Quantification of Soil Clay Minerals with XRD and Thermal Analysis.

We have refined the Mineral Intensity Factor (MIF) approach to quantification of minerals in soil clay fractions (1) by using NEWMOD to calculate MIFs, (2) by using variable slits on the x-ray goniometer that allow us to use low-angle peaks to effectively separate expandable minerals from one another, and (3) by using kaolinite percentages determined from thermal analysis as a “known” mineral quantity to which the other layer silicates can be compared.