Mineralogy of Clays from some Black, Brown and Red Soils of Mysore

Mineralogical make up of soil clays from black, brown and red soils of Mysore State has been studied by X-ray diffraction and supplemented by chemical analysis, determination of ethylene glycol retention, internal surface area and ‘Y’ value. Black and brown soil clays are similar in their mineralogical composition containing expanding lattice minerals as dominant fraction with small amount of kaolinite and also degraded illite and vermiculite in some cases, whereas illite constitutes the dominant fraction in red soil clays with less quantities of kaolinite and expanding lattice minerals. A 2:1 lattice 14 Å chloritic mineral constitutes the characteristic feature in all soil clays.