Jousset and H. Okada, “Post-Eruptive Volcanic Dome Evolution as Revealed by Deformation and Microgravity Observations at Usu Volcano, Hokkaido, Japan,” J. Volcanol. Geoth. Res. 89, 255–273 (1999).
J. A. Katili and A. Sudradjat, “Galunggung, the 1982–1983 Eruption: Volcanological Survey of Indonesia” (Directorate General of Geology and Mineral Resources, Department of Mines and Energy, Bandung, 1984). 102 p.
M. Kimsey, P. McDaniel, D. Strawn, and J. Moore, “Fate of Applied Sulfate in Volcanic Ash-Influenced Forest Soils,” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 69, 1507–1515 (2005).
J. B. Maynard, S. J. Sutton, L. J. Robb, et al., “A Paleosol Developed on Hydrothermally Altered Granite from the Hinterland of the Witwatersrand Basin: Characteristics of a Source of Basin Fill,” J. Geol. 103, 357–377 (1995).
D. M. McKnight, G. L. Feder, and E. A. Stiles, “Toxicity of Volcanic-Ash Leachate to a Blue-Green Alga: Results of a Preliminary Bioassay Experiment,” Environ. Sci. Technol., 15, 362–364 (1981).
E. L. Meijer and P. Buurman, “Chemical Trends in a Perhumid Soil Catena on the Turrialba Volcano (Costa Rica),” Geoderma 117, 185–201 (2003).
S. Moune, P. J. Gauthier, S. R. Gislason, and O. Sigmarsson, “Trace Element Degassing and Enrichment in the Eruptive Plume of the 2000 Eruption of Hekla Volcano, Iceland,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 70, 461–479 (2006).
M. Nanzyo, S. Yamasaki, T. Honna, et al., “Changes in Element Concentrations during Andosol Formation on Tephra in Japan,” Eur. J. Soil Sci. 58, 465–477 (2007).
H. W. Nesbitt and G. M. Young, “Early Proterozoic Climates and Plate Motions Inferred from Major Element Chemistry of Lutites,” Nature 299 (1982).
H. W. Nesbitt and G. M. Young, “Prediction of Some Weathering Trends of Plutonic and Volcanic Rocks Based on Thermodynamic and Kinetic Considerations,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 48, 1523–1534 (1984).
H. W. Nesbitt and G. M. Young, “Formation and Diagenesis of Weathering Profiles,” J. Geol. 97, 129–147 (1989).
A. Nieuwenhuyse and N. Van Breemen, “Quantitative Aspects of Weathering and Neoformation in Selected Costa Rican Volcanic Soils,” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 61, 1450–1458 (1997).
S. V. Omang, “A Rapid Fusion Method for Decomposition and Comprehensive Analysis of Silicates by Atomic Absorption Spectra-Photometry,” Anal. Chim. Acta 46, 225–230 (1969).
A. Parker, “An Index of Weathering for Silicate Rocks,” Geol. Mag. 107, 501–504 (1970).
J. R. Price and M. A. Velbel, “Chemical Weathering Indices Applied to Weathering Profiles Developed on Heterogeneous Felsic Metamorphic Parent Rocks,” Chem. Geol. 202, 397–416 (2003).
E. Roaldset, “Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Quaternary Clays in the Numedal Area, Southern Norway,” Norsk. Geolisk. Tidsskrift. 52, 335–369 (1972).
B. P. Ruxton, “Measures of the Degree of Chemical Weathering of Rocks,” J. Geol. 76, 518–527 (1968).
S. Scollo, P. D. Carlo, and M. Coltelli, “Tephra Fallout of 2001 Etna Flank Eruption: Analysis of the Deposit and Plume Dispersion,” J. Volcanol. Geoth. Res. 160, 147–164 (2007).
S. Shoji and T. Takahashi, “Environmental and Agricultural Significance of Volcanic Ash Soils,” Global Environ. Res. 6, 113–135 (2003).
T. Souri, M. Watanabe, and K. Sakagami, “Contribution of Parker and Product Indexes to Evaluate Weathering Condition of Yellow Brown Forest Soils in Japan,” Geoderma 130, 346–355 (2006).
R. B. Stewart, R. C. Capo, and O. A. Chadwick, “Effects of Rainfall on Weathering Rate, Base Cation Provenance, and Sr Isotope Composition of Hawaiian Soils,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 65, 1087–1099 (2001).
J. Stimac, D. Hickmott, R. Abel, et al., “Redistribution of Pb and Other Volatile Trace Metals during Eruption, Devitrification, and Vapor-Phase Crystallization of the Bandelier Tuff, New Mexico,” J. Volcanol. Geoth. Res. 73, 245–266 (1996).
S. J. Sutton and J. B. Maynard, “Multiple Alteration Events in the History of a Sub-Huronian Regolith at Lauzon Bay, Ontario,” Can. J. Earth Sci. 29, 432–445 (1992).
S. J. Sutton and J. B. Maynard, “Sediment- and Basalt-Hosted Regoliths in the Huronian Supergroup: Role of Parent Lithology in Middle Precambrian Weathering Profiles,” Can. J. Earth Sci. 30, 60–76 (1993).
S. J. Sutton, S. D. Ritger, and J. B. Maynard, “Stratigraphic Control of Chemistry and Mineralogy in Metamorphosed Witwatersrand Quartzites,” J. Geol. 98, 329–341 (1990).
T. Taboada, A. M. Cortizas, C. Garca, and E. Garca-Rodeja, “Particle-Size Fractionation of Titanium and Zirconium during Weathering and Pedogenesis of Granitic Rocks in NW Spain,” Geoderma 131, 18–236 (2006).
M. Tejedor and C. J. F. Díaz, “Volcanic Materials as Mulches for Water Conservation,” Geoderma 117, 283–295 (2003).
F. C. Ugolini, and R. A. Dahlgren, “Soil Development in Volcanic Ash,” Global Environ. Res. 6, 69–81 (2003).
F. C. Ugolini, R. Dahlgren, J. LaManna, et al., “Mineralogy and Weathering Processes in Recent and Holocene Tephra Deposits of the Pacific Northwest, USA,” Geoderma 51, 277–299 (1991).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
The article is published in the original.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fiantis, D., Nelson, M., Shamshuddin, J. et al. Determination of the geochemical weathering indices and trace elements content of new volcanic ash deposits from Mt. Talang (West Sumatra) Indonesia. Eurasian Soil Sc. 43, 1477–1485 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229310130077
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229310130077