Mica Polytype Slide Set. Prepared by A. C. Rule for the CMS ($23.00)
CD Series 1 Clay Mineralogy: An Introductory Course (June 2006) ($10.00)
This is the first in a new multimedia series of educational materials to be sponsored by The Clay Minerals Society. The CD contains material used to support a graduate-level course on clay minerals taught by Professor Ray Ferrell at Louisiana State University. The content is presented in six modules that cover basic mineralogy and classification; geologic origin; aqueous solubility and ion exchange; waste isolation and fluid flow; and X-ray powder diffraction methods for the identification and quantification of clay mineral assemblages. This is not a CD version of a standard textbook. It is a unique compilation of explanatory text, narrated slide shows, computer applications for the XRD analysis of clay minerals, links to selected web sites, and copies of required readings. The pedagogical approach challenges the reader to recognize the general principles of clay mineralogy presented in the selected readings rather than simply reading a literature summary in a textbook-style chapter. The author provides some hints for interpretation, but this approach works best when two or more individuals are able to discuss the readings.
The general objectives of this presentation are to foster a greater understanding of clay mineral reactions in the environment and the processes controlling their geologic distribution and industrial utilization. It produces an increased awareness of the relationship between structural/chemical characteristics of the diverse clay minerals present in rocks, soils and sediments and their physical and chemical properties. The lessons to be learned are useful in diverse fields of scientific and technical investigation. One point of emphasis is that clay mineral names are mostly applied at the “family” level. Thus smectite represents materials with a wide range of chemical variability and physical characteristics. Smectite, kaolin, chlorite or illite, are terms that are more like plagioclase rather than names for well-defined mineral species. Within each family, chemical and structural varieties may have considerably different properties. One illite is not identical to all other illites.
Many organizations contributed copyrighted material freely to the production of this CD. It is available from the Clay Minerals Society Office. Please use the online order form.