PARENT ROCK-SOIL RELATIONSHIP AND SOME IMPLICATIONS TO LAND USE

AND MINERALIZATION IN THE PROVINCE OF DINAGAT ISLANDS

 INTRODUCTION

• WE KNOW MORE ABOUT THE MOVEMENT OF CELESTIAL

BODIES THAN ABOUT THE SOIL UNDERFOOT.

• - LEONARDO DA VINCI
 SOIL - DEFINITION

• COMMON OR TRADITIONAL DEFINITION: THE NATURAL MEDIUM FOR THE GROWTH OF

LAND PLANTS
• ENGINEERING GEOLOGY DEFINITION: ALL UNCONSOLIDATED MATERIALS ABOVE
BEDROCK

• SOURCE: DICTIONARY OF GEOLOGICAL TERMS, AMERCAN GEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE

 SOIL TYPES
• RESIDUAL SOILS
• SOILS FORMED IN PLACE (IN SITU SOILS)
• OCCUR ABOVE THE ROCKS IN WHICH THEY ARE DERIVED

• TRANSPORTED SOILS
• SOILS THAT ARE ERODED AND DEPOSITED IN A DIFFERENT PLACE FROM THEIR ORIGINAL
LOCATION
• INCLUDES UNCONSOLIDATED OR LOOSE MATERIALS TRANSPORTED BY RIVERS (ALLUVIUM),
MASS MOVEMENT/GRAVITY (COLLUVIUM), MARINE WAVES (COASTAL DEPOSITS, EX. BEACH
SAND), WIND (AEOLIAN DEPOSITS, EX. DUNES)
 SOIL FORMATION

•ROCK ---------- WEATHERING -------- SOIL

• MECHANICAL WEATHERING (DISINTEGRATION) – CAUSES DECREASE IN SIZE WITHOUT
APPRECIABLY ALTERING THE COMPOSITION
• CHEMICAL WEATHERING (DECOMPOSITION) – ALTERATION OF ORIGINAL MINERAL
COMPOSITION OF ORIGINAL ROCK (PARENT MATERIAL) INTO SECONDARY MINERALS
• BIOLOGIC ACTIVITY– EFFECTS OF ORGANISMS AND ADDITION OF ORGANIC MATTER –
ENHANCES SOIL FERTILITY FOR GROWTH OF PLANTS.
BASIC SOIL PROFILE
 FACTORS IN SOIL FORMATION
• PARENT MATERIAL – THE PROPERTIES AND COMPOSITION OF THE ORIGINAL ROCK
AFFECTS THE NATURE OF THE RESULTING SOIL DERIVATIVE
• CLIMATE – RAINFALL AND TEMPERATURE AFFECTS THE RATE OF WEATHERING AND
BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES
• TOPOGRAPHY – SLOPE GRADIENT AFFECTS DOWNSLOPE TRANSPORT OF SOIL
COMPONENTS AND EROSION RATES
• ORGANISMS – RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCUMULATION OF ORGANIC MATTER, NUTRIENT
CYCLING AND SOIL PROFILE MIXING.
• TIME – AFFECTS SOIL MATURITY AND THICKNESS (GIVEN ALL THE FACTORS ABOVE
EQUAL)
 PARENT MATERIAL AND SOIL
• ROCK TYPES
• IGNEOUS ROCKS – FORMED BY SOLIDIFICATION OF COOLED MAGMA (MOLTEN ROCK)
EITHER BELOW (PLUTONIC, EX. ULTRAMAFICS) OR ABOVE (VOLCANIC, EX. BASALT) THE
EARTH’S SURFACE
• SEDIMENTARY ROCKS – FORMED BY COMPACTION AND CEMENTATION OF SEDIMENTS
(CLASTIC SEDIMENTARY ROCKS, EX. SANDSTONE, SILTSTONE), BIOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
(EX. LIMESTONE), OR LITHIFICATION OF ORGANIC MATTER (EX. COAL)
• METAMORPHIC ROCKS – FORMED WHEN PRE-EXISTING ROCKS ARE SUBJECTED TO GREAT
HEAT AND/OR PRESSURE (EX. SCHIST)
REGIONAL GEOLOGIC SETTING
About 80% of Dinagat Islands is underlain by the Dinagat
Ophiolite of Late Cretaceous Age (65.5-99.6 Mya)
emplaced over an older metamorphic basement (Nueva
Estrella Schist).

