The "Green Earths" Glauconite and Celadonite: From Genesis to Application

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Clays and Engineered Mineral Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 April 2025) | Viewed by 2336

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Guest Editor
Department of Mathematics, Informatics and Geosciences, Università degli Studi di Trieste, 34128 Trieste, Italy
Interests: mineralogy; geochemistry; igneous petrology; mantle oxidation; sedimentary petrology
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Guest Editor
Centre for Vibrodiagnostics, Equipment Testing and Automation (CVDTEA), Department of Engineering Science, Babeş-Bolyai University, Str. Mihail Kogălniceanu, nr. 1, 400084 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Interests: mineralogy; geochemistry; clays; nanomaterials
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Authigenic "green earths" show a broad compositional spectrum, including potassic green clay with mica-like structure such as celadonite and glauconite as well as ferric illite, ferrous green clays and other phases. Celadonite and glauconite are comparable in terms of physical, chemical and mineralogical characteristics. The micro-environment in which these minerals form requires slightly oxygen-depleted conditions, facilitating the uptake of Fe into the structure so that glauconite is ubiquitous in marine deposits while celadonite forms in both marine and non-marine environments, more commonly by altering intermediate to mafic rocks. Recent studies show that there are subtle differences in their structure so that different techniques can be applied to distinguish them. This can also be of importance due to their application as pigments in the creation of artworks since antiquity.

The aim of this Issue is to bring together researchers from different fields (sedimentology, mineralogy, petrology, and archaeometry) to acquire new knowledge on their geological history and successive transformation as well as a more precise classification of the green pigments in heterogeneous samples such as wall paintings and commercially available green earths.

Dr. Davide Lenaz
Dr. Filippo Parisi
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • glauconite
  • celadonite
  • geology
  • archaeometry
  • spectroscopy
  • pigments

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 3430 KiB  
Article
Glauconite-Based Nanocomposites with Zn/Cu/B: Multifunctional Micronutrient Fertilizers
by Ivan Khitrin, Prokopiy Maximov, Evan Dasi, Kanipa Ibraeva, Konstantin Ponomarev, Natalia Maximova, Peter Belousov, Alexey Ruban and Maxim Rudmin
Minerals 2025, 15(1), 12; https://doi.org/10.3390/min15010012 - 26 Dec 2024
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Abstract
The full potential of glauconite-based nanocomposites as micronutrient fertilizers remains underexplored, particularly their interaction with Zn, Cu, and B. Despite the promising applications, the mechanisms of nutrient sorption and their effects on plant growth require further investigation, especially concerning structural changes and nutrient [...] Read more.
The full potential of glauconite-based nanocomposites as micronutrient fertilizers remains underexplored, particularly their interaction with Zn, Cu, and B. Despite the promising applications, the mechanisms of nutrient sorption and their effects on plant growth require further investigation, especially concerning structural changes and nutrient delivery efficiency. This study investigates the modification of glauconite with Zn, Cu, and B solutions to create multifunctional nanocomposites with enhanced properties. It was established that the activation process preserves the primary globular–lamellar morphology of glauconite while introducing structural changes. Nanocomposites were synthesized using chemical activation and characterized using XRD, SEM-EDS, TEM, FTIR, and BET analyses. Agrochemical tests evaluated their effects on oat growth under controlled conditions. Nanocomposites with zinc sulfate exhibited an increase in specific surface area and mesoporosity, enhancing sorption capacity and facilitating the formation of inner-sphere complexes on the mineral’s basal surface. Modification with copper led to the formation of secondary phases, such as sulfates, on the surfaces of microflakes and globules while preserving the crystalline structure with inner-sphere coordination of Cu2+. Boron-modified nanocomposites were characterized by localized restructuring, pore channeling, and an increase in mesopore diameter, along with the formation of outer-sphere complexes relative to the basal surface of glauconite. Thermogravimetric and calorimetric analyses with mass spectrometry revealed specific endothermic and exothermic effects, particularly in Zn-modified samples, confirming changes in dehydration energetics. Agricultural tests on oats (Avena sativa) demonstrated the effectiveness of Cu- and B-modified nanocomposites in improving plant growth parameters, including a 7% increase in plant height and a 6.4% increase in dry weight. Zn-modified nanocomposites showed high germination rates (up to 100%) at low dosages but require optimization to avoid phytotoxicity at higher concentrations. The findings highlight the potential of adapting nanocomposites for targeted nutrient release. Additionally, glauconite nanocomposites have potential applications in restoring degraded soils, treating polluted runoff, and developing slow-release agrochemical systems. Full article
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Review

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17 pages, 10366 KiB  
Review
Analysis of Glauconite Research Trends Based on CiteSpace Knowledge Graph
by Ke Nong, Si Chen, Zepeng Ren and Min Zeng
Minerals 2024, 14(12), 1260; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14121260 - 11 Dec 2024
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Abstract
This paper aims to explore the current status and development trend of glauconite research through CiteSpace (version 6.2.R3) software tools. Based on the literature records from 1980 to 2024 in the Web of Science Core Collection database, this study visualizes the countries/regions, institutions, [...] Read more.
This paper aims to explore the current status and development trend of glauconite research through CiteSpace (version 6.2.R3) software tools. Based on the literature records from 1980 to 2024 in the Web of Science Core Collection database, this study visualizes the countries/regions, institutions, authors, journals, literature, and keywords related to glauconite. The results show that the United States, Russia, India, France, and England are the main contributing countries to glauconite research, the Russian Academy of Sciences is the institution with the largest number of publications, and Santanu Banerjee and Gilles S. Odin are the most influential authors. The field of glauconite has a high degree of international cooperation and multidisciplinary cross-disciplinary nature. The research hotspots of glauconite are also identified, including origin, basin, sediments, geochemistry, sandstone, and climate, and emerging research frontiers such as fertilizer, removal, provenance, composition characteristics, and Fe are pointed out. Glauconite research is not only of great significance in the field of geology, but its application potential in environmental management and agricultural development is also gradually being recognized, indicating that this field has broad research and application prospects in the future. Full article
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