50 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. IX, January, 1955 
study the condition which led to the accu- 
mulation of iron and titanium oxides in these 
dehydrated areas. It also offers an excellent 
site for the study of the movements of these 
oxides, and the nature of the minerals in 
which the oxides become stable constituents 
of the concretions and surface soil. 
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES 
The soil samples were selected to give the 
following information: (a) The chemical com- 
position of a typical titaniferous-ferruginous 
laterite profile which occurs in the indurate 
areas near Meyer Lake; (b) The extent of the 
movement of iron and titanium in solution 
and the nature of their deposition products 
by collecting samples; (c) The chemical com- 
position of ferruginous aggregates and con- 
cretions deposited along the shore of Meyer 
Lake by erosion. 
The representative profile was selected in a 
road cut on the slope above Meyer Lake. The 
soil belongs to the Naiwa family of the fer- 
ruginous humic latosol group. The descrip- 
tion of this profile is as follows: 
A Horizon— 0 to 12 inches. Grayish purple, 
concretionary, slaglike, massive, indurate 
layer having a high bulk density. The con- 
cretions vary in size from that of a common 
pinhead to half an inch in diameter. Both 
soil and concretions are strongly magnetic. 
It is obvious that this horizon has accu- 
mulated iron and titanium oxides of high 
specific gravity. 
B Horizon— 12 to 20 inches. A reddish brown, 
friable, non-plastic silty clay loam. 
C Horizon— 20 to 34 inches. Rotten, fine 
grain, grayish lava rocks mixed with red- 
dish brown silty clay soil. The rock was 
in various stages of weathering and would 
crumble easily by pressing in one’s hand. 
D Horizon— below 34 inches. Bluish gray 
clay which had a greasy consistency when 
wet. 
Samples from this profile were analyzed by 
procedures described by Piper (1944). 
A series of samples was collected in a line 
Fig. 1. Vertical and horizontal sketches of sampling 
sites on line across a dehydrated area near Meyer 
Lake. 
across an indurate area as shown in Figure 1. 
The indurate layer is identified readily by the 
grayish purple color and the hydrated soil by 
its reddish brown color. Two of the soil 
sampling sites, A and B, at the top of the 
slope, and one site, H, were from hydrated 
soil and five sampling sites were from the 
dehydrated indurate area. The five samples 
from the dehydrated area were separated into 
concretions and soil by screening. The analysis 
for oxides, as described by Piper (1944), was 
used to determine the chemical composition 
of these soils. The analysis for ilmenite, iron 
titanate, was made by an adaptation of a 
procedure described by Thompson (1952). 
The ferrous iron was determined volumetric- 
ally by titration with a standard potassium 
dichromate solution using barium diphenyl- 
amine sulphonate as an indicator after diges- 
tion of sample in HF-H 2 S0 4 and dilution 
with a mixture of boric, phosphoric, and sul- 
furic acids. Ferric iron was determined by 
dissolving the KHS0 4 fusion cake with a 10 
per cent H 2 S0 4 solution, treatment with 
SnCl 2 and an excess HgCl 2 , and titrated with 
standard potassium dichromate. 
Samples collected from the erosional de- 
posits along the shore of Meyer Lake were 
analyzed in the same manner. 
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS 
The chemical composition of the typical 
soil profile of the Naiwa family of the ferru- 
ginous humic latosol is given in Table 1. 
