Electrical properties of montmorillonite studied together with the processes occurring under thermal activation

The results of laboratory experiments on studying the electrical conductivity σ of a clay mineral montmorillonite from different sedimentary mineral deposits of Dagestan in the temperature interval from 100 to 1000°C are presented. The general regularities in the dependence of the electrical conductivity σ of the studied samples on the absolute temperature T are accounted for by the existence of the associated complexes of elementary defects of the crystal lattice. These complexes play important role in a variety of kinetic processes under the conditions of the Earth’s interior, and their existence is demonstrated by the experiments. The activation energy of the electrical conductivity and the preexponential factors are determined for all the temperature zones. The relationship between the pattern of temperature variations in electrical conductivity and the processes of releasing interlayer water and hydroxyls from different energy sites is established. It is concluded that the anomalous change in electrical conductivity in some samples reflects the postsedimentation changes of montmorillonite manifesting themselves by the emergence of a hydromuscovite component.