What is Clay & Where / How Clay Forms | GEO GIRL

CLAY DEFINITION CLARIFICATION: I tried to get this across in the video, but I've been seeing many comments that indicate I didn't do a great job, so I just wanted to say here that CLAY IS BOTH A SIZE AND A COMPOSITION! I state at the beginning of the video that it is defined by size, but if you KEEP watching, I then go on to discuss the fact that only certain compositions of material exist at that size, and these are secondary, layered aluminosilicates, which are what geologists define as 'clay minerals'. However, there are also oxides that can sometimes be clay-sized and are sometimes called pelagic clays becuase they form on the seafloor (in the pelagic zone), but they are not considered 'clay minerals' because they are not aluminosiliates. Why do we make this distinction? Because aluminosilicates have a very specific platy structure and this causes them to behave differently than materials that aren't platy (like certain oxides). But don't worry, I talk ALL about clay structures in the follow up video to this one! ;)

Also, I see lots of angry comments because I used fractions & metric, so I just want to say I only did that because the reference I was using did that and I thought it was hilarious haha! So please don't be mad at me, I would never do that for real, but the point here is the actual value doesn't matter, it is just VERY small lol ;)

Lastly, I had a typo in the end-screen. Pretend it says Mineralogy Playlist rather than Planetary Science Playlist ;) Thanks! haha

Awesome! I watched this video a year ago and didn’t get much of it. Since then, I’ve spent a year studying geology and I did a field study of a local conservation area which forced me to learn a lot about minerals, in particular aluminosilicates. So, when I watched your video today, I get it. Thank you!

Which types of clay are suitable for pottery or is it all types of clay composition?

👄💋❤ Happy new year from Greece 😗😘🙋🙏💙💚💛

So clay is byte sized

So grab your ruler and spoon to hunt for clay.

There’s no way Sheldon Cooper doesn’t respect geology

obvious troll wants me to eat mud

based

All I needed was the intro tbh. Explains why clay is usually found near water. Edit: Rock licking instructions unclear. Found out it was uranium.

All of a sudden I felt like searching 'what is clay'... and here I am. Thanks for the enlightenment!

Thanks Geo Girl,
I’m in temperate Australia, with low om and high iron.
I’m a landscape gardener and test clay by rolling a sausage of soil in one hand and kneading it off the side of your hand. If the sausage stays in tact and doesn’t crumble or break as it’s suspended over the edge of your hand….it’s likely clay….or dog poo. Either way, it’s not going in the mouth. 😂

Clay is found in my yard.

off to find the delicious earth chocolate stashes

So amazing!

New sub
Ty
This information leads me to the question of, what is the time-line between each of these phase of decomposition?

I have eaten too many rocks

Looks like the earth formed with a rock crust that started rock breakdown creating matter for life. Is it correct to assume the first life was bacteria, molds and other forms that formed with the exposure of the crust breaking down in the atmosphere?

Very indepth

Thanks for the information, And the adorable demeanor making geology interesting, and a little amusing.

Dontcha put it in your mouth. Unless it’s ok to eat. Like a muffin or a beet.

hi

Thank you for an in-depth discussion on clay. So glad I came upon this video as I wondered about native clay I find while out off roading or hiking versus the clay purchased in pottery stores. Thanks for sharing.

Geologists taste their samples confirmed.

Ur laugh is so genuine its contagious

“Did you chew it?”

Is a sentence that every geologist has heard from a person that is 100% serious

I hated geology in school... mostly my teacher's fault since she couldn't have made her classes any more academically boring. But you, I can watch you all day!

Imagine a car stuck in the mud. Driver stops fascinated with the geology of being stuck there thanks to Geogirl. It could be called a rasputitsa moment.

Gonna go eat rocks

Ohhhhhh so that’s why my daughter loved taste testing dirt as a baby, she was testing if the texture was clay 🤪

Is it possible to grind diamonds up to the size of clay and then make pottery out of it?

Im about to taste test every rock and patch of dirt in a 10 radius and you can’t stop me!… you know considering I literally drunk mud water yesterday during a downpour just because i was curious and didn’t want to miss the change to drank fresh mud water I probably will end up doing that

Those measurements look strange. Is 1/256 - 1/16mm 0.0256mm - 0.16mm? Looks like it came from an American who couldn't give up Imperial for metric.

I always wanted to know what the difference in formation is between different colors of lava rock, pumice, basalt or obsidian, since they all come from lava what makes them different

My mother taught me to test for clay by wetting the fingers and rubbing a sample between the thumb and forefinger since you can feel particles of one/ten thousand of an inch because of the nerve endings in your fingertips. Clay always felt sort of creamy and smooth. Excellent presentation and review you gave and i will be listening to the rest in the soil series that you have. Potters and ceramicists tend to particularly like the aluminosilicates.

I will have catch the next one. I have 3 different clays a tan up high a brown down lower and a blue clay too. So far not to bedrock yet.

thanks a lot, nice work.

Good potter's clay is kaolin and grog. The non-Newtonian properties of mica flakes are part of the art. The metamorphic changes over short periods during high fire, you might find entertaining. Strain carries through whole piece lattice changes like "the quartz inversion" not just raising temperature but in coming back down. How well you align those flakes makes stronger pieces.

Geo storm!

What a great video, thank you

May I ask what sort of microbes feed from soil, in that stage before plant roots infiltrate the soil? And great video, thanks for all the information. :)

I hope there are university students some where gaining from your knowledge. You have fine teaching skills. 🌎🧱

I like Monday now that I'm retired from work. I've met bentonite clay and the meeting was slippery.

After watching this, I have an almost uncontrollable urge to dig a hole in my yard, just to see the different layers.

Clay cracks: Are they formed during sedimentation to form rocks or after sedimentation?

Well done. You explained this well. It's a surprisingly complicated topic even though it's just clay lol. Especially when you get into different forms of it, like Kaolinite.

YOU KNOW WHERE CLAY COMES FROM IN ACTUALITY ITS ALLUMINUIM SILICA JUST LIKE OUR SKIN OUR ACTUAL SKIN ITS BIOLOGY NOY GEOLOGY JUST GIVING YOU A HEADS UP

So you are telling me that I can eat dirt? thanks dude!

Can I take clay (in water) and use electrolysis to separate the individual metal oxides? With the right cathode/anode?

I am a geocacher and from time to time I look for so called Earthcaches and currently am working on creating Earthcaches myself. Your videos are really a great resource. Thanks!