Clay

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Gay Head Cliffs in Martha's Vineyard consist almost entirely of clay. Gay head cliffs MV.JPG
Gay Head Cliffs in Martha's Vineyard consist almost entirely of clay.
A quaternary clay in Estonia Clay-ss-2005.jpg
A quaternary clay in Estonia

Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals [1] (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, Al 2 Si 2 O 5(OH)4). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impurities, such as a reddish or brownish colour from small amounts of iron oxide. [2] [3]

Contents

Clays develop plasticity when wet but can be hardened through firing. [4] [5] [6] Clay is the longest-known ceramic material. Prehistoric humans discovered the useful properties of clay and used it for making pottery. Some of the earliest pottery shards have been dated to around 14,000 BC, [7] and clay tablets were the first known writing medium. [8] Clay is used in many modern industrial processes, such as paper making, cement production, and chemical filtering. Between one-half and two-thirds of the world's population live or work in buildings made with clay, often baked into brick, as an essential part of its load-bearing structure.

Clay is a very common substance. Shale, formed largely from clay, is the most common sedimentary rock. [9] Although many naturally occurring deposits include both silts and clay, clays are distinguished from other fine-grained soils by differences in size and mineralogy. Silts, which are fine-grained soils that do not include clay minerals, tend to have larger particle sizes than clays. Mixtures of sand, silt and less than 40% clay are called loam. Soils high in swelling clays (expansive clay), which are clay minerals that readily expand in volume when they absorb water, are a major challenge in civil engineering. [1]

Properties

A 23,500 times magnified electron micrograph of smectite clay Clay magnified.jpg
A 23,500 times magnified electron micrograph of smectite clay

The defining mechanical property of clay is its plasticity when wet and its ability to harden when dried or fired. Clays show a broad range of water content within which they are highly plastic, from a minimum water content (called the plastic limit) where the clay is just moist enough to mould, to a maximum water content (called the liquid limit) where the moulded clay is just dry enough to hold its shape. [10] The plastic limit of kaolinite clay ranges from about 36% to 40% and its liquid limit ranges from about 58% to 72%. [11] High-quality clay is also tough, as measured by the amount of mechanical work required to roll a sample of clay flat. Its toughness reflects a high degree of internal cohesion. [10]

Clay has a high content of clay minerals that give it its plasticity. Clay minerals are hydrous aluminium phyllosilicate minerals, composed of aluminium and silicon ions bonded into tiny, thin plates by interconnecting oxygen and hydroxide ions. These plates are tough but flexible, and in moist clay, they adhere to each other. The resulting aggregates give clay the cohesion that makes it plastic. [12] In kaolinite clay, the bonding between plates is provided by a film of water molecules that hydrogen bond the plates together. The bonds are weak enough to allow the plates to slip past each other when the clay is being moulded, but strong enough to hold the plates in place and allow the moulded clay to retain its shape after it is moulded. When the clay is dried, most of the water molecules are removed, and the plates hydrogen bond directly to each other, so that the dried clay is rigid but still fragile. If the clay is moistened again, it will once more become plastic. When the clay is fired to the earthenware stage, a dehydration reaction removes additional water from the clay, causing clay plates to irreversibly adhere to each other via stronger covalent bonding, which strengthens the material. The clay mineral kaolinite is transformed into a non-clay material, metakaolin, which remains rigid and hard if moistened again. Further firing through the stoneware and porcelain stages further recrystallizes the metakaolin into yet stronger minerals such as mullite. [6]

The tiny size and plate form of clay particles gives clay minerals a high surface area. In some clay minerals, the plates carry a negative electrical charge that is balanced by a surrounding layer of positive ions (cations), such as sodium, potassium, or calcium. If the clay is mixed with a solution containing other cations, these can swap places with the cations in the layer around the clay particles, which gives clays a high capacity for ion exchange. [12] The chemistry of clay minerals, including their capacity to retain nutrient cations such as potassium and ammonium, is important to soil fertility. [13]

