Corrensites: genetic relationships assessed by multivariate statistical analysis

Corrensite (CR) [12173-14-7] is defined as 1:1 regular interstratification of trioctahedral chlorite with either trioctahedral smectite or trioctahedral vermiculite, the former constituting low-charge CR and the latter high-charge CR. A representative collection of chem. analyses is used in this paper to verify the existence of characteristic variation patterns in the chem. of hydrothermal and sedimentary CR. The data have been carefully selected from published sources. Multivariate anal. of variance and discriminant anal. are the 2 methods used in the study. The results obtained demonstrate that a relation exists between the chem. compn. of CR and the genetic environments in which the mineral formed.