The term clay has no single and universally accepted definition. Clays occur as rock-forming materials and in soils, and may constitute an entire member of a rock formation or amount to no more than a small fraction filling cracks or acting as a cement between larger particles. Clays are characterized primarily by their small particle size, which usually is taken as less than 2 μm. Coarse, medium, and fine clays have size ranges about 2–0.5, 0.5–0.2, and below 0.2 μm, respectively. The effective size is determined by the rate of settling in water or by direct electron-microscope measurements. On this basis, any material ground to less than 2-μm particle size becomes a clay.
In ceramic practice, emphasis is placed also on the plastic properties developed when clays are suitably crushed and mixed with water. Most, but not all, clays are composed of platy particles, (Fig. 1) with a large ratio of surface area to mass (ranging from about 10 m2/g to several hundred m2/g). Water absorbed on...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Amil, A. Ruiz; Garcia, A. Ramirez; and MacEwan, D. M. C., 1968, X-ray Diffraction Curves for Analysis of Interstratified Structures. Madrid: Volturna Press, 38p. + 140p. of figures.
Bailey, S. W., 1980. Structures of layer silicates, p. 1–123 in G. W. Brindley and G. Brown, eds., Crystal Structures of Clay minerals and Their X-ray Identification. London: The Mineralogical Society, 495p.
Bailey, S. W., and Brown, B. E., 1962. Chlorite polytypism: I. Regular and Semi-Random One-Layer Structures, Am. Mineralogist, 47, 819–850.
Bates, T. F., 1958. Selected Electron Micrographs of Clays and Other Fine-Grained Minerals, publication no. 51, College of Mineral Industries, Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, Pa.
Bates, T. F., 1962. Halloysite and gibbsite formation in Hawaii, Clays, Clay Minerals, 9, 315–328.
Beutelspacher, H., and Van der Marel, H. W., 1968. Atlas of Electron Microscopy of Clay Minerals and Their Mixtures. New York: Elsevier. 333p.
Brindley, G. W., 1980. Order-disorder in clay mineral structures, p. 125–195, in G. W. Brindley and G. Brown, eds., Crystal Structures of Clay Minerals and Their X-ray Identification. London: The Mineralogical Society, 495p.
Brindley, G. W., and Brown, G. (eds.), 1980. Crystal Structures of Clay Minerals and Their X-ray Identification. London: The Mineralogical Society, 495p.
Brindley, G. W., and MacEwan, D. M. C., 1953, in A. T. Green and G. H. Stewart, eds., Ceramics, A. Symposium 15–93. England: British Ceramic Society.
Chukhrov, F. V., and Zvyagin, B. B., 1966. Halloysite, a crystallochemically and mineralogically distinct species, Proc. Intern. Clay Conf., Jerusalem, Israel, 1, 11–25.
Degens, E. T., 1965. Geochemistry of Sediments. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 382p.
Farmer, V. C., ed., 1974. The Infrared Spectra of Minerals. London: Mineralogical Society, 539p.
Gard, J. A., ed., 1971. The Electron-optical Investigation of Clays. London: Mineralogical Society, 383p.
Grim, R. E., 1962. Applied Clay Mineralogy. New York: McGraw-Hill, 422p.
Grim, R. E., 1968. Clay Mineralogy, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. 596p.
Honjo, G.; Kitamura, N.; and Mihama, K., 1954. A study of clay minerals by electron-diffraction diagrams due to individual crystallites, Acta Crystallogr., 7, 511–513.
Hower, J., and Mowatt, T. C., 1966, Mineralogy of illites and mixed-layer illite-montmorillonites, Am. Mineralogist, 51, 825–854.
Jackson, M. L., 1958. Soil Chemical Analysis. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 498p.
Keller, W. D., 1964. Processes of Origin and Alteration of Clay Minerals, pp. 3–76 in C. I. Rich and G. W. Kunze, eds., Soil Clay Mineralogy. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Univ. of N. Carolina Press.
Keller, W. D., 1967, Geologic occurrence of the clay-mineral layer silicates, in Layer Silicates. A.G.I. Short Course Notes. Washington, D.C.: American Geological Inst., p. WK 1–105, WKR 1–25.
Mackenzie, R. C., ed., 1957. Differential Thermal Investigation of Clays. London: Mineralogical Society, 456p.
Mering, J., and Oberlin, A., 1967, Electron-optical study of smectites, Clays Clay Minerals, 15, 3–15.
Millot, G., 1964. Geologie des Argiles. Paris: Masson et Cie, 499p.
Millot, G., 1970. Geology of Clays; Weathering, Sedimentology, Geochemistry, W. R. Farrand and H. Paquet, trans. New York: Springer, 429p.
Roy, R., and Tuttle, O. F., 1956. Investigations under hydrothermal conditions, in L. H. Ahrens et al., eds., Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Vol. 1. New York: Pergamon Press, 138–180.
Sudo, T., and Sato, M., 1966. Dioctahedral chlorite, Intern. Clay Conf. Proc., Jerusalem, Israel, 1, 33–40.
Van Olphen, H., 1963. Introduction to Clay Colloid Chemistry, New York: Wiley. 318p.
Wada, K., 1967, Structural scheme of soil allophane, Am. Mineralogist, 52, 690–708.
Weaver, C. E., and Pollard, L. D., 1973. The Chemistry of Clay Minerals. Amsterdam/New York: Elsevier, 213p.
Weiss, A.; Thielepape, W.; and Orth, H., 1966, Neue Kaolinit Einlagerungsverbindungen, Internat. Clay Conf. Proc., Jerusalem, Israel, 1, 277–294.
Wones, D., 1967, Compositional variations and phase equilibria of some layer silicates, in Layer Silicates. A. G.I. Short Course Notes. Washington, D.C.: American Geological Inst. p. DRW 1–142.
Zvyagin, B. B., 1967. Electron Diffraction Analysis of Clay Mineral Structures. New York: Plenum Press.
Cross references
Crystallography: Morphological; Electron Microscopy (Transmission); Fire Clays; Isomorphism; Mica Group; Mineral Industries; Order—Disorder; Phyllosilicates; Polysomatism; Portland Cement Mineralogy; Soil Mineralogy; Rock-Forming Minerals
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1981 Hutchinson Ross Publishing Company
About this entry
Cite this entry
Brindley, G.W. (1981). Clays, clay minerals . In: Mineralogy. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30720-6_23
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30720-6_23
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-87933-184-9
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-30720-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive