Clays and Clay Minerals - Application Note

Clays consist mainly of clay minerals, sandy-silty, oxide, sulfate and amorphous fractions. Clay minerals are an important group of minerals (phyllosilicate), because they are among the most common products of chemical weathering, and thus are the main constituents of the fine-grained sedimentary rocks called mudrocks. Clay minerals are the main constituent of soils: their understanding is important from an engineering point of view, as some minerals expand significantly when exposed to water. Clay minerals are also used extensively in the ceramics industry and are thus important economic minerals.