Having decided to build a house and decided on the project, the first thing you have to deal with is the choice of building materials. Moreover, many factors need to be taken into account, for example, reliability, environmental friendliness, price indicator and much more.

Many consider a stone house to be preferable to a wooden or frame one, while others are ready to challenge this preference based on the availability and cost of the material.

Of course, brick and natural stone are very expensive, so you have to choose less expensive analogues - foam concrete (aerated concrete) and marl. The latter option is especially interesting because it is an affordable natural building material that has a lot of useful qualities. Let's take a closer look at it.

Marl - what kind of material is it?

By itself, marl is absolutely unfamiliar to most people not related to geology. And in regions that have its deposits, such building material has been known since ancient times. In these places, hundred-year-old marl buildings are often found.

Marl is an ancient sedimentary rock that resembles limestone in structure. It would seem that it is not suitable for the construction of buildings, since such rocks are not famous for their hardness and resistance to destructive factors, but the reality is not so clear-cut.

The composition of marl contains clay, which determines its main characteristics and the percentage of which divides marl into several types. This cohesive mineral is classified into:

— marly limestone – mass fraction of clay is 5.5–9.8%;

Read also: Liquid wallpaper: types, advantages and disadvantages, surface requirements, application of liquid wallpaper

— limestone marl – its content in the mineral is 9.9–24.5%;

— freshwater marl – clay impurities from 29.1 to 40%;

- “pure” clay marl – contains up to 74.8% clay particles.

In addition, there are about 17 more specific varieties of marl used in various industries and construction.

Important! Other important constituents that influence the characteristics of marl include calcite, carbonate minerals and dolomite!

The color of the material is determined by the amount and type of impurities contained, so the range varies widely from a brown, greenish tint to a light yellow version.

Is it possible to build houses from marl?

When the construction site is located near marl developments or financial possibilities are small, then it is quite important to use this mineral.

Special studies have demonstrated the excellent preservation of marl wall stones in ancient buildings. The worst damage was to the lower, near-ground parts of the walls, where the material was destroyed up to 3.0 cm in depth. At all higher levels, weathering did not exceed 2.1–3.0 mm, there was no cracking or loss of strength properties.

Attention! In places where the walls were covered with clay plaster, the marl blocks were not destroyed at all!

For this significant reason, marl is preferred in many regions and countries. However, it must be clarified that a prerequisite for long-term operation is reliable, high-quality isolation of the mineral from water.

Marl is characterized by very low thermal conductivity, absolute harmlessness and costs several times less than conventional brick.

Features of the use of marl in construction

If marl is chosen as the main material for construction, then you need to know the important nuances of working with this mineral rock:

Read also: Wooden wall panels - luxury worthy of lords

1. The surface of the stone does not contain pore cavities, so the use of cement mortars is pointless - they will not be able to bind all the elements of the masonry. As a masonry composition, you can use clay with various fillers or modern mixtures based on organic fixatives.

2. Of course, when clay mixtures are used in construction, masonry integrity can only be guaranteed by the static nature of the structure. For this reason, marl walls cannot be thin. As a rule, the minimum thickness of all walls in a building is more than 1.4 meters.

3. For the construction of buildings, especially ground and basement floors, marl blocks with a contact area for fixing at least the same parameter as 2 standard sand-lime bricks should be used.

4. If you use carefully processed stone for construction (smooth, correct dimensions), held together in the masonry with clay mortar, you can erect a reliable building of 4 floors.

5. Classic plaster mortar does not bind to marl blocks due to its smooth surface. Finishing must be carried out only on walls covered with plaster mesh secured with dowels.

6. Before arranging the roof, it is necessary to make a monolithic reinforced concrete belt along the upper chord of the walls. For this purpose, 0.7–1.3 cm channels are drilled in each stone in several places, into which metal reinforcing rods are driven. The protruding ends are tightly tied with wire and filled with concrete mortar.

The name is from it. Merge], Synonyms - crumble, clayey limestone.
Characteristic signs. The structure is fine-grained (particle size less than 0.01 mm). The texture is layered, often thinly layered. The composition is a homogeneous mixture of clay and carbonate (calcite or dolomite) minerals, contained in approximately equal quantities. Characterized by an abundance of remains
fossil fauna. The rock is rocky, dense, chalk-like. Typically has plate-like separation. Hardness is low or medium. The color is white, light gray, yellowish or greenish, less often dark gray, brownish or reddish; sometimes the color is variegated, changing layer by layer.
Conditions of education and residence. Form of occurrence - layers interspersed with layers of clayey or other carbonate rocks. It is formed as a result of the simultaneous deposition of carbonate and clayey material in marine, lagoonal and lake basins, both freshwater and normal salinity. Distributed in the Donbass (Amvrosievskoye field), on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus (Novorossiysk region), in the Crimea (inner ridge of the Crimean Mountains).
Diagnostics. Marl usually boils violently when exposed to HG1, but unlike other carbonate rocks, a drop of acid after the reaction leaves a dirty stain (insoluble clay residue) on its surface.
Practical significance. Raw materials in the production of Portland and Roman cement. The most valuable are natural marls, suitable for producing Portland cement without additional additives.

