Definition
Clay minerals are a diverse group of minerals that are fine grained and crystalline and ultimately form from the aqueous alteration of primary igneous minerals at or near the surface of the Earth. They have a layered structure, commonly consisting of repeating sheets of Si tetrahedra and Al octahedra. The wide diversity of clay minerals stems from the way that these sheets stack together and the identity of ions that commonly substitute into the clay mineral structure. Due to their unique layered structure and their effectiveness as ion exchangers, the formation of clay minerals can have a significant impact over the chemical and isotopic compositions of solid and fluid phases during weathering.
Introduction
Clay minerals are a highly diverse and abundant group of minerals that derive from the interaction of water with rock in the Earth’s crust. Because clay minerals are often found in the clay-size fraction of sediments and soils (i.e., below 2 μm), the terms “clay” and...
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Angove MJ, Johnson BB, Wells JD (1997) Adsorption of cadmium (II) on kaolinite. Colloids Surf A Physicochem Eng Asp 126(2):137–147
Aoyagi K, Kazama T (1980) Transformational changes of clay minerals, zeolites and silica minerals during diagenesis. Sedimentology 27(2):179–188
Appelo CAJ, Postma D (2005) Geochemistry, groundwater and pollution. CRC Press, Leiden
Bailey SW (1972) Determination of chlorite compositions by X-ray spacings and intensities. Clay Clay Miner 20(6):381–388
Bigeleisen J, Mayer MG (1947) Calculation of equilibrium constants for isotopic exchange reactions. J Chem Phys 15(5):261–267
Bolland MDA, Posner AM, Quirk JP (1976) Surface charge on kaolinites in aqueous suspension. Soil Res 14(2):197–216
Chamley H (2013) Clay sedimentology. Springer Science & Business Media, Berlin
Clauer N, Srodon J, Francu J, Sucha V (1997) K-Ar dating of illite fundamental particles separated from illite-smectite. Clay Miner 32(2):181–196
Dixon JB (1989) Kaolin and serpentine group minerals. In: Minerals in soil environments, SSSA Book series, vol 1. SSSA, Madison. 2:467–526
Drever JI (1988) The geochemistry of natural waters, vol 437. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs
Eberl DD, Farmer VC, Barrer RM (1984) Clay mineral formation and transformation in rocks and soils [and discussion]. Philos Trans R Soc Lond A 311(1517):241–257
Ehlmann BL, Mustard JF, Fassett CI, Schon SC, Head JW III, Des Marais DJ, … Murchie SL (2008) Clay minerals in delta deposits and organic preservation potential on Mars. Nat Geosci, 1(6):355–358
Ehlmann BL, Mustard JF, Murchie SL, Bibring JP, Meunier A, Fraeman AA, Langevin Y (2011) Subsurface water and clay mineral formation during the early history of Mars. Nature 479(7371):53–60
Fogg AM, O’Hare D (1999) Study of the intercalation of lithium salt in gibbsite using time-resolved in situ X-ray diffraction. Chem Mater 11(7):1771–1775
Galan E, Ferrell RE (2013) Genesis of clay minerals. In: Handbook of clay science, vol 5. Elsevier, Amsterdam, p 83
Gislason SR, Arnorsson S, Armannsson H (1996) Chemical weathering of basalt in Southwest Iceland; effects of runoff, age of rocks and vegetative/glacial cover. Am J Sci 296(8):837–907
Grotzinger JP, Sumner DY, Kah LC, Stack K, Gupta S, Edgar L, … Milliken R (2014) A habitable fluvio-lacustrine environment at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars. Science 343(6169):1242777
Grotzinger JP, Gupta S, Malin MC, Rubin DM, Schieber J, Siebach K, … Calef F (2015) Deposition, exhumation, and paleoclimate of an ancient lake deposit, Gale crater, Mars. Science 350(6257):aac7575
Kelley S (2002) K-Ar and Ar-Ar dating. Rev Mineral Geochem 47(1):785–818
Kerr PF (1955) Hydrothermal alteration and weathering. Geol Soc Am Spec Pap 62:525–546
Krauskopf KB, Bird DK (1967) Introduction to geochemistry, vol 721. McGraw-Hill, New York
Ma C, Eggleton RA (1999) Cation exchange capacity of kaolinite. Clay Clay Miner 47(2):174–180
