Discussion on genetic types of attapulgite clay deposits in China

Although the genetic types of the attapulgite clay deposits discovered in China have been carried out in some previous researches, there are still some arguments about the division standard, which is not clear enough. According to the analysis and studying of some materials related to attapulgite clay deposits in China, a new division standard of genesis is carried out in this paper. Three types such as sedimentary-type, hydrothermal-type and weathering-type, and ten subtypes are firstly proposed, which means inland lakes volcanic sedimentary-sybtype, inland lakes clastic sedimentary-subtype, inland lakes chemical sedimentary-subtype, marine sedimentary-subtype, magmatic hydrothermal-subtypes, groundwater hydrothermal-subtypes, tectonic dynamic metamorphic hydrothermal-subtypes, mixed hydrothermal-subtypes, weathering leaching-subtypes and weathered eluvial-subtypes. The tectonic dynamic metamorphic hydrothermal-subtypes are firstly proposed, which have important significance on studying metallogenic theory and developing exploration of attapulgite clay deposit