<p>Perhaps I am completely wrong, this is kindof a guess:</p>
<p>Sepiolite happens in clay regions like those produced by ice age glacial activity from orogeny.</p>
<p>If there are great lakes with high clay contents, and a specific type of volcano deposits a lot of magnesium enriched ash into the lakes, the clay and the magnesium can dissolve and precipitate into high quantites of sepiolite precursor. This then settles down to the lake bed and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RTRl7_Hc8k" rel="nofollow noreferrer">coalesces</a>.</p>
<p>I may be completely wrong, here's a research article: <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268577590_The_volcanic_origin_for_the_worlds_greatest_sepiolite_accumulations_Tajo_Basin_Central_Spain" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268577590_The_volcanic_origin_for_the_worlds_greatest_sepiolite_accumulations_Tajo_Basin_Central_Spain</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-03-01T12:16:18.380Z
I'm just a mathematician, but your answer seems very nice, when I can I'm going to study it., Many thanks for this excellent answer.
user27578
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-03-01T08:01:56.233Z
2023-03-01T08:01:56.233Z
bandybabboon
<p>I'm interested in a material known as sepiolite. Wikipedia has the articles <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepiolite" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>sepiolite</em></a> in English and <a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepiolita#Formaci%C3%B3n" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Sepiolita.</em></a> in Spanish.</p>
<p>I'm more a person who tends to be more mathematical.  But I'm interested in this amazing material because it makes me think about life and death itself, almost eschatological (being connected with the aridity and dryness of the desert, which is my mind is the death of rivers and the life around them; the collection or purifying of fossil fuels...)</p>
<p>I've read the sepiolite Wikipedia, and it talks some about the formation, but I would like to know more details about the formation, and particularly the timeline of the formation.  If possible (it is not obligatory) with a diagram/drawing explaining the process of formation of sepiolite as time goes on.  Feel free to add any further references if you have them.</p>
<p>I add also that I know the article <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palaeochannel" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Palaeochannel</em></a> from Wikipedia that refers information about what is a palaeoriver, if this can be useful for answer my question.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-06T12:01:46.877Z
If you think that other choice of tags is better than mine feel free to edit the post. For example I've added the tag (climatology) instead of (deserts), or improvements in grammar.  (Also I am member for few days ago in the site Biology Stack Exchange and since years in other sites. My question in this Biology Stack Exchange has identifier **109194** and title *Beneficial effects of the fungi of a termite mound on the diseases suffered by the termites* if you, or some colleague/professor wants to read it.)
user27578
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-06T22:25:08.620Z
hello user27578, welcome to Earth Science Stack Exchange.  I struggled a lot to figure out the details of your question, some sections were just not well enough translated into English to be confident.  But I tried.  I certainly understand it's tough... I've been working forever on improving my Spanish, and I'm still not very good.  Some day.  If you speak Spanish, y si no estas seguro como escribeslo mas mejor... puedes que tratar escribir en espanol, y quizas yo o una otra persona podemos traducirlo mas mejor?  Worth a try at least to try to help people sort out your question better :-)
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-06T23:17:11.363Z
If your native language is not Spanish, not sure if we have someone who speaks your language or not... you could try going back and attempting to reword some parts I changed too much if they don't agree with what you meant anymore, and maybe it'll help :-)
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-07T13:28:37.397Z
Es perfecto, un poco más poético de lo que soy yo, pero la traducción es excelente @JeopardyTempest Muchas gracias.
user27578
<sedimentology><minerals><climatology><stratigraphy><paleogeography>
How does a sepiolite deposit form?
user27578
# How does a sepiolite deposit form?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-09-06)

I'm interested in a material known as sepiolite. Wikipedia has the articles [*sepiolite*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepiolite) in English and [*Sepiolita.*](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepiolita#Formaci%C3%B3n) in Spanish.

I'm more a person who tends to be more mathematical. But I'm interested in this amazing material because it makes me think about life and death itself, almost eschatological (being connected with the aridity and dryness of the desert, which is my mind is the death of rivers and the life around them; the collection or purifying of fossil fuels...)

I've read the sepiolite Wikipedia, and it talks some about the formation, but I would like to know more details about the formation, and particularly the timeline of the formation. If possible (it is not obligatory) with a diagram/drawing explaining the process of formation of sepiolite as time goes on. Feel free to add any further references if you have them.

I add also that I know the article [*Palaeochannel*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palaeochannel) from Wikipedia that refers information about what is a palaeoriver, if this can be useful for answer my question.

**Tags:** sedimentology, minerals, climatology, stratigraphy, paleogeography

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: If you think that other choice of tags is better than mine feel free to edit the post. For example I've added the tag (climatology) instead of (deserts), or improvements in grammar.  (Also I am member for few days ago in the site Biology Stack Exchange and since years in other sites. My question in this Biology Stack Exchange has identifier **109194** and title *Beneficial effects of the fungi of a termite mound on the diseases suffered by the termites* if you, or some colleague/professor wants to read it.)  
> **username_1**: hello username_0, welcome to Earth Science Stack Exchange.  I struggled a lot to figure out the details of your question, some sections were just not well enough translated into English to be confident.  But I tried.  I certainly understand it's tough... I've been working forever on improving my Spanish, and I'm still not very good.  Some day.  If you speak Spanish, y si no estas seguro como escribeslo mas mejor... puedes que tratar escribir en espanol, y quizas yo o una otra persona podemos traducirlo mas mejor?  Worth a try at least to try to help people sort out your question better :-)  
> **username_1**: If your native language is not Spanish, not sure if we have someone who speaks your language or not... you could try going back and attempting to reword some parts I changed too much if they don't agree with what you meant anymore, and maybe it'll help :-)  
> **username_0**: Es perfecto, un poco más poético de lo que soy yo, pero la traducción es excelente @username_1 Muchas gracias.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-03-01. Score: 1

Perhaps I am completely wrong, this is kindof a guess:

Sepiolite happens in clay regions like those produced by ice age glacial activity from orogeny.

If there are great lakes with high clay contents, and a specific type of volcano deposits a lot of magnesium enriched ash into the lakes, the clay and the magnesium can dissolve and precipitate into high quantites of sepiolite precursor. This then settles down to the lake bed and [coalesces](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RTRl7_Hc8k).

I may be completely wrong, here's a research article: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268577590_The_volcanic_origin_for_the_worlds_greatest_sepiolite_accumulations_Tajo_Basin_Central_Spain>

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I'm just a mathematician, but your answer seems very nice, when I can I'm going to study it., Many thanks for this excellent answer.  

---

