The chemical composition of about 500 diagenetic chlorites, determined by electron microprobe, has been studied in six different sedimentary sequences spanning conditions from early diagenesis to low-grade metamorphism, in the temperature range 40–330°C. The range of Fe/(Fe + Mg) is almost complete and is positively correlated with Al. Five sequences show the same compositional variation. In each, the most siliceous chlorites have the lowest R2+, substantially more octahedral than tetrahedral Al, and the lowest octahedral totals. Conversely, the least siliceous have the highest R2+, nearly equal octahedral and tetrahedral Al, and octahedral totals close to that for an ideal trioctahedral mineral. A dioctahedral substitution Si[]R2−2 (where [] represents a vacant octahedral site) which decreases with temperature, describes this variation. Low octahedral totals are, however, induced by the method of calculation and need not indicate vacancies; for published wet chemical analyses of metamorphic chlorites they may simply indicate oxidation of Fe. Intergrown dioctahedral phyllosilicates may partly account for apparent vacancies in diagenetic chlorites. Nevertheless, the correlation of composition with temperature and similarities to the temperature-related evolution of synthetic chlorites, suggest that diagenetic chlorites are compositionally distinct from, but metastable with respect to, fully trioctahedral metamorphic chlorites. Temperature-related trends are modified by bulk composition, complicating their potential use for low-temperature geothermometry.

Chemical variations in individual chlorite crystals of diagenetic origin delineated by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) indicate a temperature dependent chemical zonation in each grain. Silicon decreases and Al increases with higher temperature resulting in a decreasing Si/Al ratio away from the crystal core reflecting the time and rate of the crystal growth. Chlorite particle-size distributions obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) give steady state profiles which suggests that the chlorite growth is controlled by a grain coarsening process related to Ostwald ripening.

The Tertiary sequences in northern Kyushu, Japan, contain several types of zeolite and clay minerals together with carbonaceous materials. A correlation between authigenic mineral zones and vitrinite reflectance reveals the delay in mineral authigenesis relative to the increase in vitrinite reflectance compared with similar studies in other regions. This may be ascribed to causes such as high paleogeothermal gradient, and chemical composition of pore-waters and host sediment.

Genetically homogeneous clay fractions are not always available for K-Ar isotopic dating of authigenic sedimentary material, particularly when dating illitic mixed-layer clay minerals. Three populations of mixed-layer clay minerals have been recognized in Upper Triassic sandstones from the Paris Basin (France), their occurrences being related to the flow of allochthonous fluids across the stratigraphic sections of the basin during Mesozoic times. A method is described for interpreting the K-Ar mixture ages obtained on carefully selected fractions, resulting in constraints being able to be made on the timing of the movements of these fluids.

Discrepancies between clay mineral and organic indicators of very low-grade metamorphism have been observed from the Southern Uplands of Scotland. In the Southern Belt, I-S expandability ranges from 18–5% and chitinozoan reflectance from 0·8–2·1% R0 mean; a clear correlation exists between I-S expandability and organic maturity. At Dob's Linn in the Central Belt, I-S expandabilities range from 18–10%, and chitinozoan reflectance from 3·6–4·8% R0 mean. The results from Dob's Linn show anomalously high I-S expandabilities with respect to maturity, both in comparison with the Southern Belt and with previous work from other regions. K-feldspar is present in variable amounts in the Southern Belt, but is not detectable by XRD at Dob's Linn. Low K+ activity is believed to have resulted in a slower reaction rate at Dob's Linn, and a consequent “lag” in I-S expandability with respect to the Southern Belt.

Lower Palaeozoic shales and slates in the External Domain of the southern Canadian Appalachians are composed predominantly of illite and chlorite with minor occurrences of I-S mixed-layer minerals (restricted to samples with illite crystallinity, IC > 0·62°Δ2Θ) and paragonite (restricted to samples with IC < 0·42°Δ2Θ). Inverted diagenesis has occurred in the NW part of the Chaudière Nappe, indicating pre-orogenic deep burial diagenesis at the original depositional site, whereas to the SE, the diagenetic pattern was affected by synorogenic heating. Within the east-dipping thrust-fold belt and the St Lawrence Lowlands, increasing grade towards the S suggests a gradual southward increase in post-tectonic burial depth. Narrow (3–5 km) thermal haloes around the Cretaceous Monteregian intrusions show limited effects on the country rocks.

