Origin and Mineralogy of Clays: Clays and the Environment

348 Pages·1995·7.578 MB·English

by  B. Velde (auth.), Dr. Bruce Velde (eds.)

Origin and Mineralogy of Clays
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH
B. Velde
(Ed.)
Origin
and Mineralogy
of Clays
Clays and the Environment
With 182 Figures and 7 Tables
, Springer
Dr. BRUCE VELDE
Laboratoire de Geologie
Ecole Normale Superieure
UA 1316 CNRS
24 rue Lhomond
75231 Paris
France
ISBN 978-3-642·08195-8
Library of Congress Cataloging·in-Publication Data. Origin and mineralogy of cJays. p. cm.
IncJudes bibliographical references and indexes. Contents: v. 1. Clay and the environmentl
Bruce Velde [editor]
ISBN 978-3-642-08195-8 ISBN 978-3-662-12648-6( eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-12648-6
1. Clay minerals. 2. Clay. 3.
Clay minerals-Environmental aspects. 4. Clay-Environmental aspects. 1. Velde, B.
QE389.625.0n 1995 552'.5-dc20 95-24195
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© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1995
Originally published by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York in 1995
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Preface
The need for a solid understanding of the chemistry and physical
processes of the solid, silicate-dominated surface environment is at
present great and growing. Clay minerals, the most abundant and
chemically active parts of the surface mineral world, are the key to
understanding the links between nature (life), its substrate (sili
cates), and a mastery of the total eco-system by man, but unfortu
nately, the traditions of the study of clays have not always reached
in this direction. Past professional interest has most often been
bogged down in problems of taxonomy (mineral names), the study
of physical and chemical properties without their natural context,
and a general imprecision in the definition of interactions that are
potentially useful to industrial processes. The growing needs of an
industralized world were not considered. Clay mineralogists took
their materials into the laboratory to better study them; agrono
mists simplified and then basically abandoned the identification of
clays and their role in plant growth; and soil engineers abstracted
the reality of the chemistry of clays to a neutral, physical use. The
different fields of research dealing with the silicate surface environ
ment began to ignore each other.
Today there is an increased awareness that the surface envi
ronment is the key to the future of industrial survival, both city and
rural. The lessons of the Eastern bloc nations cannot be ignored,
nor can we continue to ignore the consequences of human activity
on the biosphere; we are part of it, after all. In order to begin to
understand the interdependence of the mineral world and the bio
sphere, it is necessary to understand clay minerals, an agent of
exchange in the chemistry of life.
This book, then, attempts to lay the basis of understanding - it
is hoped in an understandable way-the why and what of clay
minerals. The origins of clays are described in their chemical and
geographic context, while the cycle of geological dispersion and
concentration is discussed with regard to the type of clays that can
be formed and where they can be found. The change and eventual
destruction of clay minerals in the cycle of sedimentation, burial,
and rock-forming is described, and finally, an explanation is given
VI Preface
of the origin of clays which are useful to manufacturing
(hydrothermal alteration). In this text, we hope to facilitate the
discovery of the origin of clay minerals and their abundance in their
various geological habitats. Of course, a brief explanation of the
nomenclature and chemical differences between clays is given to
start the beginner on his way.
With its five contributors, this book is obviously a group effort.
These five people are friends as well as colleagues, and our com
mon interest in writing these chapters was to be as pertinent to
present day needs as possible. Hence we have attempted to give
readers a sort of introduction for environmentalists to the some
what confusing world of clay minerals and clay mineralogy. This,
the first volume in the series, lays the foundations for a fuller
understanding of the real problems of clays in the environment.
The second volume then goes on to demonstrate the importance of
clays in their different environments as they affect specific prob
lems of interaction between the inanimate and living world.
The volume editor would like to thank his friends and highly
competent fellow clay mineralogists for contributing to the
endeavor: the organization and conception of the different chap
ters and the assemblage benefited greatly from their patience and
good will. Our publishing editor must also be thanked for his
patience. Most of all, our gratitude is due to the home computer.
We hope that the volume will lead young scientists to under
stand and use this knowledge and to develop a better understand
ing of clay problems, the use of clays, and the potential they have in
limiting the nefarious effects of other actors in the industrial or
agricultural cycle. Knowledge is power, and a little prevention
based upon some knowledge will certainly go a long way in avoid
ing much regret in the future.
