Granite weathering and silcrete formation on the Yilgarn Block,Western Australia

Weathering profiles developed on granitic rocks, exposed in the breakaways of the Barr‐Smith Range in the N of the Yilgarn Block of Western Australia, consist of kaolinitic saprolites merging upwards into silcrete, sandstone and grit. The sandstones and silcretes may also form columns or dykes, penetrating downwards into the saprolite. The silcretes are cemented by quartz and anatase, with zircon (QAZ‐cement), and‐the sandstones are cemented by aluminosilicates, either apparently amorphous (as siliceous allophane) or partly crystalline, as kaolinite and opaline silica. Transitional zones between silcretes and sandstones have all cement types. The profiles are characterized by low concentrations of alkalis and alkaline earths and most metals. The QAZ‐silcrete horizons may contain over 3% TiO₂ and 1000 p.p.m. Zr. The profiles evolved through at least four stages: (i) Formation of the deep saprolite‐sand weathering profile by kaolinization of feldspar and mica at depth, and the solution of kaolinite near the top of the profile, causing settling of resistant quartz grains, (ii) Precipitation of QAZ‐cement, the TiO₂ and SiO₂ being derived partly by lateral migration from upslope. (iii) Precipitation of aluminosilicates, in the sandstone and the saprolite. (iv) Erosion and exposure of the profiles by pedimentation. A similar profile occurs further S, at Gabbin, but no QAZ‐silcrete is present and the only exposures are in exploration pits. The kaolinitic saprolite‐quartz sand profiles probably formed under humid conditions, as the equivalents of ferruginous laterite developed on more basic rocks nearby and of lateritic bauxite in the Darling Range. However,’ the sand was a surface horizon and there is no evidence that there was ever a ferruginous zone at these sites. The sequential precipitation of QAZ‐ and aluminosilicate‐cements was probably, a response to increasing aridity and reduced groundwater flow. Aluminosilicate‐cemented materials tend to disaggregrate on exposure but they are probably more abundant than the more prominent QAZ‐silcretes.