A HYDROGEOCHEMICAL MODEL OF AN INFILTRATI ON ORE-FORMING SYSTEM

The generalization of data concerning the redistribution of materials by the infiltration ground water allows us to consider the volume of h ydrogeological structure involved in the exchange of infiltration wate r as a common ore-forming system producing the regular sequence of com mercial concentrations for a wide spectrum of chemical elements. This sequence begins with products of rock decomposition induced by oxygen and carbon dioxide. In the course of this process, the hydrolysis prod ucts are concentrated in the upper part of the weathering profile, whe reas supergene minerals of more complicated composition are confined t o the lower part of the profile. The sequence is completed bq the accu mulation of products resulting from the infiltration-induced redistrib ution of materials at frontal terminations of stratal and stratal-fiss ure oxidation zones as the oxidizing conditions are drastically replac ed by the reducing conditions. Commercial concentrations derived from the acid-alkaline differentiation are formed under the humid climate w hereas the products of redox differentiation are accumulated mainly in permeable rocks under the arid climate.