| 释义 |
saprolite Geol.|ˈsæprəʊlaɪt|
[f. Gr. σαπρός putrid + -lite.]
Soft, clay-rich, thoroughly decomposed rock formed in situ by chemical weathering of igneous and metamorphic rocks.
1895G. F. Becker in 16th Ann. Rep. U.S. Geol. Survey iii. 289, I propose the term saprolite. Ibid. 290 The deposits referred to..are gold-bearing saprolites. 1935Jrnl. Geol. XLIII. 745 In the Appalachian Piedmont of the southern states, weathering has reduced the granitic rocks to an extensive mantle of incoherent clay, or saprolite, that in places extends to a depth of over 100 feet. 1948Prof. Papers U.S. Geol. Survey No. 213. 125/2 The upper parts of the lodes were in the saprolite zone and were worked as residual placer deposits, but at the base of the saprolite these deposits graded into solid lodes. 1977A. Hallam Planet Earth 48/1 Chemical weathering can produce a rotted rock-form known as a saprolite, which is the product of chemical changes which have taken place in situ.
Hence saproˈlitic a.; ˌsaprolitiˈzation, the process of formation of saprolite.
1904L. J. Spencer tr. Bauer's Precious Stones 361 Several crystals of rhodolite were found..embedded in a decomposed saprolitic rock. 1970D. Carroll Rock Weathering iii. 20 Extensive areas in arid Western Australia are underlain by saprolitic rocks on which lateritic profiles have developed (probably in the Pliocene). Ibid., Saprolitization also occurs in rocks that are covered by later deposits that protect them from erosion. An example is saprolitization under a cover of river gravel or sand through which water percolates. |