Paris, July 1995 B. VELDE
Contents
1 Geology of Clays
B. VELDE •••••.•••••••••••••••••••••••.•••.•. 1
1.1 Why Clays Form .............................. 1
1.2 Where Clays Form ............................ 3
1.3 Clay Formation: The Chemical Necessity ........ 5
2 Composition and Mineralogy of Clay Minerals
B. VELDE ••••••.••••••..•••••••...•••••••.••• 8
2.1 Introduction ................................. 8
2.2 Physical Properties of Clays .................... 9
2.2.1 Particles and Shapes ........................... 9
2.2.1.1 Something About Clay Particles ................ 9
2.2.2 Clays and Water .............................. 11
2.2.3 Clays in Water ............................... 13
2.2.3.1 Mixtures of Water and Clays ................... 13
2.2.3.2 Clays in Water and Transport .................. 14
2.2.3.3 Exchange of Ionic Species (CEC) ............... 15
2.2.4 Summary .................................... 17
2.3 Crystallographic Structure of Clay Minerals ...... 17
2.3.1 Tetrahedra ................................... 18
2.3.2 Octahedra ................................... 19
2.3.3 Layer Structures Through Linkage .............. 19
2.3.3.1 Repeat Distances ............................. 20
2.3.4 Crystalline Water ............................. 22
2.3.5 Chemical Substitutions in the Structures ......... 23
2.3.5.1 Charge on the Unit Cell
for Different Layer Types ..................... 23
2.3.5.2 Charge on Ions in a Given Coordination Site ..... 23
2.3.5.3 Substitutional Types .......................... 24
2.3.6 Substitutions and Mineral Species ............... 27
2.4 Mineral Families ............................. 28
2.4.1 7 A Minerals
(One Octahedral + One Tetrahedral Sheet) ...... 29
VIII Contents
2.4.2 10 A Minerals
(Two Tetrahedral and One Octahedral Layer) .. . 29
2.4.2.1 Neutral Layer (Charge Almost Zero) .......... . 30
2.4.2.2 High Charge Minerals: Mica-Like
(Charge near 1, all Dioctahedral) .............. . 30
2.4.3 Low Charge (Expanding) Minerals: Smectites ... . 31
2.4.3.1 Dioctahedral Expanding Minerals ............. . 31
2.4.3.2 Trioctahedral Expanding Minerals ............. . 32
2.4.4 14 A Chlorites (Two Octahedral +
Two Tetrahedral Unit Layers, 2:1 + 1) ......... . 33
2.4.4.1 Trioctahedral Chlorite Minerals ............... . 33
2.4.4.2 Composition and Substitutions ................ . 34
2.4.5 Mixed Layered Minerals ..................... . 35
2.4.5.1 Mixed Layering Mineral Types ................ . 36
2.4.6 Sepiolite-Palygorskite ....................... . 37
2.4.7 Iron Oxides ................................. . 38
2.4.8 Zeolites .................................... . 39
2.4.9 Summary ................................... . 41
Suggested Reading .......................... . 41
3 Origin of Clays by Rock Weathering
and Soil Formation
D. RIGHI and A. MEUNIER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.2 Weathered Rocks and Soils: The Major Factors
in Their Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.2.1 General Organization:
Soil and Weathered Rock Domains............ 44
3.2.2 Basic Factors in Weathering
and Soil Formation .......................... 46
3.2.2.1 Climate and Water Regime
Within the Soil Mantle ....................... 47
3.2.2.2 Rock Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.2.2.3 Biological Factor:
Vegetation and Soil Organic Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.2.2.4 Age and Soil History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.2.2.5 Topographic Effects: Translocations
and Accumulations .......................... 57
3.2.3 Distribution of Major Soil Types at the Surface
of the World ................................ 60
3.2.4 Structure of Weathered Rocks and Soils. . . . . . . . 62
3.2.4.1 Weathered Rocks:
Inheritance of the Rock Structure ............. 62
Contents IX
3.2.4.2 Soil Structures: Importance of Aggregation .... . 62
3.2.5 Soil Structure-Porosity Relationship ........... . 66
3.2.6 Changes in Rock Density
and Mechanical Properties ................... . 67
3.2.7 Water in Soils:
Content and Chemical Potential .............. . 69
3.2.7.1 Soil-Moisture Retention Curve ............... . 70
3.2.7.2 Flow of Water in Soils and Weathered Rocks .. . 70
3.2.8 Dissolution and Recrystallization Processes .... . 73
