ROCK

WEATHERNG
AND CLAY
FORMATION
AVERAGE MINERALS FOUND
IN ROCKS
 Feldspars primary
 Ampheboles primary
 Pyroxenes primary
 Quartz primary
 Mica primary
 Apatite (phosphate primary, secondary
 Clays Secondary
 Limonite Secondary
 Carbonate Secondary
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE AND
WEATHERING
 The basic unit of silicate minerals is the silicon- oxygen tetrahedron (tetra = 4, hedron = wall:
4 walled; plural = tetrahedra)
 Silicon sits in the interstice of 4 oxygen atoms
 A triangular pyramid is formed with the spatial arrangement of the oxygen atoms ( 4 sided
tetrahedron)
 Silicon forms covalent bonds with the 4 oxygen atoms.
 Silicon has a valence of 4 and each of the oxygen atoms have a valence of 2
 Four (4) oxygen atoms each with a charge of 2 gives 8 charges; only four of which are
cancelled by silicon, thus leaving an extra 4 negative charges around the tetrahedron (see
previous slide)
 The extra charges can be cancelled by either corner sharing with adjacent tetrahedra or by
positively charged cations
 The number of cations needed is reduced by the extent of corner sharing
 The amount of corner sharing between adjacent tetrahedra determine the kind of mineral
formed.

Oviline pyroxene amphibole biotite quartz

orthosilicate chain silicate double chainphyllosilicate(sheet)
pyroxene Amphbiole
(hornblende)
Black stuff in rock
Black stuff in
on desk in
classroom “tarish” rock)
OLIVINE
 Olivine (FeMgAlSiO4 – green rocks in plastic) is made up of individual tetrahedral

 Each tetrahedron is bonded to the other by Magnesium and Iron cations (see slide 5)
 These metals are released through weathering for plant uptake.
 The remaining separated tetrahedra may combine with hydrogen ions (H+) to form tetrahedral
silicic acid.
WEATHERING RESISTANCE
 The more corner sharing of oxygen atoms occur, the less cations that are need.
 The more cations that are present, the easier it is for chemical weathering to take place.
 So the minerals that have increased corner thickening have more resitance to chemical
weathering
 Hence pyroxene is more resistant than olivine and quartz is the most resistant because all of
the oxygen atoms are shared.
 Quartz and rocks with high amount of quartz (granite – lighter coloured) are more likely to
form sands.
STRUCTURAL COMPONENT
OF SOIL CLAYS
 Silica tetrahedra share oxygen to form sheets(see slide 6 –biotite- notice apical oxygen is not
shared).
 The apical (top) oxygen has one unshared negative charge so aluminum (Al) fits in
 Aluminum then forms a 6 six coordination with hydroxyl ( OH) ions( future source of reserve
acidity) to form a GIBBSITE OCT.AHEDRON (8 sides).

8 sides
GIBBSITE VS BRUCITE
 Where two out of three spaces in the octahedral layer is filled with aluminum (trivalent) the
sheet is called (dioctahedral)GIBBSITE
 WHERE all of the available cation spaces are instead filled with Magnesium or other divalent
cation the sheet is called (trioctahedral) BRUCITE
 The sheet is Brucite when all potential spaces are filled with Magnesium.

Gibbsite, every third space empty

 BOTH FORMS ARE ELECTRICALLY NEUTRAL
 But there are sufficient weak charges between the phyllosilicate sheets to attract cations that
hold the sheets together.
 The condensation of the octahedral and tetrahedral sheets form plate shaped particle (sheet
silicate colloids)
 The Kaolinite sheet silicate is made up of one layer of silica tetrahedra and one layer of
gibbsite, hence a 1 to 1 (1:1) sheet silicate. (see slide 10)

Kaolinite (white stuff)

DEVELOPMENT OF
KAOLINITE
 It begins with the lodging of an aluminum ion between the adjacent apical oxygen atoms of
the tetrahedral sheets.
 This continues with the progressive addition of hydroxyl ions to complete the ALUMINUM
OCTAHEDRON (see slide 10)

HYDROXYL OXYGEN
 Aluminum is now in six coordination with four hydroxyls (OH) and two oxygen atoms, one of
which is the apical oxygen of the tetrahedral sheet.
 This gives one GIBBSITE SHEET
 Hence KAOLINITE (white rock material can be seen on the side of the road in penville,
cambelle, calibishi, ect) with one tetrahedral sheet and one Gibbsite sheet
 Kaolinite is a 1:1 crystalline sheet alumino silicate. (Platelike)

 Micro crystalline image (electron microscope)

