This review summarizes our recent findings on the role of mineral salts in prebiotic RNA synthesis, which is catalyzed by montmorillonite clay minerals. The clay minerals not only catalyze the synthesis of RNA but also facilitate homochiral selection. Preliminary data of these findings have been presented at the "Horizontal Gene Transfer and the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA)" conference...

INTRODUCTION THE NAME illite was proposed by Grim, Bray and Bradley in 1937 for the mica-type mineral occurring in argillaceous sediments. It was specifically stated that "the term is not proposed as a specific mineral name, but as a general term for the clay mineral constituent of argillaceous sediments belonging to the mica group". Abundant research has shown that many soils, clays and shales...

We show that 85% of variation in total organic carbon can be explained by mineral surface area in a black shale deposit from two locations in the late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, United States. This relation suggests that, as in modern marine sediments, adsorption of carbon compounds onto clay mineral surfaces played a fundamental role in the burial and preservation of organic carbon. O...

Kimberlite is described as a diverse and complex hybrid rock in the literature. It is also described as volatile rich, potassic, ultrabasic, igneous rocks that occur as volcanic pipes, dykes and sills1. The minerals present in kimberlites vary widely and can include from trace to predominance any of the following minerals: apatite, calcite, chlorite, diopside (pyroxene), magnetite, monticellite...

Spray dry granulation of clay minerals was studied to obtain clay mineral base support material for metallocene supported olefin polymerization catalysts. The morphology of the granules was strongly influenced by the nature of the clay mineral itself. Because of swelling characteristics of montmorillonite, its water dispersion was highly viscous even in the low slurry concentration (< 4 wt %). ...

Shales are defined as fine-grained terrigenous sediments and rocks that contain 50% or more of terrigenous, and generally argillaceous, clastic components less than 0.062 mm in size. In the shales, clay-size components often dominate their rock properties, such as density, plasticity, parting, compatibility and swelling. Generally the size boundary between clay and silt is 4μm, but most clay mi...

middle jurassic fluvio-deltaic and turbiditic mudstones of the kashafrud formation, are important hydrocarbon sources in the gas-rich kopet-dagh basin, northeast iran. clay mineral assemblages are important for interpretation of sediment provenance and for understanding burial diagenetic cementation in sandstones. the clay mineral assemblages in mudrocks in two areas, saleh-abad and senjedak, w...

To control the molecular organization of octadecyl rhodamine B (RhB18), hybrid Langmuir–Blodgett monolayers containing clay minerals were prepared. The orientation and conformation of the RhB18 molecule were analyzed by polarized attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR–FTIR) spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy. Monomers and dimers of RhB18 were observed by UV-Vis abso...

Regional differences in clay mineralogy are found in British Lower Palaeozoic slate belts formed during Caledonian terrane amalgamation. Extensional basins in Wales, the northern Lake District and the Isle of Man are characterized by a greater diversity of species in clay mineral assemblages. Slates that evolved in these basins contain both the Kand Na-rich products of the 2:1 dioctahedral reac...

Stable hydrophobic nanocomposites of magnetic nanoparticles and clay are prepared by the self-assembly of magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles on surfaces of exfoliated clay platelets. Due to the attractive interaction between hydrophobic groups, oleic acid coated nanoparticles are strongly attached to the surface of cetyl trimethylammonium cation coated clay platelets in organic media. Crystal stru...