Clay Mineral Transformation in the Weathering Crust: Evidence from the Kundara Clay Mine, Kerala

Abstract

SEM and DT A investigations of the clays from the famous clay mine at Kundara show that kaolinite and halloysite constitute the clay minerals, and that halloysite is transformed into well-crystalline kaolinite. This indicates that kaolinite formation is preceded by the formation of halloysite in the weathering crust at Kundara. This finding is consistent with the recent experimental results of halloysite-kaolinite transformation.