ENVB 210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Adsorption, Silicate Minerals, Feldspar
7 Feb 2018
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Document Summary
Clays can be considered the foundation of life because it organizes soils, which in turn provide a medium for plant growth. Note: there is a continuum of different types of clay. The kinds of minerals in a soil influence: Change from primary minerals to secondary minerals. Sio2 (silicate mineral) is the main constituent of all soil particle size classes in soils. It is also abundant in rocks and can dominate sand and silt fractions of soils (quartz and feldspar) Quartz: all bonds are si-o no need for accessory cations. Feldspar: some si can be replaced by al, which creates charges. To balance the charge, accessory cations as used (na+, k+, ca2+) Weathering: clays are susceptible to a high level of weathering because of the negative charges which create weak points. Feldspar weather because silicon has a positive charge of +4 and is replaced by aluminum (+3) slight charge.
