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6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Clay Minerals wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
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8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Clay Minerals site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Clay Minerals, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Clay Minerals, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
Clay minerals are hydrous
aluminium Silicate_minerals#Phyllosilicates, sometimes with variable amounts of iron,
magnesium, alkali metals,
alkaline earths and other
cations. Clays have structures similar to the
micas and therefore form flat hexagonal sheets. Clay minerals are common weathering products (including weathering of feldspar) and low temperature
hydrothermal alteration products. Clay minerals are very common in fine grained sedimentary rocks such as
shale,
mudstone and siltstone and in fine grained metamorphic
slate and phyllite.
Clay minerals include the following groups:
- Kaolinite group which includes the minerals kaolinite, dickite, halloysite and nacrite.Amethyst Galleries. "The Clay Mineral Group." 2006. February 22, 2007.
- Some sources include the serpentine group due to structural similarities (Bailey 1980).
- Smectite group which includes pyrophyllite, talc, vermiculite, sauconite, saponite, nontronite and montmorillonite.
- Illite group which includes the clay-micas. Illite is the only common mineral.
- Chlorite group includes a wide variety of similar minerals with considerable chemical variation.
History
Knowledge of the nature of clay became better understood in the 1950s with advancements in microscope technology necessary to analyze the infinitesimal nature of clay particles.Bailey, S. W., 1980,
Summary of recommendations of AIPEA nomenclature committee on clay minerals, American Mineralogist Volume 65, pages 1-7. Standardization in terminology arose during this period as well with special attention given to similar words that resulted in confusion such as sheet and plane.
Structure
Like all phyllosilicates, clay minerals are characterised by two-dimensional
sheets of corner sharing SiO4 and AlO4 tetrahedra. Each tetrahedron shares 3 of its vertex oxygen atoms with other tetrahedra. The fourth vertex is not shared with another tetrahedron and all of the tetrahedra "point" in the same direction (i.e. all of the unshared vertices are on the same side of the sheet). These tetrahedral sheets have the chemical composition (Al,Si)3O4.
In clays the tetrahedral sheets are always bonded to octahedral sheets formed from small cations, such as aluminium or magnesium, coordinated by six oxygen atoms. The unshared vertex from the tetrahedral sheet also form part of one side of the octahedral sheet but an additional oxygen atom is located above the gap in the tetrahedral sheet at the center of the six tetrahedra. This oxygen atom is bonded to a hydrogen atom forming an OH group in the clay structure. Clays can be categorised depending on the way that tetrahedral and octahedral sheets are packaged into
layers. If there is only one tetrahedral and one octahedral group in each layer the clay is known as a 1:1 clay. The alternative, known as a 2:1 clay, has two tetrahedral sheets with the unshared vertex of each sheet pointing towards each other and forming each side of the octahedral sheet.
Depending on the composition of the tetrahedral and octahedral sheets, the layer will have no charge, or will have a net negative charge. If the layers are charged this charge is balanced by interlayer cations such as Na+ or K+. In each case the interlayer can also contain water. The crystal structure is formed from a stack of layers interspaced with the interlayers.
See also
References
Clay minerals are hydrous
aluminium Silicate_minerals#Phyllosilicates, sometimes with variable amounts of
iron, magnesium, alkali metals, alkaline earths and other
cations. Clays have structures similar to the
micas and therefore form flat hexagonal sheets. Clay minerals are common
weathering products (including weathering of feldspar) and low temperature
hydrothermal alteration products. Clay minerals are very common in fine grained sedimentary rocks such as shale, mudstone and
siltstone and in fine grained metamorphic slate and phyllite.
Clay minerals include the following groups:
- Kaolinite group which includes the minerals kaolinite, dickite, halloysite and nacrite.Amethyst Galleries. "The Clay Mineral Group." 2006. February 22, 2007.
- Some sources include the serpentine group due to structural similarities (Bailey 1980).
- Smectite group which includes pyrophyllite, talc, vermiculite, sauconite, saponite, nontronite and montmorillonite.
- Illite group which includes the clay-micas. Illite is the only common mineral.
- Chlorite group includes a wide variety of similar minerals with considerable chemical variation.
History
Knowledge of the nature of clay became better understood in the 1950s with advancements in microscope technology necessary to analyze the infinitesimal nature of clay particles.Bailey, S. W., 1980,
Summary of recommendations of AIPEA nomenclature committee on clay minerals, American Mineralogist Volume 65, pages 1-7. Standardization in terminology arose during this period as well with special attention given to similar words that resulted in confusion such as sheet and plane.
Structure
Like all phyllosilicates, clay minerals are characterised by two-dimensional
sheets of corner sharing SiO4 and AlO4 tetrahedra. Each tetrahedron shares 3 of its vertex oxygen atoms with other tetrahedra. The fourth vertex is not shared with another tetrahedron and all of the tetrahedra "point" in the same direction (i.e. all of the unshared vertices are on the same side of the sheet). These tetrahedral sheets have the chemical composition (Al,Si)3O4.
In clays the tetrahedral sheets are always bonded to octahedral sheets formed from small cations, such as aluminium or magnesium, coordinated by six oxygen atoms. The unshared vertex from the tetrahedral sheet also form part of one side of the octahedral sheet but an additional oxygen atom is located above the gap in the tetrahedral sheet at the center of the six tetrahedra. This oxygen atom is bonded to a hydrogen atom forming an OH group in the clay structure. Clays can be categorised depending on the way that tetrahedral and octahedral sheets are packaged into
layers. If there is only one tetrahedral and one octahedral group in each layer the clay is known as a 1:1 clay. The alternative, known as a 2:1 clay, has two tetrahedral sheets with the unshared vertex of each sheet pointing towards each other and forming each side of the octahedral sheet.
Depending on the composition of the tetrahedral and octahedral sheets, the layer will have no charge, or will have a net negative charge. If the layers are charged this charge is balanced by interlayer cations such as Na+ or K+. In each case the interlayer can also contain water. The crystal structure is formed from a stack of layers interspaced with the interlayers.
See also
References
IngentaConnect Publication: Clay Minerals
Clay Minerals. ISSN 0009-8558, Online ISSN: 1471-8030 visit publication homepage
Clay - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained minerals, which show plasticity through a variable range of water content, and which can be hardened when ...
Clay Minerals
The Journal of the European Clay Group.
Clay Minerals: Mineralogical Society
12 Baylis Mews, Amyand Park Road, Twickenham, Middlesex,TW1 3HQ, United Kingdom. Tel.: +44 (0)20 8891 6600; Fax: +44 (0)20 8891 6599 e-mail: info@minersoc.org
Clay minerals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clay minerals are hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, sometimes with variable amounts of iron, magnesium, alkali metals, alkaline earths and other cations.
Clay minerals point to vast Martian lakes • The Register
A study published today in Nature indicates that large swathes of the ancient Martian highlands, comprising about half the planet, contain clay-like minerals which can only form in ...
IngentaConnect Publications by Clay Minerals Society
Clays and Clay Minerals; Volume 50, Number 1, 1 February 2002 - Volume 56, Number 4, August 2008
Clay Technology | IOM3: The Global Network for Materials, Minerals ...
Welcome to Clay Technology, the magazine of ICTa, the International Clay Technology Association ... Clay Technology is the bi-monthly magazine of ICTa, an association of the ...
The Clay Minerals Society
Member information, tables of contents for the journal "Clays and Clay Minerals," and links.
Clays and Clay Minerals
Publishing articles of interest to the international community of clay scientists.