Clay is a common component of sedimentary rock. Shale is formed largely from clay and is the most common of sedimentary rocks. [9] However, most clay deposits are impure. Many naturally occurring deposits include both silts and clay. Clays are distinguished from other fine-grained soils by differences in size and mineralogy. Silts, which are fine-grained soils that do not include clay minerals, tend to have larger particle sizes than clays. There is, however, some overlap in particle size and other physical properties. The distinction between silt and clay varies by discipline. Geologists and soil scientists usually consider the separation to occur at a particle size of 2 μm (clays being finer than silts), sedimentologists often use 4–5 μm, and colloid chemists use 1 μm. [4] Clay-size particles and clay minerals are not the same, despite a degree of overlap in their respective definitions. Geotechnical engineers distinguish between silts and clays based on the plasticity properties of the soil, as measured by the soils' Atterberg limits. ISO 14688 grades clay particles as being smaller than 2 μm and silt particles as being larger. Mixtures of sand, silt and less than 40% clay are called loam.

Some clay minerals (such as smectite) are described as swelling clay minerals, because they have a great capacity to take up water, and they increase greatly in volume when they do so. When dried, they shrink back to their original volume. This produces distinctive textures, such as mudcracks or "popcorn" texture, in clay deposits. Soils containing swelling clay minerals (such as bentonite) pose a considerable challenge for civil engineering, because swelling clay can break foundations of buildings and ruin road beds. [1]

Formation

Italian and African-American clay miners in mine shaft, 1910 Italian and African-American Clay Miners in Mine Shaft.jpg
Italian and African-American clay miners in mine shaft, 1910

Clay minerals most commonly form by prolonged chemical weathering of silicate-bearing rocks. They can also form locally from hydrothermal activity. [14] Chemical weathering takes place largely by acid hydrolysis due to low concentrations of carbonic acid, dissolved in rainwater or released by plant roots. The acid breaks bonds between aluminium and oxygen, releasing other metal ions and silica (as a gel of orthosilicic acid).) [15]

The clay minerals formed depend on the composition of the source rock and the climate. Acid weathering of feldspar-rich rock, such as granite, in warm climates tends to produce kaolin. Weathering of the same kind of rock under alkaline conditions produces illite. Smectite forms by weathering of igneous rock under alkaline conditions, while gibbsite forms by intense weathering of other clay minerals. [16]

There are two types of clay deposits: primary and secondary. Primary clays form as residual deposits in soil and remain at the site of formation. Secondary clays are clays that have been transported from their original location by water erosion and deposited in a new sedimentary deposit. [17] Secondary clay deposits are typically associated with very low energy depositional environments such as large lakes and marine basins. [14]

Varieties

The main groups of clays include kaolinite, montmorillonite-smectite, and illite. Chlorite, vermiculite, [18] talc, and pyrophyllite [19] are sometimes also classified as clay minerals. There are approximately 30 different types of "pure" clays in these categories, but most "natural" clay deposits are mixtures of these different types, along with other weathered minerals. [20] Clay minerals in clays are most easily identified using X-ray diffraction rather than chemical or physical tests. [21]

Varve (or varved clay) is clay with visible annual layers that are formed by seasonal deposition of those layers and are marked by differences in erosion and organic content. This type of deposit is common in former glacial lakes. When fine sediments are delivered into the calm waters of these glacial lake basins away from the shoreline, they settle to the lake bed. The resulting seasonal layering is preserved in an even distribution of clay sediment banding. [14]

Quick clay is a unique type of marine clay indigenous to the glaciated terrains of Norway, North America, Northern Ireland, and Sweden. [22] It is a highly sensitive clay, prone to liquefaction, and has been involved in several deadly landslides. [23]

Uses

Clay layers in a construction site in Auckland, New Zealand. Dry clay is normally much more stable than sand in excavations. Clay In A Construction Site.jpg
Clay layers in a construction site in Auckland, New Zealand. Dry clay is normally much more stable than sand in excavations.
A 14th century bottle stopper made of fired clay Diosgyor - 2015.02.07 (145).JPG
A 14th century bottle stopper made of fired clay

