Clay birefringent fabric is a petrographic feature showing the development of oriented, “bright” clay fabrics in the groundmass. These high birefringence regions under crossed polarizers are composites of many parallel clay particles that act together to produce a cohesive pattern. In sediments and soils, clay birefringent fabrics are commonly associated with bioturbation and wetting-desiccation cycles, respectively.
See fabric.
A general petrographic term for a fine-grained (clay size) material between coarser particles and pedofeatures in sediments or soils. The term groundmass in soils is analogous to matrix in sediments and sedimentary rocks.
Syn. soil plasma, pedoplasma.
Refers to phyllosilicate minerals and to minerals which impart plasticity to clay and which harden upon drying or firing. This definition expands the previous definition of Brindley and Pedro (1972) by relating clay minerals to the properties of clays. Clay minerals may be of any crystallite size so that the term “clay mineral” is consistent with the definition of “mineral”, which is unrelated to crystallite size. (Quot Guggenheim and Martin, 1995). However, the unique properties of clays are partly related to their small particle size and high surface area (Guggenheim and Martin, 1996).
Cf., clay, phyllosilicate, mineral
A nanocomposite (i.e., fine-particulate material that is heterogeneous at the nanoscale level, at less than 10-7 meters) where one or more of the constituent fine-particulate materials are clay minerals. Other parts of the composite may be, for example, polymers, which act as the dispersant. Some clay composites are fabricated with the polymer both around the clay particle and in the interlayer between the 2:1 or 1:1 layers.
Cf., nanocomposite
In geology, slickenside is a field term for striated and polished surfaces on a fault plane, which can often indicate the direction of fault movement. A clay slickenside is where the groundmass constituents, mostly clay, have been rearranged so that the platy particulates parallel the surface. In clay science, the term “slickenside” is used also for the natural crack surfaces that are polished, but produced by swelling and shrinkage in smectite-rich soils. In soil science, clay slickensides are a diagnostic feature of Vertisols, which are clayey high shrink/swell soils. The shrink/swell action “inverts” or mixes the upper parts of the soil because organic-rich surface material falls into cracks during dry periods.
See suspension.
See suspension.
See organoclay.
See clay nanocomposite.