Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 July 2018
Outcrop samples of Ordovician K-bentonite from northeast Georgia were studied with X-ray diffraction (XRD) using different cation saturations to look for possible redistribution in layer charge. It was noted that XRD patterns of the samples responded uniquely to each cation treatment. The purpose of this note is to demonstrate a refinement to the method of Środoń (1980) for the precise identification of mixed-layer illite-smectite (I-S) and to note the importance of using several homoionic saturations in the interpretation of the XRD patterns.