Modelling clay is used in art and handicraft for sculpting. Clays are used for making pottery, both utilitarian and decorative, and construction products, such as bricks, walls, and floor tiles. Different types of clay, when used with different minerals and firing conditions, are used to produce earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. Prehistoric humans discovered the useful properties of clay. Some of the earliest pottery shards recovered are from central Honshu, Japan. They are associated with the Jōmon culture, and recovered deposits have been dated to around 14,000 BC. [7] Cooking pots, art objects, dishware, smoking pipes, and even musical instruments such as the ocarina can all be shaped from clay before being fired.

Ancient peoples in Mesopotamia adopted clay tablets as the first known writing medium. [8] Clay was chosen due to the local material being easy to work with and widely available. [24] Scribes wrote on the tablets by inscribing them with a script known as cuneiform, using a blunt reed called a stylus, which effectively produced the wedge shaped markings of their writing. After being written on, clay tablets could be reworked into fresh tablets and reused if needed, or fired to make them permanent records. Purpose-made clay balls were used as sling ammunition. [25] Clay is used in many industrial processes, such as paper making, cement production, and chemical filtering. [26] Bentonite clay is widely used as a mold binder in the manufacture of sand castings. [27] [28]

Mass bathing in liquid clay
as a type of relaxation
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Video (10 minutes) on YouTube
Clay bath near lake Aheme in Benin Bain d'argile a Gogotinkpon au Benin 01.jpg
Clay bath near lake Ahémé in Benin

Medicine

Traditional uses of clay as medicine goes back to prehistoric times. An example is Armenian bole, which is used to soothe an upset stomach. Some animals such as parrots and pigs ingest clay for similar reasons. [29] Kaolin clay and attapulgite have been used as anti-diarrheal medicines. [30]

Construction

A clay building in South Estonia WMEE-exp2019-(113).jpg
A clay building in South Estonia

Clay as the defining ingredient of loam is one of the oldest building materials on Earth, among other ancient, naturally-occurring geologic materials such as stone and organic materials like wood. [31] Between one-half and two-thirds of the world's population, in both traditional societies as well as developed countries, still live or work in buildings made with clay, often baked into brick, as an essential part of its load-bearing structure.[ citation needed ] Also a primary ingredient in many natural building techniques, clay is used to create adobe, cob, cordwood, and structures and building elements such as wattle and daub, clay plaster, clay render case, clay floors and clay paints and ceramic building material. Clay was used as a mortar in brick chimneys and stone walls where protected from water.

Clay, relatively impermeable to water, is also used where natural seals are needed, such as in pond linings, the cores of dams, or as a barrier in landfills against toxic seepage (lining the landfill, preferably in combination with geotextiles). [32] Studies in the early 21st century have investigated clay's absorption capacities in various applications, such as the removal of heavy metals from waste water and air purification. [33] [34]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Olive et al. 1989.
  2. Klein & Hurlbut 1993, pp. 512–514.
  3. Nesse 2000, pp. 252–257.
  4. 1 2 Guggenheim & Martin 1995, pp. 255–256.
  5. Science Learning Hub 2010.
  6. 1 2 Breuer 2012.
  7. 1 2 Scarre 2005, p. 238.
  8. 1 2 Ebert 2011, p. 64.
  9. 1 2 Boggs 2006, p. 140.
  10. 1 2 Moreno-Maroto & Alonso-Azcárate 2018.
  11. White 1949.
  12. 1 2 Bergaya, Theng & Lagaly 2006, pp. 1–18.
  13. Hodges 2010.
  14. 1 2 3 Foley 1999.
  15. Leeder 2011, pp. 5–11.
  16. Leeder 2011, pp. 10–11.
  17. Murray 2002.
  18. Nesse 2000, p. 253.
  19. Klein & Hurlbut 1993, pp. 514–515.
  20. Klein & Hurlbut 1993, p. 512.
  21. Nesse 2000, p. 256.
  22. Rankka et al. 2004.
  23. Natural Resources Canada 2005.
  24. "British Library". www.bl.uk. Archived from the original on 12 September 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  25. Forouzan et al. 2012.
  26. Nesse 2000, p. 257.
  27. Boylu 2011.
  28. Eisenhour & Brown 2009.
  29. Diamond 1999.
  30. Dadu et al. 2015.
  31. Grim 2016.
  32. Koçkar, Akgün & Aktürk 2005.
  33. García-Sanchez, Alvarez-Ayuso & Rodriguez-Martin 2002.
  34. Churchman et al. 2006.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaolinite</span> Phyllosilicate clay mineral

Kaolinite ( KAY-ə-lə-nete, -⁠lih-; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2Si2O5(OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica (SiO4) linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina (AlO6).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shale</span> Fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock

Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2Si2O5(OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. Shale is characterized by its tendency to split into thin layers (laminae) less than one centimeter in thickness. This property is called fissility. Shale is the most common sedimentary rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sedimentary rock</span> Rock formed by the deposition and cementation of particles

Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles to settle in place. The particles that form a sedimentary rock are called sediment, and may be composed of geological detritus (minerals) or biological detritus. The geological detritus originated from weathering and erosion of existing rocks, or from the solidification of molten lava blobs erupted by volcanoes. The geological detritus is transported to the place of deposition by water, wind, ice or mass movement, which are called agents of denudation. Biological detritus was formed by bodies and parts of dead aquatic organisms, as well as their fecal mass, suspended in water and slowly piling up on the floor of water bodies. Sedimentation may also occur as dissolved minerals precipitate from water solution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silt</span> Classification of soil or sediment

Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when dry, and lacks plasticity when wet. Silt can also be felt by the tongue as granular when placed on the front teeth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bentonite</span> Rock type or absorbent swelling clay

Bentonite is an absorbent swelling clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite which can either be Na-montmorillonite or Ca-montmorillonite. Na-montmorillonite has a considerably greater swelling capacity than Ca-montmorillonite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clay mineral</span> Fine-grained aluminium phyllosilicates

Clay minerals are hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates (e.g. kaolin, Al2Si2O5(OH)4), sometimes with variable amounts of iron, magnesium, alkali metals, alkaline earths, and other cations found on or near some planetary surfaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chlorite group</span> Type of mineral

The chlorites are the group of phyllosilicate minerals common in low-grade metamorphic rocks and in altered igneous rocks. Greenschist, formed by metamorphism of basalt or other low-silica volcanic rock, typically contains significant amounts of chlorite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soil mechanics</span> Branch of soil physics and applied mechanics that describes the behavior of soils

Soil mechanics is a branch of soil physics and applied mechanics that describes the behavior of soils. It differs from fluid mechanics and solid mechanics in the sense that soils consist of a heterogeneous mixture of fluids and particles but soil may also contain organic solids and other matter. Along with rock mechanics, soil mechanics provides the theoretical basis for analysis in geotechnical engineering, a subdiscipline of civil engineering, and engineering geology, a subdiscipline of geology. Soil mechanics is used to analyze the deformations of and flow of fluids within natural and man-made structures that are supported on or made of soil, or structures that are buried in soils. Example applications are building and bridge foundations, retaining walls, dams, and buried pipeline systems. Principles of soil mechanics are also used in related disciplines such as geophysical engineering, coastal engineering, agricultural engineering, hydrology and soil physics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montmorillonite</span> Phyllosilicate group of minerals

