Comparative study of moisture release behaviour of soils, soil clays and pure clays

The moisture release curves of a black cotton soil and a lateritic soil, their clay fractions and two pure clays (bentonite, kaolinite) containing mineral species similar to those in the clay fractions were studied in relation to clay mineral composition. While the dominant clay mineral did not solely govern the moisture characteristic curve of a soil, there was a strong similarity between the curves of a pure clay mineral and a soil clay dominated by that mineral. This similarity may be used to identify the dominant mineral constituent of an unknown soil clay.