Merkel BJ, Planer-Friedrich B, Nordstrom D (2005) Groundwater geochemistry. In: A practical guide to Modeling of natural and contaminated aquatic systems, vol 2. Springer, Berlin
Mermut AR, Cano AF (2001) Baseline studies of the clay minerals society source clays: chemical analyses of major elements. Clay Clay Miner 49(5):381–386
Milliken KL (2003) Late diagenesis and mass transfer in sandstone shale sequences. In: Treatise on geochemistry, vol 7. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 159–190
Murray HH (1991) Overview – clay mineral applications. Appl Clay Sci 5(5):379–395
Murray HH (2000) Traditional and new applications for kaolin, smectite, and palygorskite: a general overview. Appl Clay Sci 17(5):207–221
Nesbitt HW, Fedo CM, Young GM (1997) Quartz and feldspar stability, steady and non-steady-state weathering, and petrogenesis of siliciclastic sands and muds. J Geol 105(2):173–192
Odom IE (1984) Smectite clay minerals: properties and uses. Philos Trans R Soc Lond A 311(1517):391–409
Papelis C, Hayes KF (1996) Distinguishing between interlayer and external sorption sites of clay minerals using X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Colloids Surf A Physicochem Eng Asp 107:89–96
Peacock CL, Sherman DM (2005) Surface complexation model for multisite adsorption of copper (II) onto kaolinite. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 69(15):3733–3745
Perry E, Hower J (1970) Burial diagenesis in Gulf Coast pelitic sediments. Clay Clay Miner 18(3):165–177
Savin SM, Epstein S (1970) The oxygen and hydrogen isotope geochemistry of clay minerals. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 34(1):25–42
Segonzac GD (1970) The transformation of clay minerals during diagenesis and low-grade metamorphism: a review. Sedimentology 15(3–4):281–346
Sheppard SMF, Gilg HA (1996) Stable isotope geochemistry of clay minerals. Clay Miner 31(1):1–24
Singer A (1980) The paleoclimatic interpretation of clay minerals in soils and weathering profiles. Earth Sci Rev 15(4):303–326
Slaughter M, Milne I (2013) The formation of chlorite-like structures from montmorillonite. Clay Clay Miner 1960:114–124
Sposito G, Skipper NT, Sutton R, Park SH, Soper AK, Greathouse JA (1999) Surface geochemistry of the clay minerals. Proc Natl Acad Sci 96(7):3358–3364
Strawn DG, Sparks DL (1999) The use of XAFS to distinguish between inner-and outer-sphere lead adsorption complexes on montmorillonite. J Colloid Interface Sci 216(2):257–269
Strawn DG, Palmer NE, Furnare LJ, Goodell C, Amonette JE, Kukkadapu RK (2004) Copper sorption mechanisms on smectites. Clay Clay Miner 52(3):321–333
Tan D, Yuan P, Annabi-Bergaya F, Dong F, Liu D, He H (2015) A comparative study of tubular halloysite and platy kaolinite as carriers for the loading and release of the herbicide amitrole. Appl Clay Sci 114:190–196
Thiry M (2000) Palaeoclimatic interpretation of clay minerals in marine deposits: an outlook from the continental origin. Earth Sci Rev 49(1):201–221
Urey HC (1947) The thermodynamic properties of isotopic substances. J Chem Soc (Resumed). 562–581
Velde BB, Meunier A (2008) The origin of clay minerals in soils and weathered rocks: with 23 tables. Springer Science & Business Media, Berlin
Virta RL (2013) Common clay and shale. Min Eng 2013(July):36–37
Wilson MJ (1999) The origin and formation of clay minerals in soils: past, present and future perspectives. Clay Miner 34(1):7
Wimpenny J, Colla CA, Yu P, Yin QZ, Rustad JR, Casey WH (2015) Lithium isotope fractionation during uptake by gibbsite. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 168:133–150
Acknowledgments
Prepared by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
Wimpenny, J. (2018). Clay Minerals. In: White, W.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39312-4_51
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39312-4_51
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-39311-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39312-4
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences