SOME PROPERTIES AND PROBLEMS OF SMECTITE MINERALS IN JAVA SOILS - Eprints UPN "Veteran" Yogyakarta

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  Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Variation of the Soil Layers Developed on the Past Depositional Series on Merbabu Volcano

  Jurnal Ilmu Tanah dan Lingkungan Vol 5

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SOME PROPERTIES AND PROBLEMS OF SMECTITE MINERALS

  M Nurcholis Dept . of Soil Science, Universit y of Pembangunan Nasional “ Vet eran” Yogyakart a. email: nurch2003@yahoo.com

  INTISARI Keberadaan mineral smektit sangat penting dalam menentukan sifat fisik dan kimia dalam tanah atau bahan dari sumberdaya alam lainnya. Mineral smektit mempunyai kemampuan mengembang sebagai hasil dari sifat mineral ini yang dapat mengabsorbsi air dan kation-kation ke dalam ruang interlayer antar lembaran struktur kristal tetrahedral-oktahedral-tetrahedral. Sifat ini j uga dapat berpengaruh terhadap kemudahan berubah menj adi mineral lain. Kaj ian ini bertuj uan untuk memberikan informasi permasalahan yang ada dalam hubungannya dengan mineral smektit dalam tanah dan bentonit. Untuk memberikan informasi tersebut, dikumpulkan contoh tanah yang mengandung mineral smektit dari profil tanah di Semin dan Ngargosari serta bentonit Nanggulan. Fraksi lempung dipisahkan dari tanah dengan analisis mekanik, sedang mineralogi lempung dianalisis dan ditetapkan menggunakan difraksi sinar-X. Perbandingan intensitas puncak smektit antar sampel dalam satu lokasi dipergunakan untuk mengetahui perubahan yang terj adi dalam mineral smektit yang disebabkan oleh pelapukan. Hasil analisis menunj ukkan bahwa mineral smektit yang berasal dari Vertisol Semin mengandung hydroxy int erlayered smect it e (HIS) dan kaolin/ smect it e mixed layer minerals. Distribusi mineral smektit dari profil tanah di Semin menunj ukkan adanya perusakan mineral smektit di perlapisan tanah bagian atas sebagai hasil proses pelapukan. Mineral smsektit yang ditemukan di lapisan bawah profil tanah landslide. Ada kecenderungan perubahan di Ngargosari sebagai penyebab terj adinya mineral smektit menj adi pirofilit di profil tanah Nanggulan yang berkembang di atas bentonit.

  INTRODUCTION layer minerals in Paleudult s of Java We, t he communit y of t he Island.

  eart h sciences, already underst and The import ant case of wat er t hat smect it e minerals are part s of adsorbed by smect it e is which wat er – import ant minerals in soils. At t ent ions cat ion surf ace int eract ion is have been given t o t hese minerals signif icant . The smect it e mineral because t he propert ies of soils are st ruct ure is always somewhat significant ly inf luenced by t he unbalanced, result ing in negat ive presence of t hem. Many report s show charge. The negat ive charge is t hat t here are much variabilit y in balanced by exchangeable cat ions t hat propert ies and behavior of t he are absorbed around t he edge of t he smect it e minerals. There were report s f ine clay part icles. Such cat ion of hydroxy int erlayer in expansible absorbance and t he associat ed cat ion silicat es (Rich, 1968); chlorit e-like exchange capacit y are import ant int ergrade minerals (Weed and Nelson, inherent propert y of many t ypes of 1962), and many ot hers regarding t he clay. Furt her processes of cat ion smect it e minerals in soils. Then absorpt ion might change propert ies of Nurcholis and Tokashiki (1998) smect it e minerals, and even alt er report ed t he kaolin/ smect it e mixed smect it e minerals t o ot her t ype. As an example when t he smect it e mineral

• and

  . At slight ly higher relat ive humidit y t he int erlayer cat ions became hydrat ed, causing a st epwise expansion of t he int erlayer spacing. Furt her adsorpt ion and/ or t he f illing of ext ernal micro pores. However, monovalent and bivalent exchange f orms behave rat her dif f erent ly. The Na

  This paper was prepared by collect ing any separat ed research in mineralogical st udies of Java soils. There were t here locat ions t hat smect it e minerals collect ed. The f irst smect it e minerals from Semin were collect ed f rom Alf isol t hat developed in calcareous environment wit h parent mat erial of marl (Wibowo, 2000). Soil profile was made and t he soil of each horizon was sampled. Clay f ract ion was separat ed f rom all soil samples and t hen det erminat ion of t he clay mineral was performed using X-ray diffract ion (XRD).

  St udies of t he smect it e minerals in det ail may f ind variabilit y in propert ies of t hese minerals. In t his paper, t here is lit t le inf ormat ion in regarding t he smect it e minerals in soil and underlying mat erial t hat presence in Java soils. Many problems may appear as an ef f ect of t he presence of t he smect it e minerals in soils, and even t he use of mat erial cont aining smect it e minerals. But in here, only some propert ies and problems t hat can be report ed according t o some collect ed researches in clay minerals.

  Smect it e minerals are t he maj or component of bent onit e which is a sof t , plast ic; light colored rocked t hat also cont ains some colloidal silica. It is t he result of devit rif icat ion and accompanying chemical alt erat ion of glassy igneous rock mat erial, usually t uf f or volcanic ash. Commercial applicat ions of t he bent onit e are already wide use in pet roleum explorat ion and ot her drilling act ivit ies. It is needed at t ent ion in bent onit e for t he ot her purpose such as in soil remediat ion, and in t he f ert ilizat ion of soils.

  solvat ion complex causes init ial expansion t o bilayer complex and lat t er a t hree layers complex. The presence of wat er and kinds of cat ion minerals inf luence t o t he use and problem regarding t o t he smect it e minerals.

  6 2+

  2+

  2+

  Ca

  The smect it e mineral, have abilit y t o swell as a result of t he incorporat ion of wat er molecules bet ween t -o-t sheet s, in associat ion wit h t he int erlayer capt ions, Na

  According t o AIPEA (Associat ion Int enat ionale Pour I’ Et ude des Argiles), smect it e has been accept ed as t he group of name f or clay minerals wit h charge bet ween 0.2 and 0.6 per f ormula unit (Bailey, 1980). This decision was made as t here was confusion bet ween mont morillonit e and saponit e. As we already known t hat mont morillonit e is dioct ahedral t ype of expandable 2:1 t ype mineral, and saponit e is t rioct ahedral t ype one.

  are heat ed in air, t he int erlayer wat er is driven of f , t hereby causing t he collapse of t he st ruct ure around t he spont aneously in nat ure during burial met amorphism, leading t o wat er expulsions and layer collapse t hereby t ransf orming t he smect it e mineral st ruct ure t o an illit e-like st ruct ure.

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  64 Jurnal Ilmu Tanah dan Lingkungan Vol 5

• exchanged clay represent s a series of hydrat ion st at es. As an increasing in humidit y, t he molecule of wat er in t he int erlayer space also increase t hat result ing in t he basal spacing expansion of clay lat t ice. Then t he immersion of sodium smect it e may result in unlimit ed swelling t o large int erlayer spacing. In cont rast , in t he case of Ca

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

• exchanged clay, t here are higher hydrat ion energy needed f or calcium ion and t he st abilit y of t he oct ahedral Ca(H

2 O)

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

  XRD pattern of the clay in Semin soil

  65 The second locat ion was Ngargosari village Samigaluh sub dist rict Kulonprogo. This village has a st eep slope surf ace, and generally t he soil surf ace is covered by dense annual t rees. Landslides of t en occur at t he st art of rainy season. St udy on t he landslide was conduct ed by Suparman (2005) t o explain how t he landslide happens. In t his st udy, soil profile was made and t he soil morphology was examined. Soil samples of each horizon and underlying mat erial were collect ed. The clay mineralogy of all samples, as a part of all analysis, was det ermined using XRD.

  Third locat ion was Nanggulan Kulonprogo. Exploit at ion of bent onit e was done in t his locat ion by using t he open pit mining met hod. The overlying soil dept h is relat ively shallow, but t he soil t ext ure is clay. To ext ract t he bent onit e, it was done by excavat ing t he coverage soil and removed t o t he side place. Af t er t he mining act ivit y f inish, t here are some large holes on t he soil surf ace. Invest igat ion on t he prospect of bent onit e was conduct ed by Bunt oro

  et al

  . (2003). In t his st udy t here were bent onit e and overlying soil were sampled. For mineralogical st udy, t he clay f ract ion was collect ed as same as t he above t wo locat ions ot hers.

  The XRD analysis was perf ormed on t he parallel orient ed clay of t he Mg

  2+

  C caused a complet ely shif t t he peak t o 10.05 Å. Generally, smect it e minerals t hat are sat urat ed wit h Mg at air dry condit ion give peak not more t han 15.2 Å (Post

  o

  Heat ing t he K-sat urat ed clay unt il 550

  . (1997) report ed t he f ormat ion of HIS in t he weat hering process of t he Mt . ST. Helen t ephra.

  et al

  Nurcholis. Smectite minerals

  In t his st udy it was select ed a clay sample from Vert isol at Semin t hat showed specific minerals (Fig. 1). There were t wo peaks t hat showed by X-ray dif f ract ion. X-ray dif f ract ion on t he parallel orient ed sample of t he Mg sat urat ed clay result ed a broad peak of 17.55 Å. Glycerol solvat ion on t he Mg- clay shif t ed t he peak, also t o be a broad peak and t he highest part was 18.35 Å. Pot assium sat urat ion on t he clay sample result ed in broader peak f orming shoulder over 12.61 Å unt il 14.72 Å. The t ypical smect it e minerals give a sharp peak of 12.5 Å on t he K- sat urat ed clay. As t he peak is higher t han 12.5 Å, t here are some mat erials in t he int erlayer space. There are hydroxy-Al polymers t hat commonly develop in t his space, however it is st ill weak and it needs long period t o develop chlorit e (Rich, 1968). This mineral is generally t ermed as Hydroxy-Al Int erlayered Smect it e (HIS) or Smect it e-chlorit e Int ergrade minerals. These minerals were already report ed by several researches as t he alt erat ion of mineral t hat occur in nat ure. Dahlgreen

• sat urat ed clay samples. The Mg
• sat urat ed clay was in t he air dry and heat ing unt il 550

  o .

  t o 4

  C. The dif fract ion was conduct ed in t he range f rom 30

  o

  sat urat ed clay was t reat ed wit h t he XRD in t he air dry and glycerol salvat ion. The K

  2+

  and K

  at al

  ., 1997). But smect ie mineral on several soils t hat developed in Java, also in t his sample, showed peak t hat higher t han t hat commonly found (Nurcholis, 1998).

  o

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  Figure 1. X-ray dif f ract ion pat t ern of t he parallel orient ed clay specimen of t he Vert isol f rom Semin.

  The sample also showed a broad peak of 7.76 Å on t he Mg- sat urat ed clay, and it is int erpret ed as a 7 Å halloysit e. Glycerol solvat ion caused lowering and broadening t he peak, and it is int erpret ed as an irregular expansion of t he sheet layer. Some port ion of glycerol may ent er t he int erlayer space bet ween clay lat t ice of halloysit e, but it was not in t he same The K-sat urat ed clay showed a peak of 7.39 Å which sharper t han t hat result ed on t he Mg-sat urat ed clay. It indicat es t hat pot assium may reduce t he basal spacing of halloysit e. Furt her heat ing t o 550

  o

  C result ed in complet ely collapse t he peak of 7.39 Å. There were several broad peaks bet ween 7.39 Å and 14.72 Å shown on t he K-sat urat ed clay. This appearance may provide st rong support f or t he presence of kaolin/ smect it e mixed layer mineral. This t ype of t he mineral was also report ed by Nurcholis and Tokashiki (1998) on t he Paleudult at

  Distribution of the smectite minerals in the soil profile

  Furt her analysis of t he result of t he XRD dat a of all layers in soil prof ile are shown as int ensit y of peak of t he smect it e minerals (Figure 2). The int ensit y of t he peak of t he smect it e minerals was measured as a high of t he 15-16Å peaks of t he Mg-sat urat ed clay specimen. This met hod was already used by Harris

  et al

  . (1989) t o st udy pedon dist ribut ion in coast al plain Paleudult . Such semi quant it at ive analysis was done t o compare t he relat ive cont ent of t he smect it e minerals in every soil layer. According t o t he result in t he Figure 2, it can be said t hat t here was a signif icant ly decrease in t he int ensit y of t he peak of smect it e minerals f rom lower t o upper layer in t he soil prof ile. The similar phenomenon was report ed by Nurcholis and Prast ist ho (2000) in Paleosol t hat developed bet ween t wo layers of Nurcholis. Smectite minerals

  67 Format ions in Gunungpanggung Landslide in Ngargosari Village Gunungkidul Yogyakart a Special Problem t hat may occur in Region. It was suggest ed t hat t here relat ion wit h smect it e mineral is was an alt erat ion of t he st ruct ure of landslide. As an example, a soil in t he mineral lat t ice result ed in broken Ngargosari Kulonprogo dist rict develops of t he mineral cryst al. This process overlying clay mat erial t hat rich wit h might be result ed by t he int ensively smect it e mineral. weat hering in t he upper part s of t he Prast ist ho and Paripurno (2002) soil prof ile. report ed t hat t he underlying clay _Itensity mat erial was as one of several causes _{1 2 3 4 5 6} t he occurrence of landslide in t his area. There was an ext remely dif f erence in t he porosit y bet ween soil ₂₀ and underlying mat erial. Permeabilit y ₄₀ of t he soil was also relat ively high so t hat wat er from rainf all was inf ilt rat ed _{( th c surface soil was relat ively st eep m ) 60} t o t he soil body. As t he slope of t he _{De p 80} causing wat er f low in t he soil is lat erally dist ribut ed and running along ₁₀₀ t he int erf ace bet ween soil body and _{120 condit ion may cause t he surf ace of t he} underlying clay mat erial. This ₁₄₀ clay mat erial t o be slippery. Then t he weight force of t he upper soil mass t hat is sat urat ed wit h wat er increases, causing t he at t ract ion f orces among

  Figure 2. Relat ive int ensit y of t he peak of

  soil part icle can not hold t he soil body

  smect it e mineral under Mg sat urat ion clay at Semin soil

  Figure 3. Sket ch of t he soil prof ile t hat occurring landslide

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  over t he slippery surf ace and it moves downward along t he slope direct ion as landslide.

  Addit ions t here are many annual t rees growing over t he surf ace soil t hat add t he weight of soil. Landslides in t his locat ion generally occur at t he early of t he rainy season. It can be t hought t hat t here is a process of swelling of mat erials, especially t he smect it e mineral, when t he st art ing point of t he rainy season. The process of t he swelling clay

  part icles result s in pressures among t hem in many direct ions. As a result t here is decreasing in at t ract ion among soil part icles.

  Bentonite and Overlying Soil at Nanggulan

  Act ually bent onit e has a higher economic value if it meet s requirement in engineering purpose, especially in drilling proj ect . For t his purpose, bent onit e t hat is usually used is Na- bent onit e. Bent onit e t hat develop in Tanj ungharj o village Nanggulan sub dist rict is dominat ed by Ca-smecit e (Bunt oro

  et al

  ., 2003). Act ivat ion using NaOH did not increasing t he qualit y of t he bent onit e. St udying t he soil in Nanggulan t hat developed over bent onit e (Fig. 4) showed t hat t he dominant mineral in clay part icle of t he soil also smect it e.

  Figure 4. t he sket ch of t he soil profile and underlying bent onit e There was an int erest ing on t he clay mineral in t he soil, t hat small peak of 9 A was also present . The peak of 9 A is probably pyrophylit e or t alc. According t o AIPEA, bot h minerals are included in t he 2:1 t ype minerals t hat have not negat ive charge. Act ually, pyrophyllit e and t alc are included in t he group of pyrophylit e-t alc, but t hey are separat ed int o sub group, but st ill in dual names (Bailey, 1980). The pyrophilit e is a rare mineral and it is f ormed in some environment s which are charact erized by high magnesium (Wilson, 1987). Format ion of pyrophilit e requires environment t hat and high cont ent of Ca and Mg and high t emperat ure (Grim, 1968). The presence of t his mineral in t he nat ural environment , especially in t he soil wit h lower t emperat ure, needs more at t ent ion t o explain t he f ormat ion process of mineral. As for t he abundant of SiO

  2

  and Ca and Mg cat ions in t his environment are obviously defined because t he underlying mat erial is bent onit e. So t hat it can be t hought t hat pyrophyllit e-t alc minerals f ormat ion in t his soils are result ed f rom a long period process of cryst al growt h of aluminosilicat e t hat rich in Ca and Mg cat ions and high value of silica-alumina rat io, or it might be as a Nurcholis. Smectite minerals

  69 Furt her st udies are needed t o explain what kind process t hat result ed in t his mineral and t o det ermine t he name of t he mineral, i.e. pyrophyllit e or t alc. Transf ormat ion of smect it e t o illit e in t he laborat ory experiment was successf ully done by Drief

  Transmission elect ron microscopy evidence f or experiment al illit izat ion of smect it e in K- enriched seawat er solut ion at

  1997. Beidellit e and associat ed clays f rom De Lamar mine and Florida mount ain area, Idaho. Clays and Clay Minerals. 45: 240- 250. Prast ist ho, B. and E.T. Paripurno.

