CLAY (11)
CLAY is an unconsolidated rock made up of a group of hydrous aluminum silicate minerals, of which chlorite, montmorillonite, kaolinite, and illite are the most abundant. These minerals are formed by the weathering or alteration of other rocks and minerals.
Clays are very fine grained and their minerals have tiny, flat crystals that can be distinguished from each other only by laboratory methods. Although clays may appear to be similar, their compositions vary greatly.
Some clays are white, but most are colored by iron compounds and organic matter. Wet clays have an earthy odor and generally are slick and plastic, but dry clays are relatively hard and are greasy to the touch.
Clays are abundant in Illinois, especially in soils, in shales, and as clay deposits. In Illinois the underclays that occur beneath coal beds are particularly well suited to the manufacture of bricks, pottery, stoneware, and drain tile.
LIMESTONE (12)
LIMESTONE is a sedimentary rock composed of particles of calcite (calcium carbonate). The crystals may range from fine to coarse. Many limestones contain other minerals, such as chert, clay, or sand, and in some places they grade into dolomite (calcium magnesium carbonate).
Many limestones are white or gray. Yellow or brown shades are caused by iron oxide impurities and dark gray to black colors by organic matter.
Limestones form in various ways. Some are deposited when calcium carbonate precipitates from solution; others are formed when the shells or skeletons of organisms such as brachiopods, clams, and corals accumulate on a sea floor. If such fossils are very abundant, the rock is called fossiliferous limestone. Limestone composed of tiny, rounded concretions is called oolite or oolitic limestone.
Limestone effervesces freely in dilute hydrochloric acid, but dolomite must be powdered before it will effervesce. In nature, limestones may be dissolved by percolating water containing weak acid (such as carbonic acid, composed of water and carbon dioxide). At many places in southern and southwestern Illinois such solution of limestones has produced caves and caverns.