clay common name for a number of fine-grained, earthy materials that become plastic when wet. Chemically, clays are hydrous aluminum silicates, ordinarily containing impurities, e.g., potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, or iron, in small amounts.

Properties and Classification

Properties of the clays include plasticity, shrinkage under firing and under air drying, fineness of grain, color after firing, hardness, cohesion, and capacity of the surface to take decoration. On the basis of such qualities clays are variously divided into classes or groups; products are generally made from mixtures of clays and other substances. The purest clays are the china clays and kaolins. "Ball clay" is a name for a group of plastic, refractory (high-temperature) clays used with other clays to improve their plasticity and to increase their strength. Bentonites are clays composed of very fine particles derived usually from volcanic ash. They are composed chiefly of the hydrous magnesium-calcium-aluminum silicate called montmorillonite. See also fuller's earth .

Individual clay particles are always smaller than 0.004 mm. Clays often form colloidal suspensions when immersed in water, but the clay particles flocculate (clump) and settle quickly in saline water. Clays are easily molded into a form that they retain when dry, and they become hard and lose their plasticity when subjected to heat.

Formation

Clays are divided into two classes: residual clay, found in the place of origin, and transported clay, also known as sedimentary clay, removed from the place of origin by an agent of erosion and deposited in a new and possibly distant position. Residual clays are most commonly formed by surface weathering, which gives rise to clay in three ways—by the chemical decomposition of rocks, such as granite, containing silica and alumina; by the solution of rocks, such as limestone, containing clayey impurities, which, being insoluble, are deposited as clay; and by the disintegration and solution of shale. One of the commonest processes of clay formation is the chemical decomposition of feldspar .

Clay consists of a sheet of interconnected silicates combined with a second sheetlike grouping of metallic atoms, oxygen, and hydroxyl, forming a two-layer mineral such as kaolinite . Sometimes the latter sheetlike structure is found sandwiched between two silica sheets, forming a three-layer mineral such as vermiculite. In the lithification process, compacted clay layers can be transformed into shale. Under the intense heat and pressure that may develop in the layers, the shale can be metamorphosed into slate.

Uses

From prehistoric times, clay has been indispensable in architecture, in industry, and in agriculture. As a building material, it is used in the form of brick , either sun-dried (adobe) or fired. Clays are also of great industrial importance, e.g., in the manufacture of tile for wall and floor coverings, of porcelain, china, and earthenware, and of pipe for drainage and sewage. Highly absorbent, bentonite is much used in foundry work for facing the molds and preparing the molding sands for casting metals. The less absorbent bentonites are used chiefly in the oil industry, e.g., as filtering and deodorizing agents in the refining of petroleum and, mixed with other materials, as drilling muds to protect the cutting bit while drilling. Other uses are in the making of fillers, sizings, and dressings in construction, in clarifying water and wine, in purifying sewage, and in the paper, ceramics, plastics, and rubber industries.

Clay as a Soil

Clay is one of the three principal types of soil, the other two being sand and loam. A certain amount of clay is a desirable constituent of soil, since it binds other kinds of particles together and makes the whole retentive of water. Excessively clayey soils, however, are exceedingly difficult to cultivate. Their stiffness presents resistance to implements, impedes the growth of the plants, and prevents free circulation of air around the roots. They are cold and sticky in wet weather, while in dry weather they bake hard and crack. Clods form very often in clayey soils. Clays can be improved by the addition of lime, chalk, or organic matter; sodium nitrate, however, intensifies the injurious effects. In spite of their disadvantages, the richness of clay soils makes them favorable to the growth of crops that have been started in other soil.

Bibliography

See R. E. Grim, Clay Mineralogy (2d ed. 1968); R. W. Grimshaw, The Chemistry and Physics of Clays and Allied Ceramic Materials (4th ed. 1971).

Clay

Clay is a fine-grained (small particle size) sedimentary rock . Clay is so fine-grained it is rarely possible to see the individual mineral particles with the naked eye. The definition of clays describes rocks with particle sizes of less than 4 μm in diameter. Most sedimentary rocks are described using both mineral content and particle size. While this is also true for clays, the particle size description is most reliable and most often used.

The majority of common types of minerals found in clays are kaolinite (a soapy-feeling and lightweight mineral), talc, pyrophyllite, all types of micas, minerals from the chlorite group, feldspars, and a lesser amount of tectosilicates (including quartz ).

