Abstract: Element mobility as a result of chemical weathering of a Carboniferous saprolite near Valparaiso, Chile

A saprolite is preserved when the erosion rate is less than the weathering rate and thus not all weathered material is removed. The partially weathered material is therefore preserved in situ and displays varying weathering intensities through a vertical profile with an increased degree of weathering closer to the surface. As the saprolite develops, the more mobile elements can be released into the environment. Some of these mobile elements, in turn, form into new minerals; others are released into water and soil systems in the vicinity. There are many factors affecting the rate of chemical weathering and thus the flux and dispersion of mobile elements through a saprolite. Factors