New paper published on mineral surface area in deep weathering profiles

Fisher, B. A., Yoo, K., Aufdenkampe, A. K., Nater, E. A., Feinberg, J. M., and Nyquist, J. E.: Mineral surface area in deep weathering profiles reveals the interrelationship of iron oxidation and silicate weathering, Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 51–69, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-51-2023, 2023.

Short summary: We measured the surface area of minerals in two 21 m cores from soil to bedrock to test hypotheses on the formation of the surface area of weathered rock. A sharp increase in high-surface-area secondary minerals extended from 3 m to the ground surface. Half the total surface area was from corroded iron minerals, which form in the presence of oxygen, even though corroded iron comprised less than 0.1 % of the rock. Element removal by rock dissolution started at 7 m but did not form new minerals.