Woolly erionite from the Reese River deposit, Nevada, is identical in appearance to that at the type locality, near Durkee, Oregon. Both of these erionites differ in appearance from all other erionite reported in the past 20 years from diverse rocks throughout the world which are described as prismatic or acicular in habit. The non-woolly erionites are especially common as microscopic crystals in diagenetically altered vitroclastic lacustrine deposits of Cenozoic age. The Reese River woolly erionite fills joints in gray to brownish-gray lacustrine mudstone of probably Pliocene age, in a zone about 1 m thick beneath a conspicuous gray vitric tuff. Compact masses of long, curly, woolly erionite fibers are in the plane of the joint and locally are associated with opal. Indices of refraction are ω = 1.468 and ε = 1.472; hexagonal unit-cell parameters are a = 13.186(2) Å, c = 15.055(1) Å, and V = 2267.1(0.9) Å3. A chemical analysis of woolly erionite yields a unit-cell composition of: Na1.01K2.84Mg0.3Ca1.69Al8.18Si27.84O72·28.51H2O.

The formation of an interstratified structure in dioctahedral smectite was assumed to be influenced by (1) the overall layer charge density and its distribution in the structure, (2) the solvation energy of the cation, and (3) the nature of the solvation agent. By holding factors (2) and (3) constant it was possible to calculate the average local charge densities $\overline {{\rm{QA}}}$, $\overline {{\rm{QC}}} $, and $\overline {{\rm{QE}}} $ which are necessary for formation of 10-, 14-, and 16.8-Å mixed-layer phases in potassium-treated and ethylene glycol (EG) saturated smectites. The values of $\overline {{\rm{QA}}} $, $\overline {{\rm{QC}}} $, and $\overline {{\rm{QE}}} $ were 1.99, 1.2, and 0.56 esu/unit cell, respectively. Ammonium-treated smectites saturated with EG gave corresponding mean local charge densities of 2.7, 1.6, and 0.72 esu/unit cell. Calculations were made under the limiting condition QA > QC > QE > 0.

For K-smectites saturated with EG, Qtot = 1.99pA + 1.2pC + 0.56pE, where Qtot is the total charge (esu/unit cell), and pA, pC, and pE are probability coefficients for 10-, 14-, and 16.8-Å phases in the interstratified structure. The above equation calculated with the aid of least squares and without the limiting condition yields

$${{\rm{Q}}_{{\rm{tot}}}} = {\rm{2}}{\rm{.05pA + 1}}{\rm{.29pC + 0}}{\rm{.33pE}}{\rm{.}}$$

The structure and hydration status of attapulgite clay after heating at elevated temperatures and the stability of parathion on these clays was studied. Using infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy it was found that the bound water was lost in two steps, at 250° and 450° with the first step being largely reversible. At 650°C the structure began to dissolve releasing significant amounts of Mg, and a decrease in aggregate porosity was noted. At 850°C an amorphous phase was formed bearing little resemblance to the original attapulgite. Parathion was stable on all of the preheated clays when kept at 25°C for 190 days. The reactions of parathion on the preheated clays was studied at 110°C Hydrolysis of parathion was found to be minimal. Isomerization was the main reaction occurring on the Ca-attapulgite, whereas on an organo-clay no isomerization was observed. A mechanism for the isomerization reaction is proposed which entails a distortion of the phosphate moiety of the pesticide by the oxygen of the ligand water resulting in the conformational changes necessary for the isomerization to take place. On the organo-clay such a conformation was not possible; hence no isomerization occurred.

