Illite

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Illite

Illite is a non-expanding, clay

Clay

Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained minerals, which show plasticity through a variable range of water content, and which can be hardened when dried and/or fired....
-sized, micaceous mineral. Illite is a phyllosilicate

Silicate minerals

The silicate minerals make up the largest and most important class of rock-forming minerals, comprising approximately 90 percent of the crust of the Earth....
or layered alumino-silicate. Its structure is constituted by the repetition of Tetrahedron – Octahedron – Tetrahedron (TOT) layer. The interlayer space is mainly occupied by poorly hydrated potassium cations responsible for the absence of swelling.

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Encyclopedia

Illite is a non-expanding, clay

Clay

Silicate minerals

Muscovite

Muscovite is a Silicate minerals mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula potassiumaluminum22, or 236....
or sericite

Sericite

Sericite is a fine grained mica, either muscovite, illite, or paragonite. Sericite is a common alteration mineral of orthoclase or plagioclase feldspars in areas that have been subjected to hydrothermal alteration typically associated with copper, tin, or other hydrothermal ore deposits....
with slightly more silicon

Silicon

Silicon is the most common metalloid. It is a chemical element, which has the symbol Si and atomic number 14. The atomic mass is 28.0855....
, magnesium

Magnesium

Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, atomic weight 24.3050 and common oxidation number +2.Magnesium, an alkaline earth metal, is the ninth most abundance of the chemical elements in the universe by mass....
, iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a Group 8 element and period 4 element. Iron is lustrous and silvery in color....
, and water and slightly less tetrahedral aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13....
and interlayer potassium

Potassium

Potassium is a chemical element. It has the symbol K , atomic number 19, and atomic mass 39.0983. Potassium was first isolated from potash, hence the name....
. The chemical formula is given as (K,H₃O)(Al,Mg,Fe)₂(Si,Al)₄O₁₀[(OH)₂,(H₂O)], but there is considerable ion substitution. It occurs as aggregates of small monoclinic grey to white crystals. Due to the small size, positive identification usually requires x-ray diffraction analysis. Illite occurs as an alteration product of muscovite and feldspar

Feldspar

Feldspars are a group of rock-forming tectosilicate minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth's Crust .Feldspars crystallize from magma in both intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks, as veins, and are also present in many types of metamorphic rock....
in weathering

Weathering

Weathering is the decomposition of earth Rock , soils and their minerals through direct contact with the planet's atmosphere. Weathering occurs in situ, or "with no movement", and thus should not be confused with erosion, which involves the movement of rocks and minerals by agents such as water, ice, wind, and gravity....
and hydrothermal environments. It is common in sediments, soils, and argillaceous sedimentary rocks as well as in some low grade metamorphic rocks. Glauconite

Glauconite

Glauconite is a Silicate minerals mineral.It can also be referred to as an iron silicate. It crystallizes with monoclinic geometry. The name is derived from the Greek language glaucos meaning 'gleaming' or 'silvery', to describe the appearance of the blue-green color, presumably relating to the sheen and blue-green color of the sea's...
in sediments can be differentiated by x-ray analysis.

The cation exchange capacity (CEC) of illite is smaller than that of smectite but higher than that of kaolinite

Kaolinite

Kaolinite is a clay mineral with the chemical composition Aluminium2Silicon2Oxygen54. It is a layered Silicate minerals, with one tetrahedron sheet linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedron sheet of alumina octahedra....
, typically around 20 – 30 meq/100 g.

Illite was first described for occurrences in the Maquoketa shale

Shale

Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clay minerals or muds. It is characterized by thin laminae breaking with an irregular curving fracture, often splintery and usually parallel to the often-indistinguishable bedding plane....
in Calhoun County, Illinois

Calhoun County, Illinois

Calhoun County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the United States Census 2000, the population was 5,084; the population was 5,167 at the 2007 official US Census estimate....
, USA, in 1937. The name was derived from its type location in Illinois. Illite is also called hydromica or hydromuscovite. Brammallite

Brammallite

Brammallite is a sodium rich analogue of illite. First described in 1943 for an occurrence in Llandybie, Carmarthenshire, Wales, it was named for United Kingdom geologist and mineralogist Alfred Brammall ....
is a sodium rich analogue.

Illite is also used in food supplements, with claimed benefits that range from bowel function to reduction of heavy metals

Heavy metals

A heavy metal is a member of an ill-defined subset of elements that exhibit metallic properties, which would mainly include the transition metals, some metalloids, lanthanides, and actinides....
in the blood. Apparently, a French company, Argiletz, provides a wide range of products which are offered for sale in the UK and elsewhere. "Green clay", a term used in several languages, often contains illite. In Scotland

Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
, internal uses of illite probably date back to Celtic

Celt

Celts , is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic languages. The term is also used in a wider sense to describe the Modern Celts of those peoples, notably those who participate in a Celtic culture....
times.

Illite

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