3.2.8.1 General Statements ......................... . 73
3.2.8.2 The Proton-Cation Exchange ................ . 76
3.2.9 Basic Factors for Phase Relation Analysis
in Rock Weathering ........................ . 78
3.2.9.1 From Microsites to Microsystems ............. . 78
3.2.9.2 Construction of Phase Diagrams .............. . 81
3.2.10 Summary and Conclusions ................... . 84
3.3 From Rock to Soil: The Granite Example ...... . 87
3.3.1 Clay Formation in Weathered Granite
Under Atlantic Climatic Conditions ........... . 88
3.3.1.1 Weathered Profiles on Granitic Rocks:
The First Stages of Weathering ............... . 88
3.3.1.2 Construction of Phase Diagrams .............. . 93
3.3.1.3 Summary .................................. . 101
3.3.2 Soil Clays Developed on Granite Saprolite
in the Temperate Zone ...................... . 102
3.3.2.1 Methodology ............................... . 102
3.3.2.2 Observations ............................... . 104
3.3.2.3 Clay Genesis in Temperate Acid Soils ......... . 107
3.3.2.4 Composition and Properties
of the Subfractions .......................... . 107
3.3.2.5 Conclusion ................................ . 114
3.3.3 Summary of Weathering Effects .............. . 114
3.4 Clays Formed During Rock Weathering ....... . 115
3.4.1 Weathering of Basic and Ultrabasic Rocks ..... . 115
3.4.1.1 Weathering Profiles ......................... . 115
3.4.1.2 Weathered Macrocrystalline Basic Rocks ...... . 116
3.4.1.3 Weathered Macrocrystalline Ultrabasic Rocks .. . 117
3.4.1.4 Phase Diagrams ............................ . 119
3.4.1.5 Weathered Serpentinite ..................... . 124
3.4.2 Weathering of Basaltic Rocks ................ . 126
3.4.3 Weathering of Clay-Bearing Rocks ........... . 129
3.4.3.1 Weathering of Glauconitic Sandstones ......... . 129
3.4.3.2 Weathering of Marls ........................ . 131
3.4.4 Summary and Conclusions ................... . 133
3.5 Clays Found in Soil Environments ............ . 134
X Contents
3.5.1 Clays in Soils from Cold and Temperate
Climates ................................... . 134
3.5.1.1 Nature and Rate of Clay Mineral Formation ... . 135
3.5.1.2 Podzolization and Clay Mineral Evolution in the
Temperate Zone: Influence of Organic Matter ... 138
3.5.1.3 Clay Illuviation in Soils Developed from Glacial
Loess Deposits: Movement by Transport of
Solids ..................................... . 140
3.5.1.4 Clays in Soils from Heavy Clay Rocks: Selective
Transport of Clays ......................... . 144
3.5.1.5 Summary ................................. . 144
3.5.2 Clays in soils on Volcanic Rocks:
The Short-Range-Ordered Minerals,
Allophane and Imogolite .................... . 145
3.5.3 Clays in Soils Formed Under Tropical Climate
Conditions ................................. . 147
3.5.3.1 Equatorial Wet Zone: Kaolinite and AI,
Fe-Oxyhydroxides in Ferralsols ............... . 148
3.5.3.2 Tropical Dry Zone: Smectites in Vertisols ..... . 152
3.5.4 Arid and Semi-arid Zones: Palygorskite
in Saline Soils and Calcareous Crust .......... . 154
3.6 General Conclusions ........................ . 155
References ................................ . 157
4 Erosion, Sedimentation and Sedimentary Origin
of Clays
S. HILLIER ................................. . 162
4.1 Introduction ............................... . 162
4.2 Origins, Sources and Yields, and Global Fluxes
of Clay Minerals ............................ . 163
4.2.1 Origins of Clay Minerals in Sediments ......... . 163
4.2.2 Sources and Yields ......................... . 165
4.2.3 Global Fluxes .............................. . 168
4.3 Erosion, Transport and Deposition
of Clay Minerals ............................ . 169
4.3.1 Transport by Rivers ......................... . 169
4.3.2 Transport in the Sea and Ocean .............. . 171
4.3.3 Deposition of Clay Minerals by Settling ....... . 177
4.3.3.1 Salt Flocculation ........................... . 178
4.3.3.2 Differential Flocculation and Settling .......... . 180
4.3.3.3 Bio- and Organic Flocculation ................ . 180
4.3.3.4 Properties of Aggregates and Flocs ........... . 181
4.3.4 Erosion, Transport and Deposition by Wind ... . 182
4.3.5 Erosion, Transport and Deposition by Ice ..... . 185