Several dioctahedral clay minerals are related through reaction series. These series can be produced hydro-thermally from beidellite gel and montmorillonite by making simple changes in interlayer and solution chemistry. The series are:

• gel-K-beidellite-random illite/smectite-K-rectorite-illite

• K-montmorillonite-K-rectorite-illite

• Na-montmorillonite or beidellite-Na-rectorite-paragonite

• Li-montmorillonite-Li-tosudite-Li-rectorite-cookeite(?)

• Mg-montmorillonite-Mg-rectorite-tosudite-sudoite(?)

• Ca-montmorillonite-Ca-rectorite-margarite(?)

• Al-Ca-montmorillonite-kaolinite/smectite-kaolinite (150°C)

• Al-Ca-montmorillonite-pyrophyllite/smectite-pyrophyllite (320°C).

Assuming stability for the mixed-layer phases, paragenesis is a function of P, T, and X conditions. If the phases are considered to be metastable, paragenesis is a function of the speed and path of reaction.

Al-rich di, trioctahedral chlorite exists as the species cookeite and sudoite. Di,dioctahedral chlorite exists as the species donbassite. Cookeite has essential Li in its structure, sudoite has essential Mg, and donbassite has only small amounts of either element. To date, sudoite has been reported to have only IIb structural units and donbassite to have only Ia structural units. Cookeite is based primarily on Ia structural units, but IIb units are present in specimens from two localities. Most Al-rich chlorite species have regular-stacking “r” or “s” 2-layer stacking sequences, but 1-layer Ia-2 and Ia-6 polytypes also are known. The structural units (Ia or IIb) and the specific stacking sequences can be explained by a combination of local charge balance and minimization of cation-cation repulsion involving the interlayer and tetrahedral cations. X-ray powder diffraction data are adequate to differentiate Al-rich chlorite from trioctahedral chlorite and to identify the type of structural unit present, but single crystal study is necessary to identify the 2-layer and 1-layer sequences with certainty.

The method for prediction of Gibbs free energies of formation, based on the parameter ΔGO=Mz+(clay) characterizing the oxygen affinity of the cation Mz+, on the smectites, considered as hydrated clay minerals, has been used for micas and brittle micas, and yielded underestimated values. This method of prediction can be improved by a new set of parameters ΔGO=Mz+(clay), characterizing the electronegativity of a cation in a specific site (interlayer, octahedral, tetrahedral in the 10 Å minerals), determined by minimizing the difference between experimental Gibbs free energies and calculated Gibbs free energies of formation from constituent oxides. By considering the crystal structure of 10 Å and 14 Å minerals, and assuming the same electronegativity of cations, ΔGO=Mz+(o), in the octahedral sheets, an attempt is made to determine the electronegativity of cations in the brucitic sheet, ΔGO=Mz+(b). The results indicate that this prediction method compared to other determinations, gives values within 0.25% of the experimentally-estim ated values. The relationships between ΔGO=Mz+(clay) corresponding to the electronegativity of a cation in the interlayer, octahedral, tetrahedral or brucitic sites and known ΔGO=Mz+(aq) were thus determined, allowing the determination of the electronegativity of transition metal ions and trivalent ions in each of the four sites and consequently contribute to the prediction of Gibbs free energies of formation of different micas and chlorites. Examples are given for low-Fe clinochlore whose solubility is measured experimentally and the results appear excellent when compared with experimental values.

The Clay Minerals Society published a complete characterization scheme for its ‘Source Clays’ but not for its ‘Special Clays’. To address this issue, the specific surface areas (SSAs) of the 16 special clays from The Clay Minerals Society were determined using the Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) method of adsorption of an inert gas. Two BET measurements were performed for each of the 16 special clays, and the average BET SSA of each of the special clays was determined. The BET SSA of cookeite is reported for the first time. In the present study, special clays from The Clay Minerals Society are classified under three groups based on their BET special surface area values as Group-I special clays, with BET values of 0.1–10 m2/g, Group-II special clays, with BET values of 10–100 m2/g, and Group-III special clays, with BET values >100 m2/g. Comparisons which proved interesting were the those involving the mixed-layer clays and the synthetic clays. The systematic approach employed in this paper will allow for better comparisons to be made between different clays and will provide a comprehensive database for future applications of such material (e.g. as catalyst carriers, as adsorbents in waste treatments, etc.).

The alteration of spodumene to cookeite has been identified in a Li-bearing aplite-pegmatite from northern Portugal. Optical microscopy and scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM/TEM) were used to characterize the alteration products in both cookeite + quartz and cookeite + kaolinite ± mica assemblages. Mutual relationships between the minerals were assessed using back-scattered electron imaging. The first assemblage occurs along the cleavage planes of spodumene, whereas the second forms as the result of spodumene breakdown. Fine mica grains surrounded the cookeite aggregates in the second assemblage only. Precipitations of cookeite and quartz in open pore spaces and parallel packets of cookeite and kaolinite were identified by TEM. Selected area electron diffraction carried out on cookeite identified a layer-stacking sequence from highly disordered to one-layer order-disorder with a lesser participation of two-layer polytypes. The thickness of one-layer cookeite packets averaged ∼85 −100 nm. Disordered cookeite has a mean thickness of 450 nm. The chemistry of cookeite was analyzed by both electron and ionmicroprobe techniques. The structural formula of cookeite from the first assemblage corresponds to: Al2.0(Si3.23Al0.766)O10(OH)2(Al1.80Li1.166Mg0.004Fe0.09)(OH)6. Two distinct compositional varieties were found: one corresponding to ideal cookeite, whereas the second belongs to the cookeite-donbassite join.

The thermodynamic stability field for the observed minerals was calculated using the SUPCRT® programme. Two distinct stages of cookeite crystallization are discussed. The lower pressure and temperature stability of the reaction of spodumene to cookeite + quartz were estimated at ∼2.4 kbar and 240°C. The cookeite + kaolinite ± mica assemblage is still in equilibrium with quartz at ∼2.2 kbar and 220°C. The lower limit for the stability of cookeite was found at 205°C and 2 kbar.

Namacotche gem-bearing pegmatites of Alto Ligonha pegmatite district are heterogeneous, strongly fractionated, and have large Li and Ta and extremely large Cs contents. Clay samples were collected in fracture infillings and dilation cavities with gemstones and were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), polarized light microscope, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and chemical analyses. The <2 μm fraction contains cookeite, illite, illite-smectite and suggested irregular mixed-layer cookeite-smectite, beidellite, montmorillonite, kaolinite and goethite.The XRD patterns of chlorite and their d values suggest the presence of ‘di-trioctahedral chlorite’ similar to cookeite-Ia polytype. Cookeite chemical analyses show that Li contents range from 0.82 to 1.08 atoms per half unit cell.

A close relationship has been established between occurrences of gemstones and clay minerals. Some important textures and crystal chemistry are discussed.The main gemstones related to the Namacotche Pegmatite are: morganite (pink cesian beryl), kunzite (spodumene) and elbaite tourmaline. As the mechanisms responsible for the gemstone formation take place at low temperature, the clay minerals paragenesis cookeite ± cookeite-smectite interstratification ± beidellite + montmorillonite ± illite-smectite interstratification, represents a late-stage secondary paragenesis, generated by hydrothermal alteration.