Mixed-layer illite/smectite (I/S) clays in lower Eocene sediments of the Texas Gulf Coast decrease in expandability with depth as found in previous studies of clay diagenesis, but at the same depth the 1/S clays from sand laminae tend to be more expandable than clays from adjacent shales. The I/S clays with greater expandability from sands collapse to phases with very low expandabilities after saturation with K. This non-ideal smectite behavior indicates that many of the expandable layers in I/S clays from sand laminae possess an illite-level negative layer charge on the structure. The Greene-Kelley Li-saturation test of the I/S clays also reveals that a considerable portion of the increased layer charge deficiency is created by tetrahedral substitution. The illitization of individual smectite layers in an I/S clay is envisioned to be a two step process instead of the single step rapid transformation implied in many earlier studies. The first rate-limiting step is the creation of sufficiently large negative layer charge in the lattice, primarily by AI for Si substitution in the tetrahedral sheet. The second rate-limiting step is the supply of K to the high-charged expandable layers. The abundance of high-charged expandable layers in I/S clays from sand laminae suggests that the K supply is influenced more by competing ions in the interstitial waters than by the absolute activity of K.

The importance of various sediment components in the oxidation of As(III) (arsenite) to As(V) (arsenate) by freshwater lake sediments in southern Saskatchewan was examined. Treating the sediments with hydroxylamine hydrochloride or sodium acetate to remove Mn greatly decreased the oxidation of As(III). Furthermore, synthetic Mn(IV) oxide was a very effective oxidant with respect to As(III): 216 µg As(V)/ml was formed in solution when 1000 µg As(III)/ml was added to suspensions of 0.1 g of the oxide. These results indicate that Mn in the sediment was probably the primary electron acceptor in the oxidation of As(III). The conversion of As(III) to As(V) by naturally occurring carbonate and silicate minerals common in sediments was not evident in the system studied. Sediment particles >20 µm in size are the least effective in oxidizing As(III); the oxidizing ability of the 5–20-, 2–5-, and <2-µm particle size fractions varies depending on the sediment. The concentration of As(V) in equilibrated solutions after adding increasing amounts of As(III) (as much as 100 µg/ml) to 1 g of the three sediments ranged from approximately 3.5 to 19 µg/ml. Because As(III) is more toxic and soluble than As(V), Mn-bearing components of both the colloidal and non-colloidal fractions of the sediments may potentially detoxify any As(III) that may enter aquatic environments by converting it to As(V). This is very important in reducing the As contamination and in maintaining the ecological balance in aquatic environments.

The Tertiary silicic volcanic rocks in the Silent Canyon Caldera beneath Pahute Mesa, of the Department of Energy's Nevada Test Site have been divided into three vertical mineralogical zones that vary in thickness and transgress stratigraphic boundaries. Zonal contacts are generally sharp. Zone 1, the uppermost zone, includes unaltered or incipiently altered rhyolitic glass. Zone 2 is characterized by a predominance of clinoptilolite and subordinate amounts of smectite, cristobalite, and mordenite. Zone 3 is a complex mineral assemblage that includes analcime, quartz, calcite, authigenic K-feldspar and albite, kaolinite, chlorite, and mixed-layer illite/smectite. The mixed-layer clay shows an increase in ordering and a decrease in expandability with depth.

Shortly after deposition and after shallow burial, hydration of relatively impermeable, highly porous vitric rocks resulted in the rapid formation of the Zone 2 assemblage (except mordenite). This stage of alteration resulted in a net porosity loss and negligible mass transfer. Continued burial and rise in temperature led to a dehydration stage in which the Zone 2 assemblage was replaced by the Zone 3 minerals. The dehydration stage resulted in a porosity increase and an increase in permeability of several orders of magnitude. This process, like the earlier reactions, also conserved mass. Precipitation of mordenite followed the formation of this zonal configuration. The diagenetic zones below Pahute Mesa were caused by: (1) changing pore-water chemistry in an essentially closed hydrologic system; (2) disequilibrium or kinetic precipitation of metastable phases; and (3) a higher thermal gradient than that now present.

