CHARACTERIZATION OF THE CLINOPTILOLITE-RICH TUFFS OF BIGADIÇ: VARIATION OF THE ION-EXCHANGE CAPACITY WITH PRETREATMENTS AND ZEOLITE CONTENT

ABSTRACT One of the largest zeolite-rich occurrences in Western Anatolia is found in the Bigadic Neogene basin. The clinoptilolite-rich tuffs of Bigadic are in the form of coarse grained glassy ash tuffs at the bottom and fine grained glassy dust tuffs on top. Samples taken from different locations in the coarse and fine grained zones, characterized by a multitude of methods, were tested for their NH 4 +-exchange capacities using various pretreatments and procedures to investigate the variation of capacities across the reserve and the effects of pretreatments on the capacities and their dependence on zeolite content and composition.