A Random Intergrowth of Sepiolite and Attapulgite

Abstract The smectic clays from Cabo de Gata region, Almeria, Spain, are composed mainly of montmorillonite, but they contain appreciable quantities of fibrous clay minerals, some of which are of the palygorskite type. However, there also is a mineral that has properties intermediate between those of palygorskite and sepiolite. Its structure seems to be a random intergrowth of both.