The immobilization of soluble Cs from spent fuel elements by ion exchange and direct chemical reaction with clay minerals or shales was investigated under hydrothermal conditions. Various clay minerals or shales were reacted with likely Cs sources and water at 300 bars pressure and 100°, 200°, and 300°C for 4, 2, and 1 months, respectively. Pollucite was the principal product, but CsAlSiO4 was also observed, along with unreacted or hydrothermally altered aluminosilicates. From Cs concentrations of the product solutions partition of Cs between liquid and solids was found to vary depending on the Cs source, the clay or shale phase, temperature, and run duration. For example, illite-Cs2MoO4 interactions resulted in 19, 32, and 95% fixation of added Cs at 100°, 200°, and 300°C respectively. Fixation of as much as 97% of the Cs in some solids was observed. In addition to Cs-aluminosilicates, Cs was fixed on cation-exchange sites by interlayer collapse in montmorillonite. Reactions with Cs2MoO4 also produced powellite because Ca was available in the reaction mixture. The U6+ from β-Cs2U2O7 was reduced to form uraninite by sulfide- and/or organic-rich shales. (Cs,Na)2(UO2)(Si2O5)3·4H2O, an analog of weeksite, was produced in reactions with β-Cs2U2O7. The reaction products pollucite and uraninite can immobilize much of the Cs and U from spent fuel elements because Cs in pollucite is extremely difficult to exchange and U in uraninite is insoluble.

Exchange isotherms for the pairs Na-K and Na-Ca were measured by use of 0.1 N solutions at 5°, 35°, and 70°C in phillipsite from Tecopa, California (3.63 Al/32 oxygen unit cell), and Oki Islands, Shi-mane Prefecture, Japan (6.31 Al/32 oxygen unit cell). All isotherms except those for Na-Ca at 5°C were reversible. Free energy was evaluated for all reversible exchanges. The thermodynamic affinity sequences were K > Na > Ca in both phillipsites. The selectivity for K in competition with Na and that for Na competing with Ca became larger at the lower temperatures. The siliceous phillipsite preferred the larger cation more strongly for the Na-K system, and Na more strongly for the Na-Ca system than the aluminous phillipsite.

To determine the reason why the adsorption of ethylene glycol on organo-smectites does not result in an expansion along the c-axis of the clays, smectites containing relatively small organo-ammonium ions (lauryl-, benzyl-, dibenzyl-, and dicyclohexylammonium), larger organic cations (dimethylbenzyloctadeyl- and methylbenzyldioctadecylammonium), and the heterocyclic organo-ammonium ion 1,4a-dimethyl-7-isopropyl-1,2,3,4,4a,9,10,10a-octahydro-1-phenanthrenemethylammonium and the corresponding ethoxylated compound were exposed to ethylene glycol vapor for up to several months and examined by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), surface area, and thermogravimetric methods. Weight loss data showed that all samples adsorbed ethylene glycol. XRD data for oriented samples indicated that lauryl-, benzyl-, dicyclohexyl-, and ethoxylated heterocyclic ammonium clays expanded by one layer of ethylene glycol and that methylbenzyldioctadecylammonium smectite expanded by two layers. Dibenzyl-, dimethylbenzyloctadecyl-, and heterocyclic smectites did not expand because the clay oriented in such a manner as to leave free clay surface between the organo-ammonium cations.

Mineralogy, O18/O16, and D/H ratios have been determined in five size fractions (<0.1, 0.1–0.5, 0.5–1.0, 1.0–2.0, and >2.0µm) of seven samples taken from 500 m of Pleistocene deep-sea sediments cored at Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 180 in the Aleutian Trench. The depositional age of the samples spans the last 300,000 years; the samples have been interpreted by others to be continental detritus weathered from a mixed igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary source area and then deposited by ice-rafting and turbidity currents. The minerals present are quartz, feldspar, illite, chlorite and/or non-expandable vermiculite, and expandable vermiculite and/or mixed-layer illite/expandable vermiculite. The relative amounts of quartz, feldspar, and total clay vary with particle size, but are nearly constant from sample to sample for a given particle size. δO18 is values of the four coarser size fractions range from +9.7 to +12.0‰ with variations attributable to changes in quartz/feldspar and clay/(quartz + feldspar) abundances. Values of δO18 for the expandable vermiculite-rich <0.1-µm size fraction range from +12.1 to +16.3‰ which indicates some oxygen isotope exchange at surface temperatures between meteoric waters and the parent rock during vermiculite formation. Values of δD range from −46 to −74‰ with variations attributable to changes in amounts of different clay minerals present. There is no mineralogic or isotopic evidence of post-depositional reactions in the coarser size fractions, but a general change in δD of the vermiculite-rich, <0.1-µm size fraction from about −50‰ to about −70‰ with increasing depth may be due either to post-depositional isotopic exchange or to climatic changes in the terrestrial weathering environment.

