smectite mineral group

Also known as smectite, smectite group

thumb|Scanning electron microscope (SEM) photograph of smectite clay – magnification 23,500 – [[U.S. Geological Survey – Tuckup Canyon]] thumb|Typical cracks pattern of a smectite-rich bentonite after its desiccation and shrinkage

Wikidata facts

Instance of: mineral group
Subclass of: phyllosilicates
Image: Nontronita.JPG

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IMA Mineral Symbol: Sme
topic's main category: Category:Smectite group

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~7 min read

Encyclopedic overview

9 sections

Contents

Terminology
Mineralogical structure
Role of interlayer cations in the swelling process
Formation process
Industrial applications
See also
References
Further reading
External links

A smectite (; ; ) is a mineral mixture of various swelling sheet silicates (phyllosilicates), which have a three-layer 2:1 (TOT) structure and belong to the clay minerals. Smectites mainly consist of montmorillonite, but can often contain secondary minerals such as quartz and calcite.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “smectite mineral group” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.