#argiliza

• Argillize — To transform or become transformed into clay through chemical and hydrothermal alteration processes of preexisting minerals (especially feldspars) under the action of atmospheric agents or endogenous solutions. This mineralogical phenomenon alters the original structure of the silicate rock, leading to the accumulation of clay minerals and a decrease in the mechanical cohesion of the rock massif.
• Argillization — The act of argillizing and its result; a process of exogenous or hydrothermal alteration through which silicate minerals in rocks decompose and transform into clay minerals. In geotechnics, this structural phenomenon represents a degradation of soil or rock quality, leading to increased plasticity, impermeability, and risk of landslides.
• Argillized — Having been partially or totally transformed into clay through hydrothermal processes or exogenous weathering; a sedimentary or magmatic rock subjected to the process of argillization. In a structural geological sense, it describes the alteration of feldspars or other silicates under the action of infiltrating waters or acidic solutions, resulting in the formation of kaolinitic, illitic, or smectitic minerals that alter the base rock's plasticity.