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Kaolinization of 2:1 type clay minerals with different swelling properties

  • Shangying Li ORCID logo , Hongping He EMAIL logo , Qi Tao ORCID logo , Jianxi Zhu , Wei Tan , Shichao Ji , Yiping Yang and Chaoqun Zhang
Published/Copyright: April 29, 2020
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 105 Issue 5

Abstract

Kaolinization of 2:1 type clay minerals commonly occurs in the supergene environments of the Earth, which plays critical roles in many geochemical and environmental processes. However, the transformation mechanism involved and the specific behavior of 2:1 type swelling and non-swelling clay minerals during kaolinization remain poorly understood. In this study, laboratory experiments on the kaolinization of montmorillonite (swelling), illite (non-swelling), and rectorite (partially swelling) were carried out to investigate the kaolinization mechanism of 2:1 type clay minerals and to evaluate whether swelling and non-swelling layers of 2:1 type clay minerals perform differently or not in their kaolinization processes. The results show that montmorillonite, illite, and rectorite in acidic Al3+ containing solutions can be transformed into kaolinite, whereas such transformation is hard to take place in Al3+-free solutions. Part of the Al3+ in the solutions was exchanged into the interlayer spaces of swelling clay minerals at the early stage and resulted in the formation of hydroxy-aluminosilicate (HAS) interlayers, but they show no influence on the transformation process. Interstratified kaolinite-smectite (K-S), kaolinite-illite (K-I), and kaolinite-rectorite (K-R) formed as the intermediate phases during the transformations of the three different precursor minerals, respectively. The results obtained in this study demonstrate that 2:1 type clay minerals, including both swelling and non-swelling ones, can be transformed into kaolinite via a local dissolution-crystallization mechanism, which starts mainly from the layer edges rather than the basal surfaces. Due to different dissolution rates from domain to domain within a precursor mineral particle, the layers with a low dissolution rate become “splints,” while the dissolved elements are concentrated between two “splints,” leading to precipitation of kaolinite along the basal surfaces of precursor minerals. The size and stacking order of the newly formed kaolinite strongly depend on the morphology and property of the precursor minerals. These findings not only are of importance for better understanding the transformation procedures between different clay minerals and the mechanisms involved but also provide new insights for well understanding mineral-water interactions that are central to all geochemical processes.

Keywords: Clay mineral; kaolinization; swelling property; dissolution-crystallization; mineral-water interaction

* Present address: Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 511 Kehua Street, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510640, China.

Acknowledgments and Funding

The authors thank Warren Huff for handling this paper, and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions. This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41530313, 41772039), National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (Grant No. 41825003), and CAS Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences (Grant No. QYZDJ-SSW-DQC023-1).

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Received: 2019-10-23
Accepted: 2019-12-05
Published Online: 2020-04-29
Published in Print: 2020-05-26

© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2020-7339
Keywords for this article
Clay mineral; kaolinization; swelling property; dissolution-crystallization; mineral-water interaction

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Texture constraints on crystal size distribution methodology: An application to the Laki fissure eruption
  2. Hydrogenation reactions of carbon on Earth: Linking methane, margarine, and life
  3. Abiotic and biotic processes that drive carboxylation and decarboxylation reactions
  4. In-situ measurements of magmatic volatile elements, F, S, and Cl, by electron microprobe, secondary ion mass spectrometry, and heavy ion elastic recoil detection analysis
  5. MSA Centennial Symposium
  6. An evolutionary system of mineralogy. Part I: Stellar mineralogy (>13 to 4.6 Ga)
  7. A structural study of size-dependent lattice variation: In situ X-ray diffraction of the growth of goethite nanoparticles from 2-line ferrihydrite
  8. Cassiterite crystallization experiments in alkali carbonate aqueous solutions using a hydrothermal diamond-anvil cell
  9. New insights into the nature of glauconite
  10. Kaolinization of 2:1 type clay minerals with different swelling properties
  11. The quintet completed: The partitioning of sulfur between nominally volatile-free minerals and silicate melts
  12. 222Rn and 220Rn emanations from powdered samples of samarskite as a function of annealing temperature
  13. Polymerization during melting of ortho- and meta-silicates: Effects on Q species stability, heats of fusion, and redox state of mid-ocean range basalts (MORBs)
  14. Formation of native arsenic in hydrothermal base metal deposits and related supergene U6+ enrichment: The Michael vein near Lahr, SW Germany
  15. Lingbaoite, AgTe3, a new silver telluride from the Xiaoqinling gold district, central China
  16. Oxygen isotope fractionation between gypsum and its formation waters: Implications for past chemistry of the Kawah Ijen volcanic lake, Indonesia
  17. Presentation of the 2018 MSA Award of the Mineralogical Society of America to Laura Nielsen Lammers
  18. Acceptance of the 2018 MSA Award of the Mineralogical Society of America
  19. Presentation of the Dana Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America for 2019 to Matthew J. Kohn
  20. Acceptance of the Dana Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America for 2019
  21. Presentation of the Mineralogical Society of America Award for 2019 to Olivier Namur
  22. Acceptance of the Mineralogical Society of America Award for 2019
  23. Presentation of the 2019 MSA Distinguished Public Service Medal to Rodney C. Ewing
  24. Acceptance of Distinguished Public Service Award of the Mineralogical Society of America for 2019
  25. Presentation of the 2019 Roebling Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America to Peter R. Buseck
  26. Acceptance of the 2019 Roebling Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America
  27. Erratum
  28. Erratum
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