The Influence of analytical error upon the interpretation of chemical variations in clay minerals

Abstract Understanding the chemical variability of clay minerals depends on the analytical reliability of the techniques used. Uncertainties in clay mineral compositions were computed for common sources of analytical error such as those that arise from contaminant phases present in clay size-fractions in concentrations below the detection limit of routine XRD screening techniques, and the analytical limits of precision for TEM/AEM analysis. When plotted on standard diagrams used to represent clay mineral compositions, the calculated error envelopes were found to be of significant size, such that analyses of pure illites and pure smectites straddled the field for mixed-layered illite-smectites. In addition, on some diagrams random analytical errors resulted in linear trends identical to those caused by mixtures of two or more clay minerals. It follows that variations in the compositions of clay minerals reported in the literaure do not always necessarily represent the actual chemical variation of the minerals. As a result, current interpretations of clay compositional variations may not be as definitive as hoped.