A study of clay mineralogy and particle size

Abstract

A study of the mineralogy of the clay, silt, and sand fractions of 24 soils has shown that the clay minerals are distributed through all fractions of the soils. In granitic and other soils which are characterized by kaolinite, with mica, illite, or montmorillonoids sometimes present though subsidiary, the clay mineral content of the silts may be as high as in the clay fraction though on the average it is about 50 per cent.; in the sands, however, clay minerals are negligible. In basaltic or basic soils which are characterized by halloysite or nontronite or both, with other types subsidiary, the clay mineral content of the silts is somewhat less than that in granitic soils, but persists a t an average of 20 per cent, in the sands. The higher concentration of kaolinite in the silt fractions reflects the larger particle size of this mineral. The concentration of halloysite or nontronite in the sand fractions, and even the concentrations reached in the silts of soils containing these minerals, reflect their fibrous nature which allows the formation of stable interlaced aggregates. Overall the two types of mineral, altered (authigenic) and residual (allogenic), vary continuously with particle size; the former, constituting the bulk of the colloids, decrease to small amounts in the coarse sand, while the latter necessarily show the reverse effect. The silts contain both types of mineral in about equal amounts and thus represent the intermediate particle size of mechanical breakdown and chemical alteration.