AbstractThe vertical clay mineral distribution pattern in two sediment cores taken from two East African lakes has been studied in detail. In the core from Lake Albert (Mobutu Sese Seko) a clay assemblage consisting principally of smectite with some illite and kaolinite in the uppermost segment of the core changed with depth into first a mixed-layer illite-smectite dominated clay and then at 6·60 m into an iltite dominated clay. Lower in the core there was again a transition towards interlayer mixtures, and in the bottom segment towards smectite. These changes are interpreted as a diagenetic transformation of smectite into illite, effected by saline palaeo-lake water with an unusually high K/Na ratio. Three smectite→illite-smectite→illite transition cycles were recognized in a 56 m deep sediment core from Lake Manyara. The sections in which illite dominated contained silt-sized analcime, while those with interlayer mixtures contained alkaline zeolites. The diagenetic illitization of smectite appeared to parallel the process of analcime formation, the K necessary for illitization being released during K,Na-zeolite→analcime transformation. These occurrences suggest that high temperature and pressure may not constitute absolute prerequisites for the diagenetic illitization of smectite.