Behaviour of lead and zinc in calcrete-bearing soils around Bou Grine, Tunisia — its application to geochemical exploration

The behaviour of Pb and Zn was studied in soils containing calcrete to determine the effect of calcrete formation on the surface expression of mineralization. Earlier investigations had shown that: (1) calcrete develops epigenetically within the soil from other minerals present in the horizon that is being encrusted; and (2) this epigenetic replacement is isovolumetric.One consequence of this process for geochemical exploration is that the development of calcrete can be compared to installing a screen that weakens the contrast of the anomaly. Another geochemical consequence is that the metals that were initially associated with various mineralogical phases in the parent rock will associate mainly with HCl (1N) soluble components inthe calcrete horizons. In noncalcreted horizons, and in particular in the surficial layers, the metals are divided between carbonate and oxide phases, the latter being more or less well-crystallized.