RECOMMENDED LITERATURE for independent deeper acquaintance with the basics of mineralogy and petrography POPULAR SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE Fersman A.E. Interesting mineralogy. M.-L., 1953; M., 1959. Fersman A.E. Entertaining geochemistry. Ed. ...

Mineralogical Museum named after. A.E. Fersman of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Moscow, V-71, Leninsky Prospekt, 14/16. Moscow State University named after. M. V. Lomonosova (MSU). Museum of Geography; Department of Mineralogy and Petrography, Faculty of Geology. ...

E. BY RADIOACTIVITY I. Highly radioactive Gatchettolite Carnotite Otunite (otenite) Torbernite Uraninite, pitchblende II. Weakly radioactive Columbite-tantalite Lovchorrite, rhincolite Perovskite, loparite Pyrochlore-microlite Titanium-tantalum-nobates Zircon (cyrtolite, malakon) Contents of the book - Minerals ...

), 25 - 50% - insoluble residue (SiO 2 + R 2 O 3). Depending on the composition of the rock-forming carbonate minerals, minerals are divided into calcareous and dolomite. In ordinary M., the insoluble sediment contains. silica exceeds the amount of sesquioxides by no more than 4 times. M. with the ratio SiO 2: R 2 O 3 > 4 belong to gr. siliceous. Widely used in the cement industry.

Geological Dictionary: in 2 volumes. - M.: Nedra. Edited by K. N. Paffengoltz et al.. 1978 .

Marl

(German Mergel, from Latin marga * a. marl, marlstone; n. Mergel, Mergelerde; f. marne; And. margo) - sedimentary forge. rock of mixed clayey-carbonate composition; contains 30-90% carbonates (calcite, less often dolomite) and, accordingly, from 70 to 10% clay particles. Depending on the relative number of components, a continuous series is possible: - clayey limestone - marl - calcareous - clay. According to the mineral composition of carbonates, M. are divided into calcareous and dolomite. Depending on the impurities, they distinguish between siliceous, glauconite, sandy, mica, bituminous, carbonaceous, etc. M., containing, scattered or in the form of nodules, thin layers, etc., called. gypsum (varieties - gypsum-dolomite and anhydrite-dolomite M.). The color is varied, often light.
M. are found among sediments from the top. Proterozoic () to Neogene (), forming large sheet-like deposits. Widely used in cement. prom-sti. Of the total number of deposits of carbonate rocks in the CCCP, explored as cement. raw materials, 25% represented by M. Ha M. Katav-Ivanovsky (Ural), Novorossiysk and Amvrosievsky (Donbass) cement works. s-dy. High-carbonate M. are used for the production of crushed stone, usually of low grades. M. gypsum and its varieties are practical. are of no value. See also Carbonate rocks. Yu. S. Mikosha.


Mountain encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. Edited by E. A. Kozlovsky. 1984-1991 .

Synonyms:

See what “Marl” is in other dictionaries:

    German Mergel. A mixture of limestone and clay used to fertilize the soil. Explanation of 25,000 foreign words that have come into use in the Russian language, with the meaning of their roots. Mikhelson A.D., 1865. Marl marl, clayey limestone. Full… … Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

    MARL, a very fine-grained SEDIMENTARY ROCK that is intermediate between clay and limestone. Contains up to 60% calcareous materials such as calcite, with quartz and silt particles. Red marl owes its color to the presence of... ... Scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary

    It is a calcareous clayey rock containing 35–65% clayey matter. Marl is widely used as a raw material for the production of Portland cement. Marl is poorly resistant to atmospheric influences. Source: Dictionary of architectural... ... Construction dictionary

    Marl- is a calcareous-clayey rock containing 35-65% clay matter. Marl is widely used as a raw material for the production of Portland cement. Marl is poorly resistant to atmospheric influences... Builder's Dictionary

    Rukhlyak Dictionary of Russian synonyms. marl noun, number of synonyms: 5 mineral (5627) rock... Synonym dictionary

    - (German: Mergel) sedimentary rock, transitional from limestones and dolomites to clayey rocks; contains from 30 to 90% CaCo3 and MgCO3, from 10 to 70% clay material. Used in cement production and as a building material... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

    marl- Sedimentary rock of mixed clayey-carbonate composition with a lime content of 50-76%, and a clay component - 25-50%. [Dictionary of geological terms and concepts. Tomsk State University] Topics: geology, geophysics... ... Technical Translator's Guide

To begin with, it should be noted that marl is limestone, which contains clay. This material is a fairly hard and cohesive rock of yellow, brown and greenish tint.

So, in the presence of clay from 5% to 10%, the rock is called marly limestone, from 10% to 25% - limestone marl, and from 25% to 60% - marl. And weathering turns the marl into a fairly loose mass, or in other words - crumble.

