Characterization of Clay Minerals in Ranch Pasture

This study deals with the distribution of the clay minerals separated from clay fractions of ranch pastures in Korea and their chemical and mineralogical properties. Crystalline phases of the clay minerals were identified by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and FT-IR spectra, and their relative chemical compositions were also analyzed by X-ray flourescence spectrometry (XRF). Primary minerals consisted mainly of quartz and mica and chlorite and kaolinite along with a trace of swelling micas were identified as secondary clay minerals. However, the relative content of these clay minerals was different with the locations, which led to significant effects on physical and chemical properties of soils like inorganic elemental composition. In particular, $SiO_2$ content was higher in Gochang ranch pasture than in other ranch pasture. Infrared (IR) spectra did not indicate any significant differences in organic functional groups among the locations. This study clearly showed that ranch pastures had different relative content of clay minerals and chemical properties depending on the location and consequently that those properties are worthy to be taken into account for soil amendment.