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Lecture 12
Chapter 5:145-157
Clay Minerals
1. Introduction:
Soils are made up of a complex mixture of solids, liquids and gases.
The solid fraction of soils are made up of organic and inorganic components. The
inorganic component of the soil makes up more than 90% of the soil solids.
Inorganic components occur mainly in limited number of compounds with definite
crystalline structure called minerals. The inorganic component includes both primary and
secondary minerals.
The secondary minerals normally are found in the clay fraction of the soil which is the
fraction of the soil solids which is less the 2 micron or 0.002 mm. Clay minerals are
minerals which mainly occur in the clay sized fraction of the soil.
2.
3.
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4.
5.
6.
Silicate Clays.
The silicate clays are layers of tetrahedral and octahedral sheets.
The basic building blocks of tetetrahedral and octahedral sheets are the silica tetrahedron
and the aluminum octahedra.
The Si+4 cation occurs in fourfold and tetrahedral coordination with oxygen whilst the Al3+
is generally found in sixfold or octahedral coordination.
Layer silicate minerals are sometimes defined on the basis of the number of certain
positions occupied by cations. When two-thirds of the octahedral positions are occupied ,
the mineral is called dioctahedral; when all 3 positions are occupied it is called
trioctahedral.
When one octahedral sheet is bonded to one tetrahedral sheet a 1:1 clay mineral results.
Presence of surface and broken - edge OH groups gives the kaolinite clay particles their
electronegativity and their capacity to absorb cations.
In 2:1 clay mineral an octhehedral sheet is bonded to two tetrahedral sheets. The
octahedral sheet is generally sandwiched between the two tetrahedral sheets. The 2:1
clays can be classified into expanding (smectites) and non-expanding clays (Illite and
micas) on the basis of the sheet where isomorphous susbstitution is taking predominantly
taking place (Refer to Figure 5-3).
In the 2:1:1 lattice clays, a positively charge brucite sheet sandwiched between layers
restricts swelling, decreases effective surface area, and decreases the effective CEC of
mineral. The Idealized formular of half cell is Al Mg2(OH)6)K (Mg3(Si4-x Alx)O10(OH)2.
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Substitution occurs is in the tetrahedral layer and the layer change is variable but similar
to mica. It occurs commonly in sedimentary rocks.
Layer
Charge (x)
Kaolinite
1:1
<0.01
[Si4]Al4O10(OH)8.nH2O (n= 0 or 4)
Illite
2:1
1.4-2.0
Mx[Si6.8Al1.2]Al3Fe.025Mg0.75O20(OH)4
Vermiculite
2:1
1.2-1.8
Mx[Si7Al]AlFe.05Mg0.5O20(OH)4
Smectite
2:1
0.5-1.2
Mx[Si8]Al3.2Fe0.2Mg0.6O20(OH)4
Chlorite
2:1:1
Variable
(Al(OH)2.55)4[Si6.8Al01.2}Al3.4Mg0.6)20(OH)4
Group
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8.
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9.
10.
Vocabulary
Tetrahedra
Octahedra
Isomorphic substitution
Chlorite
Illite
Montmorillonite
Soil colloids
Vemicullite
Kaolinite
Sesquioxides
Allophane
Web sites
Worldwatch Institute Homepage. This organization provides environmental data and news to
individuals and organizations interested in the environment. URL: www.worldwatch.org
Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education. This is an excellent electronic
journal about natural resource education. Abstracts are free, articles are not. URL:
www.agronomy.org/journals
The NSCSS Pedology Page has lots of useful information and links to other sites. URL:
www.nscss.org/ped.html
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