Marly limestone may contain quartz, magnesium carbonate and some other impurities. This material is also the starting material; it is fired in special furnaces and finely ground in mills.

Marly limestones are also used to produce hydraulic lime, but not dolomigated or dolomitized limestones, namely those containing clay impurities ranging from 6% to 20%.

We also note that in no case is crushed marly limestone, as well as weathered and fissured stones, and stones that have been subjected to heating, allowed into the work.

In addition to components of clay origin, marly limestone may contain impurities in the form of quartz grains. For example, in silicified limestones, which are characterized by a low content of iron oxide and alumina and a fairly high content of finely dispersed silica, impurities in the form of quartz grains are often found.

It is also equally important to emphasize that marly limestones contain not only sand and clay impurities, but also from 2% to 5% magnesium carbonate and certain impurities of other origins.

And through weakened (without sintering) firing of marly limestone, hydraulic lime is obtained. It is used for plastering damp rooms and in masonry mortars, for making blocks and artificial stone, as well as in low-grade concrete.

During the firing of marly limestone, after the stage of decomposition of calcium carbonate, some of the CaO formed in the solid state combines with the oxides A12O3, Si02, Fe2O3, which in turn are contained in the minerals of the clay substance.

In this case, silicates, aluminates and calcium ferrites are formed, which have the ability to harden not only in air, but also in water. The resulting lime is broken down and used in powder form or slaked into fluff.


Marl feeds, marl builds...

Marl is by no means a mineral. Marl is a rock(like mudstone, or shale), which is a mixture of aluminosilicates (clay products of the breakdown of feldspar) and calcium carbonate (in any of its mineral forms).

The composition and proportions of marl mixtures vary widely. Science distinguishes at least twelve types of marl, and each type is rich in subcategories, families and groups.

All marls are used in industry.

More about marl

In deposits, marl is most often a stone, sometimes layered, but in most cases monolithic. The products of erosional destruction of minerals in marls are represented by particles of small fractions, densely compressed by the pressure of overlying sediments.

The so-called lake marl is loose - up to a powdery state. In fact, it is chalk, one third mixed with clay residue. Reducing the percentage of clay to a tenth of the volume of the mixture gives chalky marl - a soft stone of a cream or brownish tone.

Most marls are a mixture of clays and dolomite(including an admixture of gypsum) or limestone. Lime marl is the main raw material of the cement industry.

There are marls, most of the composition of which is clay or silicate. Clay marls contain up to three quarters of aluminosilicates. In siliceous marls, up to 98% of the volume is SiO2.

Origin of marl

The formation of marl deposits has been continuous for at least a billion years. However, marls themselves are not particularly durable: the chemical activity of the rock components, geological processes and climatic deviations lead to the reorganization of deposits and the transformation of minerals.


Only relatively young marls are available to researchers. It has been established that clayey rock varieties are formed by bottom sediments. Calcareous, dolomite, silicate and other stone marls are a product of erosional destruction of mountain outcrops.

Use of marl

Even in ancient times, marl, ground into crumbs, was used as a means of reducing soil acidity and increasing vineyard yields. Some varieties of marl - especially those mined from dry freshwater reservoirs - are used in a similar way today. Cereals grow especially readily in fields fertilized with clay marl.

Sawn marl is used in some places in Turkey, Greece and Britain as an inexpensive building material. A cubic meter of marl blocks costs 8-10 dollars. The buildings, erected from marl stone hundreds of years ago, are well preserved: only in the lower part of the walls is destruction of the surface layers of the structure observed.

The wider use of natural stone is hampered by its “reluctance” to interact with the cement mortar that holds the masonry together. The relative fragility of the material also affects it: it is not recommended to build structures more than two floors high from marl.

Lime marl is the main raw material component in the production of construction cement. The astringent properties of burnt limestone were discovered by the ancient Romans, but the widespread use of marl for making cement began only in the Middle Ages.

Today, about five billion tons of marl are shipped annually to cement production.

Ugly and unfashionable

The appearance of marl depends on the presence and concentration of impurities - metal oxides, organics. There are white and gray, yellow-green and red-brown, and even variegated marls. Dark marl is rare; Marl is never black - only dark gray.

The decorative value of marl tends to zero, and therefore it is not a collectible. In the marl deposits, however, there are interesting formations. Silica deposits in rock gullies take on the most bizarre shapes. Concretions and concretions under a dense marl crust hide massifs of fine-crystalline grains - quartzite, calcite, pyrite, riddled with cracks.

Sometimes layers of marl hide fossils of ancient fauna - usually well preserved. Unfortunately, most of the truly priceless artifacts of the planet's history are ground up by mining technology.

There was some confusion

In each country in the world, the term “marl” is understood a little differently. In addition to marl itself, English marl also includes shell rock. In Russian construction practice, sandstone flagstone used for paving paths and cladding walls can be called marl. However, siliceous marl does look like sandstone shale.