Clay minerals form in a wide variety of crustal environments, e.g. in soil profiles, in sediments at the surface and in deeply buried sedimentary deposits, and under regional, contact and hydrothermal metamorphism conditions. The book provides information about the dynamics of isotope systems in clays and helps us to understand the physical and chemical parameters in the transfer of masses within the crustal domain. Written for graduate students taking courses in sedimentary geochemistry, clay mineralogy, and soil mineralogy, the book will also appeal to scientists carrying out research on clay genesis and mass transfer in crustal environments.
Origin and Mineralogy of Clays, the first of two volumes, lays the groundwork for a thorough study of clays in the environment. The second volume will deal with environmental interaction. Going from soils to sediments to diagenesis and hydrothermal alteration, the book covers the whole spectrum of clays. The chapters on surface environments are of great relevance in regard to environmental problems in soils, rivers and lake-ocean situations, showing the greatest interaction between living species and the chemicals in their habitat. The book is of interest to scientists and students working on environmental issues.
As the human population grows from seven billion toward an inevitable nine or 10 billion, the demands on the limited supply of soils will grow and intensify. Soils are essential for the sustenance of almost all plants and animals, including humans, but soils are virtually infinitely variable. Clays are the most reactive and interactive inorganic compounds in soils. Clays in soils often differ from pure clay minerals of geological origin. They provide a template for most of the reactive organic matter in soils. They directly affect plant nutrients, soil temperature and pH, aggregate sizes and strength, porosity and water-holding capacities. This book aims to help improve predictions of important properties of soils through a modern understanding of their highly reactive clay minerals as they are formed and occur in soils worldwide. It examines how clays occur in soils and the role of soil clays in disparate applications including plant nutrition, soil structure, and water-holding capacity, soil quality, soil shrinkage and swelling, carbon sequestration, pollution control and remediation, medicine, forensic investigation, and deciphering human and environmental histories. Features: Provides information on the conditions that lead to the formation of clay minerals in soils Distinguishes soil clays and types of clay minerals Describes clay mineral structures and their origins Describes occurrences and associations of clays in soil Details roles of clays in applications of soils Heavily illustrated with photos, diagrams, and electron micrographs Includes user-friendly description of a new method of identification To know soil clays is to enable their use toward achieving improvements in the management of soils for enhancing their performance in one or more of their three main functions of enabling plant growth, regulating water flow to plants, and buffering environmental changes. This book provides an easily-read and extensively-illustrated description of the nature, formation, identification, occurrence and associations, measurement, reactivities, and applications of clays in soils.
This companion volume to Velde's Origin and Mineralogy of Clays deals with the role of clays in specific environmental issues, and is unique in its subject matter. Individual chapters are written by recognized international experts in their field, and cover such subjects as radioactive waste disposal, trace metals, soil quality and productivity, pesticides, landfill, fibrous minerals and health. The approach combines reviews with current research, making it an invaluable resource for students, researchers and practitioners alike.
This book is an attempt to provide a comprehensive and coherent description of three widely separated aspects of clays: the science of clays; the industrial uses of clays; and the role of clays in the environment. Most of the existing literature lacks such an integrated study and this work endeavours to fill that gap. An exhaustive account of the science of clays is presented in Part I of the book, which includes the classification, origin and evolution, composition and internal structure, chemical and physical properties of clays; soil mechanics; and analytical techniques for determining clay constituents. Part II provides a comprehensive description of the applications of clays and their derivatives in various industries, while Part III describes the role of clays in the environment; the pollution caused by clay minerals; and the application of clays in order to prevent environmental hazards. A principal feature of the book is its explanation of how the structure and composition of particular clay types facilitate their specific industrial or environmental applications, thus describing the interrelationship between three widely varying aspects of clay. A number of thought-provoking questions are raised at the end of the work in order to leave readers with a better insight in this regard.
Introduction to Clay Minerals is designed to give a detailed, concise and clear introduction to clay mineralogy. Using the information presented here, one should be able to understand clays and their mineralogy, their uses and importance in modern life.
Proceedings of the 10th International Clays Conference, Adelaide, Australia, July 18 to 23, 1993. Clays have provided us with the most active ingredients in soils, with building materials, with pottery and ceramics for both utility and decoration, and with coatings and fillers for paper, among other uses. The unique properties of these apparently everyday materials are being studied and used in an increasing range of industrial and environmental applications. Clays: Controlling the Environment provides a valuable compendium of the latest results from the complete range of clay-related scientific research. It includes coverage of the economic and environmental issues as well as directions for further research and development in many vital and expanding industries. All papers in these proceedings were subject to peer review. The topics discussed are: Clays in industry and the environment Surface and interlayer reactions Clay mineral structures and chemistry Methods of investigation Clays in geology Soil mineralogy The emphasis of this book reflects the vital role that clays play in controlling natural, polluted and technological environments.
Here is a comprehensive and up to-do-date presentation of the origins, and properties of clay minerals at the Earth ́s surface. The text reviews the relatively simple laws that govern the chemical or isotopic composition and the crystalline structure of clays, and then discusses their genesis and alteration. Concluding chapters show that clay minerals can form in variety of different environments: meteorites, lavas, subduction zones, among others.
This book provides a comprehensive and critical summary of clay mineral literature that relates to geology and geologic processes, making it useful both as a reference book for geologists and as a text for the specialist.The book encompasses the full scope of clay-shale geology. An introductory chapter provides basic background terminology and classification. This is followed by a relatively long chapter on the structure and composition of the various clay minerals. Chapter 3 provides an introduction to soil formation, chemical weathering, microbial alteration and the pedogenic formation of clay minerals. Chapters 4 and 5 cover the continental and marine transport, and deposition of clays. Both mechanisms and examples are presented, ranging from biodepositional to the nepheloid layer. Chapter 6 reviews data on the low to high temperature formation of clay minerals from marine volcanics, and the growth of authigenic clays in shallow marine, brackish, and evaporite environments. Chapter 7, Diagenesis Metamorphism, covers both burial diagenesis and the processes occurring during the conversion of shale to clay. Chapter 8 discusses the formation of authigenic-diagenetic formation of clays in sandstones. Chapter 9 describes the temperal distribution of clay minerals in North and South America, Europe, Africa and the Atlantic Ocean. The clay suites are related to factors such as continental drift, tectonics, climate and environment. The final brief chapter covers compaction, lithification and some general features of shales.The book is liberally sprinkled with x-ray patterns, chemical analyses, and SEM and TEM pictures, in addition to hundreds of examples.
