Saprolites in the southeast region of Brazil: morphology, classification and evolution physical-geochemistry-mineralogical The saprolite is a geological body constituted by the mixture of primary and secondary minerals resulting of physical and chemical weathering, which retains traces of the original rock structure. It differs from the soil by the evident litogenetic affiliation and insignificant biological activity. Although the definitions, however, the limit and the distinction between soil and saprolite are not always clear, because the continuity between these bodies in terms of hydrological and geochemical processes, as well as their physical and mineralogical compositions, which creates great confusion in morphological descriptions and information network. Due to the multidisciplinary nature of the sciences involved and the partial dedication of all of them in the saprolite investigations, there is a great lack of standardization of terms and procedures for characterization and analysis. The overall objective of this thesis is the characterization of saprolite developed from various lithologies in order to draw up procedures for the description, classification and saprolite analysis. Specifically aimed to evaluate in detail the patterns of physical, mineralogical and geochemical changes in some materials influenced by lithological attributes how the mineralogical and chemical composition, as well as the structure of parental material. For this were described and sampled 15 weathering profiles, composed of soil, saprolite and rock derived from sedimentary and metamorphic rocks in southeastern Brazil, in the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. The descriptions shown that saprolite evaluated can be grouped into four main morphological types, proposed the following structural categories: continuous, fractured, fragmented and earthy. Among all evaluated saprolite, those derived from metamorphic rocks showed higher morphological complexity. Thus, 9 affiliated profiles schists and gneisses to have been subjected to physical, geochemical and mineralogical analyzes to evaluate the change processes and to developing the classification system of saprolites. The mineralogical composition of soils and saprolite was similar, however, there were dissimilarities regard geochemical attributes between this bodies. Physical properties such as density and porosity showed no significant differences between soil and saprolite, however, when considered in isolation saprolite samples, there was a positive correlation between weight loss and total porosity, making this last attribute able to integrate the proposed saprolite classification.