Fe3+ ions in palygorskite occupy sites at the edges and in the interior of the alumino-silicate chains. The Mössbauer parameters of the doublets associated with Fe3+ ions in edge sites indicate that the sites have a regular 6 coordination. Fe3+ ions in the interior of the chains occupy M(1) sites in three of the samples examined and M(2) sites in the fourth. Fe3+ ions in edge positions of palygorskite become 5-coordinated when water is lost on heating. They maintain this coordination on dehydroxylation, probably by cross-linking of the chains. The temperatures at which changes occur in the X-ray powder diffraction patterns and the Mössbauer and infrared (IR) spectra differ from sample to sample. The intermediate stages observed also vary, either due to different reaction paths or to different stabilities of the intermediate phases. The deduced distribution of cations in the octahedral sheets is in good qualitative agreement with the observed IR hydroxyl absorptions.

The adsorption-desorption of the cationic pesticide chlordimeform from aqueous solutions on montmorillonite, kaolinite, illite, and vermiculite appears to be a cation-exchange process coupled with the coadsorption of neutral molecules and the extraction of Al from the structure of the mineral. Chlordimeform adsorption on montmorillonite, illite, and vermiculite by cation exchange is an irreversible process, whereas chlordimeform adsorbed on kaolinite is weakly bonded to the clay and easily removed by washing with water. X-ray powder diffraction and infrared spectroscopic data show that chlordimeform cations are adsorbed in the interlamellar spaces of montmorillonite at charge sites, lying in a flat position in contrast to kaolinite, illite, and vermiculite, where they adsorb on external surfaces or charge sites close to the crystal edges.

Silica-intercalated hectorite with an 001 spacing of 12.6 Å and a N2 BET surface area of 220 m2/ g was prepared by hydrolysis and oxidation at 500°C of hectorite containing a silicon acetylacetonate complex. The intercalate swelled to higher spacings upon adsorption of water, glycerol, and pyridine, but the silica was not expelled when the interlayers swelled and contracted in successive adsorption/desorption cycles. The surface area measured by isobutane adsorption agrees with the N2BET surface area, suggesting that the interlayers are available for adsorption of aliphatic hydrocarbons. The intercalated silica did not inhibit the ability of the interlayers to enter into cation-exchange reactions, as judged from Cu2+-binding experiments. Infrared studies of NH3-, pyridine-, and NO2-adsorption indicate the presence of Bronsted acidity and the absence of Lewis acidity in the interlayer regions.

The identification and quantification of the water associated with powdered clinoptilolite and clinoptilolite-bearing tuffs were made using thermogravimetric, vacuum gravimetric, and differential scanning calorimetric techniques. Inflection points on thermogravimetric curves at approximately 80° and 170°C correspond to changes in the proportions of externally adsorbed water to loosely bound zeolitic water and loosely bound zeolitic water to tightly bound zeolitic water, respectively. These three types of water can be differentiated by temperatures and heats of dehydration obtained from differential scanning calorimetry. These temperatures and heats of hydration are 75 ± 10°C and 59.2 ± 5.9 kJ/mole H2O, 171 ± 2°C and 58.7 ± 6.1 kJ/mole H2O, and 271 ± 4°C and 78.7 ± 7.0 kJ/mole H2O for external water, loosely bound water, and tightly bound water, respectively. The ratio of loosely bound zeolitic water to tightly bound zeolitic water determined in this study is similar to that reported in the literature from structural determinations, indicating that the desorption properties of clinoptilolite are determined by the specific positions of the water molecules in the structure.