Mars' water could be trapped in clay minerals known as smectite that sit 18 miles below the Martian surface. The mineral is found on Earth and form when rock and water interact.

Clay minerals are an integral part of the global water and nutrient cycles. They indicate past environmental conditions and play an important role in catastrophic events. Clay minerals exist when ...

With a chemical formula nearly identical to fictional kryptonite, unique mineral jadarite has the potential to power a million electric vehicles each year. But it remains firmly underground, beneath a ...

However, not all clay minerals form stable complexes with organic substances. In a recent article in the journal Science, a team of researchers from ETH Zurich and Tongji University in Shanghai ...

The thick, mineral-rich layers of clay found on Mars suggest that the Red Planet harbored potentially life-hosting environments for long stretches in the ancient past, a new study suggests.

New research suggests that the thick, mineral-rich layers of clay found on Mars could hold the key to understanding whether the Red Planet ever harbored life. These layers, thought to have formed ...

However, not all clay minerals form stable complexes with organic substances. In a recent article in the journal Science, a team of researchers from ETH Zurich and Tongji University in Shanghai shows ...

That means clay, which has a negative charge, can attract positively charged ions. Those are minerals like magnesium, sodium, and potassium. Bentonite also has aluminum and silica.