Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 July 2018
In 1947, based on field observations and some chemical data, the Leping white earth was first recognized as a sepiolite clay of marine origin and of early Permian age. Later investigations in the 1960s using DTA, XRD and EM confirmed this identification (Zhang Renjun, 1984). Recently, in the ‘Science Spring’, new sepiolite clay deposits have been found in south China and it has become apparent that sedimentary sepiolite in this region is closely connected with the marls of the Lower Permian system.