Petrological features of laterites developed on gneiss in the Mandoga area (south Cameroon plateau): evidence of two continuously differentiating pedodynamic domains

This study was carried out in the weathering profile on gneiss in the Mandoga area (south Cameroon plateau), on the petrological characterization of the weathered phases. Gneiss is made up of quartz, feldspars, biotite, muscovite, garnet, kyanite, and zircon, with negative Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu* = 0.63). The profile shows three groups of phases: coarse saprolite at the bottom of the weathering horizon, the phases of the fine saprolite, and those of the uppermost part of the weathering profile. The mineralogical composition differs from the coarse saprolite to the top soil. All phases comprised kaolinite, quartz, and goethite. They characterize a pedoclimatic environment-rich in water, favorable to the stability of hydrated minerals. The negative Eu anomaly in all phases reflects the lithodependance of horizons at the expense of the gneiss, the parent rock. The Ce anomalies are linked to the pedodynamic conditions. In the same way, the behavior of REE in the different phases confirms the variation of the geochemical processes of the two pedodynamic domains. The phases from the fine saprolite are enriched in LREE than in HREE and match an overlapping of geochemical pedodynamic processes. Thus, the phases are marked by the geochemical signature along the weathering profile.