PRELIMINARY RESEARCH ON CLAY-MINERALS IN SALT LAKE-SEDIMENTS OF CHINA AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

Most of the clay minerals in salt lakes of China are characterized by illite-chlorite assemblage, with a minor amount of montmorillonite and kaolinite and so on. There are obvious differences between mineral assemblages, relative contents and chemical composition of clay minerals in salt lakes of different areas and in different sedimentary stages. Clay minerals in these salt lakes are basically allogenic, but transitional origin may also exist. The characteristics of clay minerals in salt lakes are controlled by the arid climatic zone of China and the different material supplies of salt lakes. With the data taken from clay mineral study, the author discusses the relation of sedimentary environment of salt lakes, the regularities of immigration and enrichment of mineralization elements.