Montmorillonite is a very soft phyllosilicate group of minerals that form when they precipitate from water solution as microscopic crystals, known as clay. It is named after Montmorillon in France. Montmorillonite, a member of the smectite group, is a 2:1 clay, meaning that it has two tetrahedral sheets of silica sandwiching a central octahedral sheet of alumina. The particles are plate-shaped with an average diameter around 1 μm and a thickness of 0.96 nm; magnification of about 25,000 times, using an electron microscope, is required to resolve individual clay particles. Members of this group include saponite, nontronite, beidellite, and hectorite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palygorskite</span> Magnesium aluminium phyllosilicate mineral

Palygorskite or attapulgite is a magnesium aluminium phyllosilicate with the chemical formula (Mg,Al)2Si4O10(OH)·4(H2O) that occurs in a type of clay soil common to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the types of fuller's earth. Some smaller deposits of this mineral can be found in Mexico, where its use is tied to the manufacture of Maya blue in pre-Columbian times.

Parent material is the underlying geological material in which soil horizons form. Soils typically inherit a great deal of structure and minerals from their parent material, and, as such, are often classified based upon their contents of consolidated or unconsolidated mineral material that has undergone some degree of physical or chemical weathering and the mode by which the materials were most recently transported.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smectite</span> Mineral mixture of phyllosilicates

A smectite is a mineral mixture of various swelling sheet silicates (phyllosilicates), which have a three-layer 2:1 (TOT) structure and belong to the clay minerals. Smectites mainly consist of montmorillonite, but can often contain secondary minerals such as quartz and calcite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mudrock</span> Type of sedimentary rock

Mudrocks are a class of fine-grained siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. The varying types of mudrocks include siltstone, claystone, mudstone, slate, and shale. Most of the particles of which the stone is composed are less than 116 mm and are too small to study readily in the field. At first sight, the rock types appear quite similar; however, there are important differences in composition and nomenclature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clastic rock</span> Sedimentary rocks made of mineral or rock fragments

Clastic rocks are composed of fragments, or clasts, of pre-existing minerals and rock. A clast is a fragment of geological detritus, chunks, and smaller grains of rock broken off other rocks by physical weathering. Geologists use the term clastic to refer to sedimentary rocks and particles in sediment transport, whether in suspension or as bed load, and in sediment deposits.

Metakaolin is the anhydrous calcined form of the clay mineral kaolinite. Minerals that are rich in kaolinite are known as china clay or kaolin, traditionally used in the manufacture of porcelain. The particle size of metakaolin is smaller than cement particles, but not as fine as silica fume.

The Kaolin deposits of the Charentes Basin in France are clay deposits formed sedimentarily and then confined by other geological structures.

This is a list of pottery and ceramic terms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tonstein</span> Type of sedimentary rock

Tonstein is a hard, compact sedimentary rock that is composed mainly of kaolinite or, less commonly, other clay minerals such as montmorillonite and illite. The clays often are cemented by iron oxide minerals, carbonaceous matter, or chlorite. Tonsteins form from volcanic ash deposited in swamps. Tonsteins occur as distinctive, thin, and laterally extensive layers in coal seams throughout the world. They are often used as key beds to correlate the strata in which they are found. The regional persistence of tonsteins and relict phenocrysts indicate that they formed as the result of the diagenetic alteration of volcanic ash falls in an acidic and low-salinity environment, consistent with a freshwater swamp. In contrast, the alteration of a volcanic ashfall deposit in a marine environment typically produces a bentonite layer.

Clay chemistry is an applied subdiscipline of chemistry which studies the chemical structures, properties and reactions of or involving clays and clay minerals. It is a multidisciplinary field, involving concepts and knowledge from inorganic and structural chemistry, physical chemistry, materials chemistry, analytical chemistry, organic chemistry, mineralogy, geology and others.

The soil matrix is the solid phase of soils, and comprise the solid particles that make up soils. Soil particles can be classified by their chemical composition (mineralogy) as well as their size. The particle size distribution of a soil, its texture, determines many of the properties of that soil, in particular hydraulic conductivity and water potential, but the mineralogy of those particles can strongly modify those properties. The mineralogy of the finest soil particles, clay, is especially important.

References