Beidellitic montmorillonite from Swansea, New South Wales

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Abstract
The minus 1μm fraction of an argillized vitric tuff, overlying the Wallarah Coal Seam near Swansea, N.S.W. is a nearly monomineralic (95%+) expandite clay, which hydrates and reacts to glycerol and heat treatments like montmorillonite. Results of X-ray, differential thermal, thermogravimetric and infrared absorption analyses confirm the general montmorillonoid character of the mineral, but chemical data indicate that much of its structure charge arises from substitutions in the tetrahedral zones of the lattice, as in beidellite rather than montmorillonite. The structural fOrmula deduced for the Ca++-saturated form of the minus 0.1μm clay is: The distinctive behaviours of the heat-treated NH4+- and Li+-saturated structures also suggest that the mineral is a 'beidellitic montmorillonite' rather than a montmorillonite.

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