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Definition of clay and clay mineral: joint report of the AIPEA and CMS Nomenclature Committees

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

s. Guggenheim  and
R. T. Martin
s. Guggenheim*
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of lllinois at Chicago, 845 W. Taylor St., Chicago, Illinois 60607, USAand, Ardaman and Associates, Inc., 8008 S. Orange Ave., OrlandoFL 32859, USA
R. T. Martin*
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of lllinois at Chicago, 845 W. Taylor St., Chicago, Illinois 60607, USAand, Ardaman and Associates, Inc., 8008 S. Orange Ave., OrlandoFL 32859, USA
*
*Chairman of the AIPEA Nomenclature Committee: the other members are A. Alietti (Italy), V.A. Drits (Russia), M.L.L. Formoso (Brazil), E. Galán (Spain), H.M. Köster (Germany), D.J. Morgan (England), H. Paquet (France), T. Watanabe (Japan) and ex officio members D.C. Bain (Editor, Clay Minerals) and R.E. Ferrell (Editor, Clays and Clay Minerals)
†Chairman of the CMS Nomenclature Committee: other members are D.L. Bish, D.S. Fanning, S. Guggenheim, H. Kodama and F.J. Wicks
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Abstract

The definition of ‘clay’ was first formalized in 1546 by Agricola. It has been revised many times since, although the fundamentals involving plasticity, particle size, and hardening on firing were retained by most. For an exhaustive account of the history of the definition to 1963, the reader is referred to Mackenzie (1963). More recent developments may be found in Weaver (1989).

The definition of clay raises the important issue of clay constituents and, implicitly, the definition of ‘clay mineral'. Mackenzie (1963, p. 15) noted the inappropriateness of defining clay mineral as “any mineral which occurs in clay” since, among several reasons, it would include many accessory minerals that are not characteristic of clay.

Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , September 1995 , pp. 257 - 259
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1995

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References

Bailey, S.W. (1980) Summary of recommendations of AIPEA Nomenclature Committee. Clays Clay Miner. 28, 73–78.Google Scholar
Mackenzie, R.C. (1963) De Natura Lutorum. Clays Clay Miner. 11, 1–28.Google Scholar
Weaver, C.E. (1989) 1-28.Clays, Muds, and Shales. Elsevier Amsterdam Google Scholar