Post-ophiolite sequence includes clastic sedimentary

sequence (Madanlog Formation, Loreto Clastics,
Motherlode Turbidites) and limestone (Timamana
Limestone)
 EARTH’S LAYER

Mafics

Ultramafics
 OPHIOLITES
Ophiolite – assemblage of rocks that represent a section of the Earth's oceanic crust and the underlying upper
mantle that has been uplifted and exposed above sea level.

New oceanic crust and upper mantle (ophiolite sequence) are formed at spreading centers (MOR-setting) or
nascent subduction zone (Suprasubduction setting), drifts and finally “obducted” at convergent plate boundaries
 OPHIOLITES - IMPORTANCE
• SCIENTIFIC
• SHEDS LIGHT INTO THE GEOLOGIC HISTORY OF THE EARTH
• UNDERSTAND THE TECTONIC SETTING OF A REGION

• ECONOMIC
• HOST TO METALLIC MINERAL DEPOSITS SUCH AS CHROMITE AND NICKELIFEROUS
LATERITE ORE
DINAGAT ISLANDS GEOLOGY
Alluvium and lateritic soils
Timamana Limestone
Motherlode Turbidites
Loreto Clastics – Conglomerate,
sandstones, siltstone
Madanlog Formation - basaltic breccia
Basalt - Igneous volcanic rock
Gabbro- Igneous plutonic rock

Harzburgite-Dunite (Ultramafics)
Igneous Plutonic Rock

Nueva Estrella Schist - Metamorphic

Rocks
DINAGAT ISLANDS GEOLOGY AND SOIL TYPE
Dinagat Clay Loam

Kabatohan Loam

Bolinao Clay
(Steep phase)
Hydrosol

Source : Bureau of Soil and

Water Management (BSWM)
 SOIL CLASSIFICATION -USDA
• TEXTURAL CLASSIFICATION BASED ON PERCENTAGE OF CLAY, SILT AND
SAND USED PRIMARILY FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES
COMMON ROCK-FORMING MINERALS - IGNEOUS ROCKS
 COMMON ROCK-FORMING MINERALS - IGNEOUS ROCKS

FERROMAGNESIAN
MINERALS

OLIVINE PYROXENE AMPHIBOLE BIOTITE

PLAGIOCLASE ORTHOCLASE QUARTZ MUSCOVITE

COMMON IGNEOUS ROCKS
ULTRAMAFIC ROCKS --- WEATHERING ---- “SERPENTINE SOILS”

Ultramafic rocks – plutonic igneous rocks rich in

ferromagnesian (Fe-Mg) minerals (olivine and pyroxene)

Serpentinite – result from alteration of magnesium-rich

minerals to serpentine group of minerals

Soils developed in ultramafic terrain are known in literature

as “serpentine soils”
ULTRAMAFIC ROCKS --- WEATHERING ---- “SERPENTINE SOILS”
RELATIVE STABILITY OF MINERALS TO WEATHERING
Goldich Dissolution Series (1938)
 Dominant silicate minerals (olivine
SOILS IN ULTRAMAFICS ROCKS and pyroxene) formed at higher
temperatures and least resistant to
chemical weathering . Thus
assuming all other factors in soil
formation being equal, soil
development will be more rapid in
areas underlain by ultramafic rocks
– thicker soil profile

Silica content is less, thus soils will

be clayey than sandy in nature –
implication on engineering
properties of soil – slope stability
and type of landslide

