A sectile and compact kaolin clay when wetted, often white to red/pink in color and mottled. When dry, lithomarges are friable.

An obsolete term for a massive, compact, often impure kaolin.

A platy trioctahedral member of the serpentine group. The ideal, end-member formula is: Mg₃Si₂O₅(OH)₄. Typical site substitutions include Al and Fe³⁺ for Si and Mg. The most common form of lizardite is the 1T polytype (space group P31m), followed by the 2H₁ polytype (space group P6₃cm). Lizardite is the most abundant serpentine and forms from the weathering (hydration) of ultramafic rocks, primarily composed of olivine and pyroxene.

A yellow-brownish or brown soil mainly composed of sand (>63 μm size, <52% content), silt (2 - 63 μm size, 28 - 50% content), and clay (<2 μm size, 7 - 27% content). Loam commonly exhibits low carbonate contents, but a high nutrient and water content and hence, loam is an excellent plant substrate. Additionally, loam can be used in the building industry to form bricks.

See astrophyllite group.

See loss on ignition.

Weight loss after heating, and (usually) subsequent cooling, to determine the presence of volatiles in a solid.
Cf., water, structural; water, adsorbed

A member of the palygorskite-sepiolite group with a composition of approximately Na₄Mg₆ (Si₁₂O₃₀)(OH)₄ (OH₂)₄.
See palygorskite-sepiolite group

An industrial term referring to superheated but not fully calcined clays.
Cf., superheating

In geotechnical engineering, low-activity clays have activities of < 1, and include illite, chlorite, and kaolinite. Fe and Al oxide minerals and clay-sized primary minerals are also considered low activity. See activity, clay; high-activity clays; quick clays