Figure 2

Schematic drawings of a clay aggregate in a face-to-edge (F/E) orientation that is ubiquitous in unconsolidated fine-grained sediments. A typical sedimentary clay colloid is composed of several layers of clay unit cells that have sheet-like morphology. (It appears as a stack of rods in this schematic 2D cross section.) Each colloid has large, negatively-charged basal planes (i.e., faces) and less negatively (or positively) charged edges.