Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana Volumen 67, núm. 3, 2015, p. 533-544 http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2015v67n3a15

Control térmico de la meteorización de superficies endurecidas en rocas graníticas (La Pedriza de Manzanares, España)

Manuel García-Rodríguez^1,*, Miguel Gómez-Heras², Rafael Fort², Mónica Álvarez de Buergo²

¹ Departamento de Ciencias Analíticas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED). Paseo Senda del Rey 9. 28040, Madrid, España.
² Instituto de Geociencias IGEO, CSIC-Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, España.

^* This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

Pedriza de Manzanares is part of the Guadarrama National Park in the Spanish Central System. It is characterized by a labyrinthine landscape composed of alternating blocks and large walls of granite. Case-hardened crusts of millimetric thickness covering most of these rock surfaces control the surface alteration and favor the development and distribution of micro-reliefs on the walls. Some variables such as temperature, sclerometric index and micro-relief morphology are analyzed in this paper in order to explain the destructive process of alteration that favors the formation of irregularities on the granite surface. On the other hand, the paper establishes the relation between the first stage of case-hardening in sub-edaphic conditions, which is associated with the alteration front, and the thickness of such crusts and regolith erosion. These results can be applied to other granitic regions with similar characteristics all over the world.

Keywords: Case-hardening, granite weathering, Pedriza de Manzanares, Guadarrama National Park.