Identification of Natural Clay Characters in Sota Merauke District

Abstract

The existence and abundance of natural clay in Merauke district have not yet been fully utilized. This is due to the lack of or even the absence of research and information about the characteristics of the natural clay. Natural clay is one of the natural minerals that contain silica and the particles are less than two micrometers in a size. The Merauke natural clay research from Sota District aims to obtain preliminary data in the form of physical and chemical characters because so far there has been no study related to it. Natural clay will be prepared , and its character will be identified using instruments. The characterization includes crystallization using X-ray Difractometer ( XRD) and surface morphology analysis using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The characterization results show that the main chemical mineral compositions in the clay from the Sota district are Illite and Quartz.