Abstract: Common chemical weathering indices such as the Weathering Index of Parker (WIP), the Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA), the Index of Compositional Variability (ICV), CIX index and αAlE are often used to evaluate the chemical weathering intensity of source areas. But the factors which controlling the above chemical weathering indices should be considered, otherwise the results of the weathering evaluation will be distorted. This paper argues that the geological survey of source area should be known when chemical weathering indices are used to study the chemical weathering process. The selection of fine sediments or suspended matter can weaken the influence of grain size on chemical weathering indices. The impurities in the sediments are removed by acid treatment. Then, the Sc/Th-CIA diagram was used to reflect the material source information, Th/SC-Zr/Sc diagram was used to further distinguish the control effect of sedimentary differentiation and sedimentary recirculation, and then the samples with ICV value less than 1 were selected to eliminate the interference of recirculation. The A-CN-K diagram or the formula proposed by Panahi (2000) were used to correct the potassium metasomatism, and the strength of chemical weathering of source rocks was evaluated by CIA eventually. To ensure that the calculation of chemical weathering indices can accurately reflect the weathering situation of the source area, SPSS software can be used to analyze the proportion of some factors which affecting the CIA to construct characteristic weathering index of the study area.

Key words: chemical weathering indices, factors, source, sedimentary differentiation, sedimentary recirculation, potassium
metasomatism