Minerales de arcilla en suelos centroamericanos y de Panamá

Abstract

The available information on clay minerals in soils of Central America and Panama is presented. The importance of amorphous materials is shown in soils of volcanic origins as well as in other soils also. A large variability of clays characterizes the alluvial soils, the presence of allophane, kaolinite, halloysite, and hydrous oxides characterize the latosols; and halloysite, allophane and some 2.1 clays characterize the soils of recent volcanic origin. While the information available is far from complete, it permits a better understanding of the behavior of many soils from this area.