This study proposes an integrated methodology which includes pedological, petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical analyses of transparent heavy-minerals, to reconstruct the weathering patterns and pedogenetic processes in a transport-limited erosion regime. Three representative soil profiles developed on crystalline bedrocks, located in Calabria, southern Italy, were studied in detail including the complete weathering profile along the transect bedrock/grus/soil. Differences in the amounts of heavy minerals in each soil profile appear to be controlled by the nature of the local bedrocks. The addition of allochthonous parent material and a varying extent of chemical weathering, likely influenced by topography and duration of pedogenesis. The heavy mineral shapes and surface microtextures, together with the vertical distribution of major and trace elements, the values of the chemical index of alteration and the relative abundance of the clay mineral types along the profiles highlight the different weathering degrees among the profiles. These features are consistent with iron/manganese oxy-hydroxides and clay neogenesis observed on femic heavy minerals. Moreover, they mark a lithological discontinuity between the bedrock and the upper soil horizons, which led to rejuvenation by erosive and colluvial processes along the slopes and/or aeolian deposition of allochthonous material, presumably including a Late Pleistocene to Holocene pyroclastic input. Chemical weathering affecting the majority of heavy minerals is consistent with high rainfall rates, soil moisture availability and acidic pH conditions likely favored by organic acids, prone to chemical reactions and leaching processes. The clay coatings and iron/manganese segregations in the Bt horizons of all the profiles studied suggest that they developed in a warmer humid climate during the interglacial stages of the Pleistocene.

这项研究提出了一种综合的方法，包括对透明重矿物的土壤学，岩石学，矿物学和地球化学分析，以重建在运输受限的侵蚀体系中的风化模式和成岩过程。详细研究了位于意大利南部卡拉布里亚的结晶基岩上发育的三种代表性土壤剖面，包括沿基岩/砂砾/土壤横断面的完整风化剖面。每个土壤剖面中重矿物含量的差异似乎由当地基岩的性质控制。添加异源母体材料和不同程度的化学风化，可能受地形和成岩作用持续时间的影响。重矿物形状和表面微观结构，连同主要元素和微量元素的垂直分布，沿剖面的化学变化指数值和粘土矿物类型的相对丰度突出了剖面之间的不同风化程度。这些特征与在重金属矿物上观察到的铁/氢氧化锰氢氧化物和粘土新生相一致。此外，它们标志着基岩和上层土壤层之间的岩性不连续性，这导致了沿斜坡和/或风生沉积的异源物质（大概包括晚更新世至全新世的火山碎屑输入）引起的侵蚀和冲积作用而恢复了活力。化学风化影响大多数重矿物，这与高降雨率，土壤水分供应和有机酸可能有利的酸性pH条件是一致的，容易发生化学反应和浸出过程。所有研究剖面的Bt地层中的粘土涂层和铁/锰偏析表明，它们是在更新世间冰期的温暖湿润气候中发育的。