Evidence of titanium mobility in soil profiles, Manaus, central Amazonia

Abstract

Titanium minerals are classically considered to be very resistant to weathering in soils. Consequently, variations of titanium concentrations within the soils were used to estimate rates of weathering of parent material. Mobility of Ti was studied in an Amazonian ferralsol using a large set of techniques. Chemical and mineralogical studies of Ti distribution in the soil profile showed that weathering of Ti minerals follows the mineral sequence: ilmenite, pseudorutile, rutile and anatase. This weathering leads to absolute Ti losses on the profile scale. Mineral bags were located at different depths within the top soil, and removed after 6, 12, 18 months in the soil. In all bags the presence of newly generated anatase was recorded after the exposure periods, showing the rapidity of the processes. The vegetation recycles a significant quantity of Ti, increasing Ti mobility in soils. These results indicate that Ti can be mobile under certain conditions and thus should not always be used to estimate weathering rates.