What is Clay & Where / How Clay Forms | GEO GIRL

What is mud? What is clay? What is clay made of? What makes clay red vs other colors? In this video, I discuss all things clay minerals! From what clay is defined as, to where clay forms, the different types of clays, and the process of secondary clay formation and what controls the composition of the clay mineral. We also discuss common clay minerals and their relative abundance in common soil types (podzols, pedalfers, pedocals, and laterite soils). Lastly, we go over the reason rain weathers silicate minerals and why feldspars are the most common primary phase to secondary aluminosilicate clay phases.

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0:00 What is clay?
2:06 Where is clay found?
3:59 What is soil?
5:15 How soil forms
6:48 How clay forms
11:16 Clay minerals in different climates
14:08 Factors that control clay composition
17:23 Related videos & references

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[GEOGIRL]

CLAY DEFINITION CLARIFICATION: I tried to get this across in the video, but I've been seeing many comments that indicate I didn't do a great job, so I just wanted to say here that CLAY IS BOTH A SIZE AND A COMPOSITION! I state at the beginning of the video that it is defined by size, but if you KEEP watching, I then go on to discuss the fact that only certain compositions of material exist at that size, and these are secondary, layered aluminosilicates, which are what geologists define as 'clay minerals'. However, there are also oxides that can sometimes be clay-sized and are sometimes called pelagic clays becuase they form on the seafloor (in the pelagic zone), but they are not considered 'clay minerals' because they are not aluminosiliates. Why do we make this distinction? Because aluminosilicates have a very specific platy structure and this causes them to behave differently than materials that aren't platy (like certain oxides). But don't worry, I talk ALL about clay structures in the follow up video to this one! ;)

Also, I see lots of angry comments because I used fractions & metric, so I just want to say I only did that because the reference I was using did that and I thought it was hilarious haha! So please don't be mad at me, I would never do that for real, but the point here is the actual value doesn't matter, it is just VERY small lol ;)

Lastly, I had a typo in the end-screen. Pretend it says Mineralogy Playlist rather than Planetary Science Playlist ;) Thanks! haha

[andywomack]

In order to field test for clay, one must have a taste for knowledge.

[Hellbender]

Good idea to do a soil science series. Dirt is way cooler than it gets credit for. My son found the orange iron oxide clay layer beneath our garden and figured out how to make little bricks dried in the sun. They're surprisingly hard and sturdy so he built a little border out of them.

[nzugruf]

The basics of clays has never been explained to me like this. You make it sound so logical and understandable. Thx.

[conchobharkhan]

“Did you chew it?”

Is a sentence that every geologist has heard from a person that is 100% serious

[keithlightminder]

Getting into “wild clay” which involves prospecting useful ingredients of clay bodies for pottery, building and maintaining good relationships with the people plants and critters of that land, and lots of experimenting to make clay bodies and glazes. This is golden! Thank you! So glad to have found this channel. Learning so much.

[sayagarapan]

This compelled me to finally look up what pottery clay consists of and how it's classified. There's a lot I don't know but have always wondered at. Totally playing catch up here. The soil at my dad's house in Illinois is heavy with clay and I've always wondered at it's origin and how it is classified as clay verses silt, soil, & sand. I was born and raised in the Pacific being a half island boy so U.S. geology was never really a prominent interest for me until now. I heard tell that everything East of the Mississippi River is buried under several feet of eroded Appalachian mountains where it hasn't been scraped to bedrock by glaciers, forcing me to wonder how big those mountains really got and where it all went. All very intriguing, and for me, a mystery to uncover. Sand and lava has been my forte`. Cuts your feet and gets up in your shorts so it has a way of remaining imminent.

[firbolg]

I hated geology in school... mostly my teacher's fault since she couldn't have made her classes any more academically boring. But you, I can watch you all day!

[LuisAldamiz]

This was the geology lesson that my formation as gardener was missing. Bookmarking it. Thanks.

[peterladan]

Thank you for a fantastic video again! We are making the finishing touches to our geopark in the middle of Sweden that will be opened in June next year. Two weeks ago we were put on the IUGS list of the first 100 geological heritage sites in the world. It is fantastic to see you present all the topics that are represented in our park. I wish you lived a little closer so that we could have you here with us to get people enthusiastic about earth science. Looking forward to your next video!

[gaufrid]

Now I know why the soil here in Cagayan de Oro City Mindanao Philippines is red, and so is the soil in the tropical north of Australia! Also "Down in the west Texas town of El Paso, there lives an amazing Geo Girl"!

[camelopardalus]

Not many people have the gift to make dirt sound so fascinating.

[claywyatt]

I've been discouraged a lot lately and searching for direction in my life. This video is quite helpful! Thank you!

[christiancarson]

I just discovered this channel 2 weeks ago and I love it. I need to check out your video on soil. By the way, I grew up on a farm on the Valparaiso moraine in Northwest Indiana. Due to glaciation moraine soils are all mixed up. It is possible to have multiple soil types in one small field. Yeah I'm weird, I love dirt, or more accurately soil.

[georgefspicka]

Wow! What a flood of facts … I love it! I’m basically clueless about soils, which is why this presentation is so cool to me. Most of what I learned about clay in the 80s, had to do with deposition in deltas and such.

Adios Amigo :)

[Mjr._Kong]

Came for the cute thumbnail, stayed for the excellent discussion. You have a natural gift for sharing (potentially dry) information with enough charisma to make it palatable -- even interesting!

Earned a sub.

[KerriEverlasting]

Omg I got my "Ask me about geology" cap! Woo hoo! It's so nice! I love it so much! 😍

[bentonjackson]

I'm an amateur geologist that has picked up pottery as a new hobby in the last few months. I'm very interested to see where this series goes! I'd like to see some discussion of how different clay types are used in pottery.

[lubricatedgoat]

Clay might be the most important substance there is:
I've read that it could have catalyzed the early chemistry of life itself.
It also served as a very important tool for recording the first writing, and then there's its use for holding water/liquids and food.
Almost forgot to mention its use in construction.
Like I speculated, it may be the most important substance, at least to mankind.

[davidniemi]

Fascinating and informative. I live where there is an above-average amount of rain year-round, the soil is acidic (pH 5.5 - 6.0), and mostly heavy orange clay with rocks mixed in. Not ideal for growing useful plants but manageable.