The solubility of rhyolitic glass increases with increasing alkalinity, whereas the ratio of silicon to aluminum decreases with increasing alkalinity. The strong correlation observed between alkalinity and zeolite mineralogy in saline, alkaline lakes is thought to be a function of this relationship between pH and the Si/Al ratio. It is suggested that this function is a result of the reaction between silicic glass and alkaline solution whereby (i) a gel forms, whose Si/Al ratio is controlled by the Si/Al ratio of the solution, and (ii) a zeolite forms from the gel, whose Si/Al ratio is, in turn, controlled by the composition of the gel.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.