Deficient in essential nutrients, low

Ca:Mg ratio, high concentration of
heavy metals – implication to soil
fertility
 SOILS IN ULTRAMAFICS ROCKS
Nutrient Element Concentration in Rocks
Element Ultramafic Mafic Silicic Sandstone Shale Carbonate
1 Carbon
2 Hydrogen
3 Oxygen
4 Nitrogen (N) 6 20 20 - - -
5 Phosporus (P) 220 1100 600 170 700 400
6 Potassium (K) 40 8300 42000 10700 26600 2700
7 Sulfur (S) 300 300 300 240 2400 1200
8 Calcium (Ca) 25000 76000 5100 39100 22100 302000
9 Magnesium (Mg) 204000 46000 1600 7000 15000 47000
10 Copper (Cu) 10 87 10 1 45 4
11 Zinc (Zn) 50 105 39 16 95 20
12 Boron (B) 3 5 10 35 100 20
13 Chlorine (17) 85 200 300 10 180 150
14 Molybdenum (Mo) 0.3 1.5 1.3 0.2 2.6 0.4
15 Iron (Fe) 94300 86500 14200 9800 47200 3800
16 Manganese (Mn) 1620 1500 390 100 850 1100

Vanadium (V) 40 250 44 20 130 20

Chromium (Cr) 1600 170 4 35 90 11
Nickel (Ni) 2000 130 5 2 68 20
Cobalt (Co) 150 48 1 0.3 19 0.1

Ca/Mg Ratio 0.12 1.65 3.19 5.59 1.47 6.43

Source: Serpentine Geoecology of Western North America

SOILS IN ULTRAMAFICS ROCKS - IMPLICATION ON SOIL FERTILITY

• 1. DEFICIENT IN NITROGEN, PHOSPORUS AND POTASSIUM

• 2. LOW CALCIUM/MAGNESIUM RATIO
• 3. IRON, CHROMIUM, NICKEL – BENEFICIAL IN SMALL AMOUNTS BUT TOXIC OR RESTRICTIVE TO PLANT
GROWTH AT ELEVATED LEVELS
• 4. LOW VALUE OF MOLYBDENUM

Source: Serpentine Geoecology of Western North America

 SOILS IN ULTRAMAFIC ROCKS AND ORE DEPOSITS

AVERAGE ABUNDANCE OF SELECTED MINOR ELEMENTS IN THE EARTH'S CRUST

Element Earth's Crust Ultramafic Basalt Granodiorite Granite Shale Limestone
Gold (Au) 0.004 0.005 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.005
Copper (Cu) 55 10 100 30 10 50 15
Manganese 950 1300 2200 1200 500 850 1100
Chromium (Cr) 100 2000 200 20 4 100 10
Nickel (Ni) 75 2000 150 20 0.5 0.7 12
Cobalt (Co) 25 150 50 10 1 20 4

Levinson(1974), Exploration Geochemistry

SOILS IN ULTRAMAFIC ROCKS AND NICKEL LATERITE ORE DEPOSITS
SOILS IN ULTRAMAFIC ROCKS AND NICKEL LATERITE ORE DEPOSITS

Nickel laterite deposits in Caraga is at present the main commodity being mined with twenty-two (22) mines
currently operating, twenty (20) of which are within the Surigao Mineral Reservation. A processing plant
(THPAL) in Claver, Surigao del Norte is now operating to process limonitic nickel ore
 IN CONCLUSION

• BULK OF DINAGAT ISLANDS IS UNDERLAIN BY OPHIOLITE

SEQUENCE, A GREAT PERCENTAGE OF WHICH ARE ULTRAMAFIC
ROCKS

• SOILS THAT DEVELOP IN ULTRAMAFIC TERRAINS HAVE UNIQUE

CHARACTERISTICS AND HAVE CERTAIN IMPLICATIONS TO SOIL
FERTILITY, ORE DEPOSIT FORMATION AND GEOLOGIC HAZARD
(LANDSLIDE IN PARTICULAR)
THANK YOU