Feldspar (including electrical insulators, sanitaryware, pottery, tableware, and tile) and other uses, such as fillers, accounted for the remainder. In earth sciences and archaeology, feldspars are used for K-Ar dating, argon-argon dating, and luminescence dating. In October 2012, the Mars Curiosity rover analyzed a rock that turned out to have a high feldspar content. Feldspar Feldspars (KAlSiO – NaAlSiO – CaAlSiO) are a group of rock-forming tectosilicate minerals that make up about 41% of the Earth's continental crust by weight. Feldspars crystallize from magma as veins in both intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks and are also present in many types of
The Clay Minerals Society The Clay Minerals Society The Clay Minerals Society is an international non-profit organization devoted to the study of clays and clay minerals. The Clay Minerals Society began as the Clay Minerals Committee of the National Academy of Sciences—National Research Council in 1952, in response to the need for a formal way to hold national clay conferences. By 1962, the Clay Minerals Committee had become strong enough to stand on its own, and The Clay Minerals Society was incorporated. From 1952 to 1964, Proceedings of the annual conferences were published. The journal Clays and Clay Minerals was first published in 1964.