BIO

Hi, my name is Emily and I am from Central Florida. I am a first-year student at FSU who is majoring in Geology, and I have an interest in pursuing further research pertaining to my major.

High-pressure behavior of kaolinite

Abstract

Kaolinite is a layered hydrous silicate mineral with a stoichiometry
of Al2Si2O5(OH)4. The crystal structure of kaolinite
is composed of a layer of tetrahedral sheet and a layer
of octahedral sheet, such a 1:1 layer is held together with
adjacent layer by weak interlayer hydrogen bonds. In the
tetrahedral sheet, individual tetrahedral units are arranged
in di-trigonal rings. In octahedral layer, out of
three possible octahedral units, only two are occupied by
aluminum ion and one remains vacant and hence kaolinite
is a di-octahedral clay. Kaolinite is produced by either
weathering of minerals found in continent or via hydrothermal
alteration of igneous rocks. Hydrous minerals
such as kaolinite play a vital role in transporting water into
the Earth’s interior via the process of subduction. As these
minerals are subducted into the Earth’s interior they are
subjected to higher pressures and temperatures. In this
study, we examine how pressure aspects the structure of
kaolinite. We examined high-pressure behavior of kaolinite
using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.
FTIR spectroscopy at Mid-infrared region is sensitive to
the hydroxyl groups.

Keywords: Geology, Subduction Zone, Spectroscopy