Interstratified clay minerals and weathering processes.

Abstract

The major types of interstratified clay minerals are reviewed with particular emphasis on those that are charcteristic of a weathering environment. It is concluded that these minerals form mainly by means of transformation reactions involving relatively large crystals of mica or chlorite. It is also concluded that regularly or partially ordered interstratified clays can be regarded as single phase for thermodynamic purposes but that randomly interstratified clays must be generally treated as mixtures of two or more phases.-from Authors