The percentage of 2M1 mica polytypes and bo increase with decreasing IC. Chlorite crystallinity (CC) increases with increasing IC. Good correlations between IC, %2M1, CC and bo of micas indicate that these parameters are reliable monitors of high-grade diagenesis and low-grade metamorphism in clay-rich sedimentary rocks. IC and CC improve with increasing grain size, illustrating the effect of grain size on IC and CC. Organic material affects IC more strongly in strata with lower permeability than in those with higher permeability. In the diagenetic zone, glycolation does not uniformly produce a narrowing of the 10 Å illite peak, but may also broaden it by up to 15%, probably due to the presence of Kalkberg-type mixed-layers.

A smectite formed by weathering of mica in a laterite pallid zone at Boddington, Western Australia has been investigated by analytical electron microscopy. The evidence suggests that this mineral has the chemical composition and swelling properties of ideal beidellite but is anomalous in containing abundant non-exchangeable K. This K balances half of the layer charge that arises mostly from tetrahedral substitution of Al3+ for Si4+, with the K+ occupying one sixth of the sites occupied by K in mica.

De-intercalation of DMSO from well-crystallised kaolinites induced disorder. SEM, XRD and low-temperature IR were used to probe changes in morphology, layer stacking, and the environment of OH groups, respectively. The degree and type of disorder depended on the starting material and on the method of removing the intercalate. Rapid removal by heating at 250°C caused smaller changes than more prolonged heating at lower temperature, or washing with water.

Oedometer swelling and compaction tests up to a maximum pressure of 32 bars were made on the Wyoming montmorillonite SWy-1 with a range of mixed (Na,K) exchange ion compositions. The permeabilities and water diffusivities of the compacted clays were calculated using soil physics theory. Significant inhibition of swelling from that of the Na-montmorillonite is developed for K fractions in the range 0·30 < K+ < 0·56. However, the water diffusivity increases by a factor of approximately six as the K exchange fraction increases from 0 to 0·7. Permeabilities to water flow show a power-law dependence on the void ratio e.

XRD measurements at controlled humidity yield equilibrium interlayer spacings which in general increase with both increasing relative humidity and increasing Na exchange fraction. The extent of swelling is strongly inhibited in clays having Na exchange fractions of 0·44 or less, in good agreement with the oedometer studies.

The adsorption of aminotriazole, at its solution pH, with montmorillonite saturated with different cations has been studied. A pesticide-montmorillonite complex is formed through interlamellar cations which are not displaced. Aminotriazole is situated mostly as a polarized molecule around Mg2+ and Zn2+ cations, removing a great amount of water. In Na+- and Li+-montmorillonite, the pesticide remains as a non-polarized molecule, hydration water being retained in the interlamellar space; the pesticide is coordinated to interlamellar cations through water bridges. For all samples a proportion of cationic aminotriazole is also adsorbed, the amount being greater with increasing polarizing power of the interlamellar cation; consequently, in Fe3+-montmorillonite all the aminotriazole adsorbed is in the cationic form.

In an attempt to determine the nature and conditions of formation of the aluminium silicate precipitates present at the core of senile plaque in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease, aluminosilicate precipitates have been prepared and equilibrated for up to one year in physiological saline conditions at 40°C and a pH near 7·4. The structure and composition of these precipitates, and the associated concentrations of free silicic acid, were similar to those found in systems buffered with CaCO3 at 20–25°C. Imogolite-like products with Si : Al ratios near 0·5 were obtained at silicic acid concentrations <100 µm, and hydrous feldspathoid products with ratios ≥1·0 became dominant at silicic acid concentrations greater than ∼150 µm. These products do not match senile plaque precipitates, which have Si : Al ratios ≥1·0, but form in an environment with <100 µm Si. The relative stability of aluminium hydroxides, proto-imogolite allophane and hydrous feldspathoids are estimated from equilibrated silicic acid concentrations.