  Charact erizat ion of kaolin/ smect it e mixed layer mineral in Paleudult of Java Island. Clay Science. 10: 291-302. Post , J.L., B.L. Cupp, and F.T. Madsen.

  Pewat akan t anah yang berkembang di ant ara perlapisan f ormasi Semilir dan Wonosari di daerah Gunung Panggung Gunungkidul. Hasil penelit ian UPNVY. LPPM. Yogyakart a 11:1- 13. Nurcholis, M and Y. Tokashiki. 1998.

  V.W.Carlisle. 1989. Pedon dist ribut ion in coast al plain Paleudult . Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 47:158-163. Nurcholis, M. 1998. “ Unique” mixed layer and Mn-oxide minerals and exchangeable Al of Acidic soils in Java Island. Ph.D. dissert at ion. Kagoshima Universit y. Japan. Unpublished. Nurcholis, M. and B. Prast ist ho. 2000.

  Harris, W.G., K.A. Hollien,

  nd edit ion. McGraw-Hill. New York.

  C and basic pH. Clays and Clay Minerals. 50: 746-756. Grim, R.E. 1968. Clay mineralogy. 2

  o

  50

  Soc. Am. J. 61:1519-1525. Drief , A., F. Mart inez-Ruiz, F. Niet c, and Velilla Sanchez. 2002.

  et al .

  Ugolini. 1997. Weat hering of Mt . St . Helens Tephra under a Cryic- Udic climat ic regime. Soil Sci.

  Rat naningsih. 2003. Penelit ian pemanf aat an deposit bent onit e Kulonprogo sebagai bahan dasar Lumpur yang diperlukan pada proses pemboran minyak dan gas bumi. Kerj asama PSTM LPPM UPNVY-Bappeda Kab Kulonprogo. Unpublished. Dahlgreen, R.A., J.P. Dragon, and F.C.

  Bailey, S.W. 1980. Summary of recommendat ion of AIPEA nomenclat ure commit t ee on clay minerals. American Mineralogist . 65:1-7. Bunt oro, A., M Nurcholis, and D.R.

  REFERENCES

  There is st ill lit t le inf ormat ion, regarding t he smect it e minerals in Java soils, t hat has been report ed in t his paper. The smect it e minerals may give advant ages in specific uses if we underst and t he propert ies of t hem. We can modif y t he smect it e minerals in what kinds of cat ion t hat sat urat e t he int erlayer space. Ot her met hods t o make higher value of t hese minerals might be done by combining wit h ot her mat erials. But in ot her cases, t he swelling propert ies may cause problems in our live. Ones again, more underst anding in t he propert ies of t he smect it e minerals are needed.

  Closing Remarks

  C and basic pH f or 30 days.

  o

  (2002). They immersed t he clay cont aining smect it e mineral in t he sea wat er t hat enriched wit h KOH at 50

  2002. Kali Trayu, Ngargosari, Kulonprogo: Gerakan t anah. Prosiding symposium nasional pencegahan bencana alam sediment . ISDM Proj ect . Yogyakart a. p. 482-486.

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  Rich, C.I. 1968. Hydroxy int erlayer in expansible layer silicat e. Clays and Clay Minerals. 16:15-30. Suparman. 2005. Kaj ian f isik t anah berpot ensi longsor di desa

  Ngargosari kecamat an Samigaluh Kabupat en Kulonprogo. Skripsi S- 1. unpublished.

  Weed, S.B. and L.A. Nelson. 1962.

  Occurrence of chlorit e-like int ergrade clay minerals in Coast al Plain, Piedmont , and Mount ain Soils of Norh Caroline.

  Soil Sci. Soc. Proc. 26:393-398. Wibowo, D.A. 2000. Pewat akan kimia, f isika dan mineralogy dua pedon yang berdekat an di daerah Semin Gunungkidul. Skripsi S-1.

  Unpublished. Wilson M.J. 1987. A handbook of det erminat ive met hods in clay mineralogy. Chapman and Hall. New York.