This companion volume to Velde's Origin and Mineralogy of Clays deals with the role of clays in specific environmental issues, and is unique in its subject matter. Individual chapters are written by recognized international experts in their field, and cover such subjects as radioactive waste disposal, trace metals, soil quality and productivity, pesticides, landfill, fibrous minerals and health. The approach combines reviews with current research, making it an invaluable resource for students, researchers and practitioners alike.

Origin and Mineralogy of Clays, the first of two volumes, lays the groundwork for a thorough study of clays in the environment. The second volume will deal with environmental interaction. Going from soils to sediments to diagenesis and hydrothermal alteration, the book covers the whole spectrum of clays. The chapters on surface environments are of great relevance in regard to environmental problems in soils, rivers and lake-ocean situations, showing the greatest interaction between living species and the chemicals in their habitat. The book is of interest to scientists and students working on environmental issues.

As the human population grows from seven billion toward an inevitable nine or 10 billion, the demands on the limited supply of soils will grow and intensify. Soils are essential for the sustenance of almost all plants and animals, including humans, but soils are virtually infinitely variable. Clays are the most reactive and interactive inorganic compounds in soils. Clays in soils often differ from pure clay minerals of geological origin. They provide a template for most of the reactive organic matter in soils. They directly affect plant nutrients, soil temperature and pH, aggregate sizes and strength, porosity and water-holding capacities. This book aims to help improve predictions of important properties of soils through a modern understanding of their highly reactive clay minerals as they are formed and occur in soils worldwide. It examines how clays occur in soils and the role of soil clays in disparate applications including plant nutrition, soil structure, and water-holding capacity, soil quality, soil shrinkage and swelling, carbon sequestration, pollution control and remediation, medicine, forensic investigation, and deciphering human and environmental histories. Features: Provides information on the conditions that lead to the formation of clay minerals in soils Distinguishes soil clays and types of clay minerals Describes clay mineral structures and their origins Describes occurrences and associations of clays in soil Details roles of clays in applications of soils Heavily illustrated with photos, diagrams, and electron micrographs Includes user-friendly description of a new method of identification To know soil clays is to enable their use toward achieving improvements in the management of soils for enhancing their performance in one or more of their three main functions of enabling plant growth, regulating water flow to plants, and buffering environmental changes. This book provides an easily-read and extensively-illustrated description of the nature, formation, identification, occurrence and associations, measurement, reactivities, and applications of clays in soils.

Studies the Environmental, Cosmetic, and Pharmaceutical Applications of Bentonite ClayBentonite clay, of which members of the smectite family of clay minerals are particularly important, has proven to be effective in sealing off wastes from groundwater. Bentonite Clay: Environmental Properties and Applications explores the mineralogy of clays in ge

The first edition of the Handbook of Clay Science published in 2006 assembled the scattered literature on the varied and diverse aspects that make up the discipline of clay science. The topics covered range from the fundamental structures (including textures) and properties of clays and clay minerals, through their environmental, health and industrial applications, to their analysis and characterization by modern instrumental techniques. Also included are the clay-microbe interaction, layered double hydroxides, zeolites, cement hydrates, and genesis of clay minerals as well as the history and teaching of clay science. The 2e adds new information from the intervening 6 years and adds some important subjects to make this the most comprehensive and wide-ranging coverage of clay science in one source in the English language. - Provides up-to-date, comprehensive information in a single source - Covers applications of clays, as well as the instrumental analytical techniques - Provides a truly multidisciplinary approach to clay science

A comprehensive review of environmental remediation is presented with an emphasis on the role of clay minerals in water purification. In the first chapter, important aspects of environmental problems and possible solutions are discussed. In the second chapter, the application of natural clay minerals as environmental cleaning agents are explained. The discussion is focused on the role of different types of clay materials in hazardous substance removal from air, aqueous solutions, wastewater, aquaculture, ground water, etc. In the next chapter, the modification of clay materials is explored including the preparation of clay composite materials for environmental remediation. Various aspects of clay material modifications and the effects of clay surface chemistry on the removal of hazardous material is also discussed. Next, the equilibrium and kinetics of hazardous substance adsorption is presented. This chapter summarizes recent studies on the removal of hazardous substances from aqueous solutions and the environment using various types of clay minerals. The brief also includes various models used in adsorption studies and touches on the characterization of clay minerals.

Of huge relevance in a number of fields, this is a survey of the different processes of soil clay mineral formation and the consequences of these processes concerning the soil ecosystem, especially plant and mineral. Two independent systems form soil materials. The first is the interaction of rocks and water, unstable minerals adjusting to surface conditions. The second is the interaction of the biosphere with clays in the upper parts of alteration profiles.