Bentonite ni amabuye y'agaciro atari icyuma afite montmorillonite nk'igice cy'ingenzi cy'amabuye y'agaciro. Imiterere ya montmorillonite ni imiterere ya kristu yo mu bwoko bwa 2:1 igizwe na tetrahedroni ebyiri za silicon ogisijeni zigizwe n'urwego rwa octahedron ya aluminiyumu. Kubera ko imiterere y'imiterere igizwe n'uturemangingo twa montmorillonite ifite cations zimwe na zimwe, nka Cu, Mg, Na, K, n'izindi, kandi uruhare rw'izi cations hamwe n'uturemangingo twa montmorillonite ntiruhamye cyane, rworoshye guhindurwamo n'izindi cations, ifite ubushobozi bwiza bwo guhanahana iyoni. Mu mahanga, yakoreshejwe mu mashami arenga 100 mu nzego 24 z'inganda n'ubuhinzi, hamwe n'ibicuruzwa birenga 300, bityo abantu bayita "ubutaka bw'isi yose".

Bentonite izwi kandi nka bentonite, bentonite, cyangwa bentonite. Ubushinwa bufite amateka maremare yo guteza imbere no gukoresha bentonite, yakoreshejwe gusa nk'isabune. Hari ibirombe bifunguye mu gace ka Renshou muri Sichuan mu myaka amagana ishize, kandi abaturage baho bitaga bentonite ifu y'ibumba. Ikoreshwa cyane ariko ifite amateka y'imyaka irenga ijana gusa. Ubwa mbere yavumbuwe muri Leta Zunze Ubumwe za Amerika ni mu gice cya kera cya Wyoming. Ibumba rya chartreuse rishobora kwaguka rikavamo ifu nyuma yo kongeramo amazi. Nyuma, abantu bitaga ibumba ryose rifite iyi nkomoko bentonite. Mu by'ukuri, imyunyu ngugu ya bentonite ni montmorillote, ifite ingano ya 85-90%. Imiterere imwe na imwe ya bentonite nayo igaragazwa na montmorillote. Montmorillote ishobora kuba mu mabara atandukanye, nk'icyatsi cy'umuhondo, umweru w'umuhondo, imvi, umweru, nibindi. Ishobora gukora ibice binini cyangwa ubutaka butose, ifite ibyiyumvo byo kunyerera iyo ikosowe n'intoki. Nyuma yo kongeramo amazi, ingano y'utuzu duto iriyongera inshuro nyinshi ikagera ku nshuro 20-30, ikagaragara mu mazi ari mu mwanya wo guhagarara, kandi ikagaragara mu mwanya wo gufunga iyo hari amazi make. Imiterere ya montmorillonite ifitanye isano n'imiterere yayo ya shimi n'imiterere y'imbere.