Mineralogical study of weathering products of granodiorite at Shinshiro City (II)

In the preceeding paper (1), the general character of the weathering profile of granodiorite indicated that physical weathering was prevailing in the lower two zones and chemical weathering was dominant in the upper zone of the profile. It was also shown that the weathering profile has been developed in a severe chemical environment under oxidizing condition such as that encountered in the subtropical or warm temperate humid climate. The chemical weathering of the constituent minerals of the parent rock and the materials produced from them in such a weathering environment will now be examined. In this paper, the stability or duration of the primary minerals will bestudied.