Silica clays

Alumino-silica clays are characterised by their regular crystalline structure. Oxygen in ionic bonds with silicon forms a tetrahedral coordination which in turn forms sheets of silica. Two sheets of silica are bonded together by a plane of aluminium which forms an octahedral coordination, called alumina, with the oxygens of the silica sheet above and that below it. Hydroxyl ions (OH-) sometimes substitute for oxygen. As much as one fourth of the aluminium Al3+ may be substituted by Zn2+, Mg2+ or Fe2+, and Si4+ may be substituted by Al3+. The substitution of lower-valence cations for higher-valence cations (isomorphic substitution) gives clay a net negative charge that attracts and holds soil solution cations, some of which are of value for plant growth. Isomorphic substitution occurs during the clay’s formation and does not change with time.

• Montmorillonite clay is made of four planes of oxygen with two silicon and one central aluminium plane intervening. The alumino-silicate montmorillonite clay is said to have a 2:1 ratio of silicon to aluminium. The seven planes together form a single layer of montmorillonite. The layers are weakly held together and water may intervene, causing the clay to swell up to ten times its dry volume. It occurs in soils which have had little leaching, hence it is found in arid regions. The entire surface is exposed and available for surface reactions and it has a high cation exchange capacity (CEC).
• Illite is a 2:1 clay similar in structure to montmorillonite but has potassium bridges between the clay layers and the degree of swelling depends on the degree of weathering of the potassium. The active surface area is reduced due to the potassium bonds. Illite originates from the modification of mica, a primary mineral. It is often found together with montmorillonite and its primary minerals. It has moderate CEC.
• Vermiculite is a mica-based clay similar to illite, but the layers of clay are held together more loosely by hydrated magnesium and it will swell, but not as much as does montmorillonite. It has very high CEC.
• Chlorite is similar to vermiculite, but the loose bonding by occasional hydrated magnesium is replaced by a hydrated magnesium sheet, firmly bonding the planes above and below it. It has two planes of silicon, one of aluminium and one of magnesium; hence it is a 2:2 clay. Chlorite does not swell and it has low CEC.
• Kaolinite is very common, more common than montmorillonite in acid soils. It has one silica and one alumina sheet per layer; hence it is a 1:1 type clay. One layer of oxygen is replaced with hydroxyls, which produces strong hydrogen bonds to the oxygen in the next layer of clay. As a result kaolinite does not swell in water and has a low specific surface area, and as almost no isomorphic substitution has occurred it has a low CEC. Where rainfall is high, acid soils selectively leach more silica than alumina from the original clays, leaving kaolinite. Even heavier weathering results in sesquioxide clays.