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If mud is dirt plus water, what is clay?

Geological deposits of mud slowly turn into clay, just as deposits of plant matter turn into oil. While mud is dirt plus water, plants are dirt plus water plus sunlight. That oil contains energy and clay doesn't shows that the energy in oil comes from the sun.

However, unlike plants, which resist gravity by staying in place, mud always follows gravity, soaking it up as it goes. Just as the stored sunlight in oil is available as energy, the stored gravity in clay is available as solidity. Heat forces oil to yield its energy, and heat forces clay yield its solidity.

This solidity made clay an ideal construction material, but eventually dwindling clay reserves forced humanity to find substitutes, such as stone, metal, and -- ironically -- wood. Now, with peak clay far in the past, clay is only used for a few expensive trinkets like pottery.