When I was researching geothermal energy, I learned that there are many microorganisms underground, even though light is not supposed to reach them. While I was researching these microorganisms, I learned the word “clay minerals.” Apparently, microorganisms were found in clay minerals that fill the cracks in the basalt at the top of the ocean crust, at a density similar to that found in the human intestine. Clay minerals are layered, so perhaps the microorganisms were found in the gaps between the layers.
https://www.eps.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/focus20200403
When I think of clay, I think of it as just a type of soil, sand, or mud, but when I looked into the clay minerals that make up clay, I found out that it is an amazing substance with a thousand potential uses. When water gets in between the layers, it becomes a water-stopping barrier material, when resin gets in, it becomes a heat-resistant material, when organic matter that reacts to pressure gets in, it becomes a pressure sensor film, and when organic matter that reacts to light gets in, it becomes an optical memory film. It seems that clay minerals are a versatile mille-feuille. Clay is amazing.
https://www.eng.hokudai.ac.jp/engineering/archive/2017-07/feature1707-04.html
When clay is added to water in pottery, it becomes soft, and when it is fired, its durability increases dramatically. This is also due to the action of the layered particles. It is amazing that fired clay becomes ceramics, an excellent material with high hardness, heat resistance, and insulating properties.
https://hitotsuchi.media/science-of-ceramics
And because clay minerals have a negative charge on their surface, they are able to adsorb radioactive cesium, which has a positive charge between the layers. Some clay minerals are also able to absorb and fix cesium inside.
https://www.env.go.jp/chemi/rhm/h29kisoshiryo/h29kiso-04-04-03.html
Furthermore, it was discovered that the clay minerals seemed to breathe carbon dioxide. Does this mean that carbonate ions and carbon dioxide alternate between the layers? Because the layers are so fine, the characteristics and properties of the clay minerals probably change greatly depending on what gets between them.
https://scienceportal.jst.go.jp/newsflash/20131205_01/index.html
It seems that clay has 1000 uses. When it is a large rock, it supports the earth, and when it breaks down into smaller pieces, it becomes a clay mineral and becomes multifunctional. It is amazing that minerals have so many roles, no matter what state they are in. Clay minerals are amazing. The Earth is amazing.
