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Argillaceous minerals



Argillaceous minerals are minerals containing substantial amounts of clay-like components (Greek: ἄργιλλος = clay). Argillaceous components are fine-grained (less than 2 µm) aluminosilicates, and more particularly clay minerals such as kaolinite, montmorillonite-smectite, illite, and chlorite. Clays and shales are thus predominantly argillaceous.

The adjective "argillaceous" is also used to define rocks in which clay minerals are a minor but significant component. For example, argillaceous limestones are limestones consisting predominantly of calcium carbonate, but including 10-40% of clay minerals: such limestones, when soft, are often called marls. Similarly, argillaceous sandstones are sandstones consisting primarily of quartz grains, with the interstitial spaces filled with clay minerals.

 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Argillaceous_minerals". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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