In the Pohang area of Korea, heulandite occurs as cements in conglomerate and sandstone of a Miocene marine fan-delta system resting on Eocene dacitic volcanics. Three types of heulandite cements are distinguishable in the fan-delta sediments on the basis of texture, chemical composition and authigenic mineral association. The earliest type I heulandite (Si/(A1+Fe): 3.5–3.8) occurs as microcrystalline (10–30 μm) in situ crystallites that replace volcanic matrix and are intermixed with early-formed smectite. Type II heulandite (Si/(A1+Fe): 3.2–3.6) occurs as medium-grained (30–60 μm) crystal aggregates rimming intergranular cavities. Type III heulandite (Si/(A1+Fe): 3.6–4.1) is the last to form and is a composite phase of heulandite-clinoptiloite, which occurs as unusually coarse (50–200 μm) single-crystal cement associating with late-formed smectite and hematite.

These characteristic heulandite cements were formed by alteration of volcaniclastic sediment during shallow burial (burial temperature: 40–60 °C) and uplift in marine pore fluid diluted by meteoric water. Sr isotope data for heulandite II (87Sr/86Sr: 0.706565–0.706598) and heulandite III (87Sr/86Sr: 0.707347–0.707432) indicate that the pore fluid was progressively mixed with meteoric water during burial and uplift but the Ca in the pore-filling heulandites has been derived mainly from dissolution of carbonate cements. Heulandite III, heulandite-clinoptilolite, was formed with an unusual coarsening and chemical zoning at somewhat diluted and disequilibrium conditions caused by the migration of oxygen-rich meteoric water during or after uplifting.

Cu-doped alumina-pillared montmorillonite samples have been prepared and characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), electron spin resonance (ESR) and inductive coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP AES) techniques. The results show that the catalysts are porous materials with copper species located in the interlayer, present either as isolated Cu2+ ions anchored at alumina pillars or as patches of amorphous CuO. Catalytic tests with hydroxylation of phenol show that the clay samples possess significant activity for dihydroxybenzene (DHB) formation, comparable with the reference TS-1 catalyst. Experiments with changing the substrate dosing indicate that adsorption and activation of phenol molecules is a necessary condition for the reaction to occur.

A new protocol was developed to examine an assemblage of kaolinite-smectite in a buried horizon of a paleosol developed on gabbro parent material. The new extraction procedure appears suitable for removing kaolinite and for ascertaining the nature of the smectite interstratified with kaolinite. Smectite was identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared (IR) patterns, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and chemical analyses.

The results obtained provide for increased understanding of the process of transformation of smectite into kaolinite.

Water retention curves of colloidal allophane and imogolite with different charges and different pretreatments were measured using a tension plate and a pressure plate apparatus. An irreversible effect of air-drying was found for the water retention of colloidal allophane even for particles of less than 50 nm in Stokes’ diameter collected from air-dried soil. This was attributed to the irreversible submicroscopic aggregation of allophane. Fresh allophane colloids with a low absolute net charge retained more water above −100 J Kg−1 than did highly charged ones due to the formation of a microporous structure. Allophane did not swell under ordinary conditions, but the relatively highly charged allophane recovered water retention above −100 J kg−1 during the wetting process. Imogolite retained 1.5 times more water than Na-montmorillonite at about −650 J kg−1 due to micropores formed by intertwining fibrous particles.

Lath-shaped hydrothermal illite particles in Izumiyama pottery stone were examined by contact-mode atomic force microscopy (CMAFM) and tapping-mode AFM (TMAFM) in air. With CMAFM, the lath-shaped particles showed interlacing patterns on the (001) surface in deflection images, while in height images such patterns were unclear. Also, evidence of artifacts caused by frictional forces between the surface and tip and/or edge effects were found in the CMAFM height images of the particle and Si substrate surfaces. In contrast, TMAFM showed interlacing patterns clearly in both amplitude and height images, and artifacts were barely evident. The TMAFM height images permitted the accurate measurement of 1.0- or 2.0-nm height steps corresponding to single or double mica layers, as well.