The mineral content of clays is less variable than other types of sedimentary rock. This is a direct result of the way clays are formed. Water carries the bulk of sediments to their resting place where they are cemented together. The transport of sediments is directly related to the force or velocity of water carrying them. The stronger the velocity of water, the larger and heavier the particle it can move. Conversely, the weaker the flow, the smaller the particle that is carried by the water. As a result, water acts as a winnowing filter for certain types of minerals. The heavier minerals are not carried as far by water currents as are the lighter ones. When water finally comes to rest, it deposits its load of minerals. The last to be released are the lighter and smaller particles, the clay minerals.

Where rivers meet oceans , the clay minerals are so light they are usually carried far out to sea where they fall gently to the bottom forming a fine-grained sediment. These deposits cover organic materials and trap them at the edges of deltas and continental slopes. Over millions of years, the organic materials convert to petroleum and remain trapped by the clays. This relationship makes the study of clays extremely important for petroleum geologists. In addition to this important economic consideration, clays provide important economic resources for a wide variety of other industries.

See also Petroleum detection; Sedimentation

clay. A sticky, fine-grained earth, composed essentially of rock dust and water, that can be moulded and cut into shape; it has been used in most civilizations for practical purposes, notably for making bricks, tiles, and pottery, and to a lesser but still significant extent in sculpture and decoration. Clay suitable for use as a modelling material is found in virtually every part of the world, in many different colours and qualities. Coloured clay is commoner than white. For sculptural purposes, lighter-coloured earths are generally preferred, as they show workmanship more clearly. Clay is worked mainly with the fingers, although many different wooden and metal implements have been employed as secondary tools. Often clay sculpture is fired in a kiln to make it more permanent; the resultant material is called terracotta. Like wax, clay has been used a good deal for making preparatory models but also for finished works of sculpture, usually fairly small ones, such as portrait busts (because of its comparative fragility, it has seldom been used for large pieces, although the Etruscans, for example, made impressive life-sized terracotta figures). The surface is often left in its natural state, but it can also be painted and/or glazed; Luca della Robbia and his family made a speciality of coloured, glazed terracotta reliefs. See also bole.

clay / klā/ • n. a stiff, sticky fine-grained earth, typically yellow, red, or bluish-gray in color and often forming an impermeable layer in the soil. It can be molded when wet, and is dried and baked to make bricks, pottery, and ceramics. ∎ technical sediment with particles smaller than silt, typically less than 0.00016 inch (0.004 mm). ∎  a hardened clay surface for a tennis court. ∎ poetic/lit. the substance of the human body: this lifeless clay. PHRASES: feet of claysee foot.DERIVATIVES: clay·ey / ˈklā-ē/ adj. clay·ish adj. clay·like / -ˌlīk/ adj.

clay Group of hydrous silicates of aluminium and magnesium, including kaolinite and halloysite, usually mixed with some quartz, calcite or gypsum. It is formed by the weathering of surface granite or the chemical decomposition of feldspar. Soft when wet, it hardens on firing and is used to make ceramics. It is also used for bricks and cement, as well as the manufacture of electrical insulators, pipes and paper.

clay
1. In the Udden–Wentworth scale, particles less than 4μm in size. See PARTICLE SIZE.

2. In pedology, a soil separate comprising mineral particles less than 2μm in diameter according to the Atterberg and USDA classifications.

3. Class of soil texture, irrespective of particle diameter but usually containing at least 20% by weight of clay particles. Compare CLAY MINERALS.

clay OE. clǣġ = (M)LG., (M)Du. klei :- WGmc. *klaijō-, f. *klai- *klei- *kli-, repr. also by OE. clām, mod. dial. cloam mud, clay, OE. clǣman (see CLAMMY); IE. *gloi- *glei- *gli- as in Gr. glía, glínē, L. glūs, glūten (see GLUE).

clay
1. A soil separate comprising mineral particles less than 2 μm in diameter.

2. In the Udden–Wentworth scale, particles less than 4 μm in diameter.

3. A class of soil texture, usually containing at least 20 per cent by weight of clay particles. Compare clay mineral.

clay A dried mineral clay under the names of sikor, mithi, pakhuri, and khatta, is sometimes used in Asia as a treatment for indigestion and a nutritional supplement, but can be toxic since it contains varying amounts of arsenic and lead.

clay
1. A soil separate comprising mineral particles less than 2 μm in diameter.

2. A class of soil texture, usually containing at least 20 per cent by weight of clay particles. Compare CLAY MINERAL.

clay An inorganic constituent of soils consisting chiefly of clay minerals (mainly hydrous silicates of aluminium) in the form of particles less than 0.002 mm in diameter. See also flocculation.

Clay ♂ Either a shortened form of Clayton or a transferred use of the surname Clay, a local name for someone who lived on a patch of land which had clay soil (Old English clǣg).

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