 The theoretical formula for kaolinite is Si2Al2O5(OH)4 (other formulas are

Al2O3·2SiO2·2H2O and Al2O7Si2. 2H2O) (don’t burst your brain on it)
THE PYROPHYLLITE LAYER
 The pyrophyllite layer comprises of three sheets: one GIBBSITE sheet sandwiched between
TWO TETRAHEDRAL sheets
 As seen in the diagram, the octahedral (Oct) sheet is in the middle
 ALL except TWO of the hydrolyls (OH) are replaced by oxygen.
 So now each aluminum is now in coordination with four oxygen atoms and only two
hydroxyls.
 The sheet is electrically neutral (nonet net positive (+VE) or negative (-ve) charge

2 hydroxyls left
PYROPHYLLITE SHEET
SILICATE
 So the resultant structure is one of three layers with a ratio of 2:1. Two sheets of tetrahedra and
one sheet of gibbsite (octahedral)
 This is the major component of the dark brown to black Montmorillonite (Smectoid) soil in
the State College garden and in Salisbury.
 MICA
Mica is a 2:1 pyrophyllite sheet
silicate
DEVELOPMENT OF MICA
 ONE in four of silicon (+4 charge) is replaced by aluminum (+3 charge) in the tetrahedral
sheet.
 This is called isomorphic substitution (iso = same, morph = form)
 Notice a valence +4 charge is replaced by a lesser charge of +3. (3 minus 4 = -1)
 This leads to a net negative charge (-1) on the whole crystal
 The residual negative charge on the crystal (colloid) is then balanced off by potassium (K+)
cations fitting between the interlayers of the crystals.

 The potassium bridge hold the layers together rigidly so the mineral is NON EXPANDING –
potassium rich non expanding mineral
 The potassium re imposes electrical neutrality unto the crystal (was previously –ve
remember?)
 The potassium is unavailable to plants except on the edges
MUSCOVITE AND BIOTITE
 When the MICA (remember K bridge) has a gibbsite octahedral, the mineral is called
MUSCOVITE
 When the octahedra of the MICA ( K bridge) is BRUCITE and the Magnesium of the brucite
is replaced by iron (Fe3+), the mineral is called BIOTITE (easily weathered because of the
IRON CONTENT.)
 Hence there is more MUSCOVITE( clear) than BIOTITE (brown or black) in weathered rock
and soil
 So biotite serves as a significant source of potassium (K) for plant growth. (remember
potassium interlayer – broken up after weathering)
HYDROUS MICA (ILLITE)
 Mica is a 2:1 sheet silicate with a K+ bridge holding the layers together
 Leaching by carbonic acid (from rain –CO2 + H2O = H2CO3) causes the partial removal of K
(only some removed).
 The resultant mineral is called hydrous mica or Illite
 The sites where the K+ is removed reverts back to being negatively (+ve) charged so that other
HYDRATED cations (Ca++, Mg++, Na+) occupy those sites. (Cation Exchange Capacity –
CEC)
 These ADSORBED cations are made available to plants
VERMICULITE (SHINY BROWN STUFF INFRONT
OF OLD AGRI BUILDING)
 Continued leaching leading to the complete removal of K+ leads to increase of negative
charges around the mineral/crystal (colloid).
 Vermiculite can expand because there are no more K+ bridges to hold the sheets together
 Hence more cations can be adsorbed leading to even higher Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC)

vermiculite
SMECTITE (GROUP) 2:1
EXPANDING CLAY
 Further weathering of vermiculite yields MONTMORILLONITE (SMECTITE)
 MONTMORILLONITE has a high CEC because of the replacement of trivalent aluminum
(Al3+) with divalent magnesium (Mg2+) in the Octahedral sheet.
 Smectoid clay (monmorillonite) is to be found on your beds at DSC
 With further weathering in acid environments in the tropics, 2:1 montmorillonite may be
weathered into 1:1 kaolinite (non expanding)

 MONTMORILLONITE KAOLINITE
SESQUI OXIDES (FERRALITIC
SOILS) Fe, Al
 In most humid Tropics most silica and some Alumina are leached from layered silicates

 This leaves behind hydrated aluminum and iron oxides, Fe(OH) 3, Al(OH)3,

 Fe2O3.H2O = SESQUI OXIDES

 These soils are the predominant soil types in the humid tropics.
 Hydrous oxides/sesqui oxides adsorb phosphorus very well since they are generally acidic.
Because of the low pH, the CEC is pH dependent.
 Montmoeillonite (college) kaolinite sequioxide (red gully)