Many lath-shaped particles in the Izumiyama hydrothermal illite exhibit interlacing patterns on their (001) surface, as shown by these AFM observations. The interlacing patterns are characterized by polygonal spirals with comparatively wide spacings and steps having a height of 1.0 or 2.0 nm. Generally a single lath-shaped particle has a single spiral center on the (001) surface, and 2 mica layers rotated 120° originate from the dislocation point. These support the view that lath-shaped illites belong to the 2M1 polytype. It is likely that these illite particles were formed by a uniform process of development that is characterized by very slow growth, spiral mechanisms in that growth and low supersaturation conditions.

Kaolinites with varying degrees of defect structures have been studied by both mid-infrared (IR) and near-IR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRIFT). Difference bands were observed in the 2650- to 2750-cm−1 region. This region coincides with the kaolinite-deuterated hydroxyl stretching region. Summation bands were observed in the near-IR spectra in the 4500- to 4650-cm−1 and in the 7050- to 7250- cm−1 region. Each of the spectral regions of the summation and difference bands is both kaolin polytype and sample dependent. It is proposed that each of these sets of bands arises from the combination of the hydroxyl stretching frequencies and the hydroxyl deformation frequencies and, to a lesser extent, the silicon-oxygen symmetric stretching vibration of the siloxane layer. Additional difference bands of very low intensity were also observed at 2930 and 2856 cm−1. Combination bands were observed in all kaolinites at 2137 and 2227 cm−1. Each of the 3 major combination spectral regions was composed of 5 component bands corresponding to the 4 IR active and the 1 Raman active kaolinite hydroxyl stretching frequencies. Combination bands were also observed at ~1932 and 1821 cm−1.

In this paper we analyzed by electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) the exposed lacustrine clay in a stratigraphic column at Charo Canyon, State of Michoacán, Mexico. Smectite, cris-tobalite, albite and quartz are the main mineral species in the sediments. Smectite is the most abundant and has a nanometric twinned small particle habit. The low crystallinity of the smectite detected in some of the samples seems to be associated with instability of the paleohydrological regime in which clayey material was deposited. Iron from underlying volcanic ash is apparently responsible for the iron concentration detected in the smectite structure.

End members and species defined with permissible ranges of composition are presented for the true micas, the brittle micas and the interlayer-cation-deficient micas. The determination of the crystallochemical formula for different available chemical data is outlined, and a system of modifiers and suffixes is given to allow the expression of unusual chemical substitutions or polytypic stacking arrangements. Tables of mica synonyms, varieties, ill-defined materials and a list of names formerly or erroneously used for micas are presented. The Mica Subcommittee was appointed by the Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names (“Commission”) of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA). The definitions and recommendations presented were approved by the Commission.

Adsorption of neutral organic molecules and the monovalent organic cations methylene blue (MB) and crystal violet (CV) to sepiolite was determined experimentally and investigated by an adsorption model. The largest amounts of MB and CV adsorbed were about 4-fold of the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of sepiolite. Consequently, it was proposed that most of the above described adsorption was to neutral sites of the clay. The adsorption model considered combines the Gouy-Chapman solution and specific binding in a closed system. The model was extended by allowing cation adsorption to neutral sites of the clay, in addition to adsorption to negatively charged sites and adsorption to neutral complexes formed from 1 cation adsorbed to a negative surface site. The amount of available neutral sites was determined from the adsorption of the neutral molecule Triton-X 100 (TX100). The model could adequately simulate the adsorption of the neutral molecules TX100 and crown ether 15-crown-5 (15C5) as well as the organic cations. Due to aggregation of MB molecules in solution, their adsorption was somewhat less than that of CV at the larger added concentrations. A consideration of the molecular dimensions of TX100, MB and CV suggested that their adsorption was mostly to external sites of the clay and that their entry to the sepiolite channels was largely excluded. This interpretation is supported by infrared spectroscopy (IR) measurements, which show large perturbations of the peak corresponding to vibrations of external Si-OH groups of the clay and confirm complete occupancy of external sites by MB and CV.