Abstract
Abstract The origin of clay minerals is an important topic in applied clay science because the properties of any clay, and particularly those of kaolin, smectite, palygorskite and sepiolite, are origin dependent. Knowledge of clay mineral genesis from studies of existing deposits also contributes to improved exploration, mining, and processing. This chapter describes the geological environments for clay minerals (weathering crusts and soils, continental and marine sediments, hydrothermal alteration, diagenesis, and very low grade metamorphism), and the Martian clays, and their importance to understand the processes occurred on the Mars surface. The use of clay minerals as palaeogeothermometers and the importance of mixed-layer clays in exploration for oil and gas in sedimentary basins are particularly reported. Finally, statistical analysis of geochemical and mineralogical data and the geochemistry of stable and radioactive isotopes in clay minerals are commented because these investigative methods provide additional clues to the genesis of clay minerals.
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