Discovery, Naming, and Classification of Attapulgite
In 1862, Russian scholar Tsavtchenkov first discovered this mineral in the hydrothermal alteration zone of the Palygorsk mining area in the Ural region.1 Soviet mineralogist A E. Fersman officially named the mineral palygorskite in 1913. In 1935, French scholar J. D. Lapparent also successively found this mineral in sedimentary rock in Attapulgus, Georgia; Quincy, Florida; and Mormoiron, France; and named it attapulgite. In 1982, the World Clay Mineral Nomenclature Committee believed that palygorskite and attapulgite, which had the same crystal structure and chemical composition, belonged to the same mineral. According to the principle of naming priority, they were uniformly named palygorskite. In 1976, Chinese scholar Xu Jiquan and others discovered the mineral in Xiaopanshan, Liuhe District, Nanjing, Jiangsu. Xu Jiquan translated its Chinese name into "attapulgite" based on the sound of Autebao and taking into account the crystal structure characteristics of the mineral. In 1982, palygorskite was selected as a species name and attapulgite as a clay name with economic value after a thematic discussion organized by the first clay academic conference in China.2