الفهرس 
Material and methodsOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The present work aims at carrying out studies on some physical and
chemical properties of some shale deposits beside of evaluating their
utilization as soil conditioners for reclaiming sandy soils and their suitability
for manufacture of bricks.
To achieve these purpose~” representative shale samples were taken
from different locations in Egypt and subjected to the mineralogical, physical
and chemical analyses required to attain their evaluation qualitatively and
quantitativelv The following is a brief summary of the obtained results:
1. Mlneralogical analysis:
Mi11eralogical analyses of the studied shales achieved due to X-ray
diffraction (XRD), differenti8 I thermal analyses (OT A) and infrared
absorption spectroscopy (lR) techniques revealed that the non-clay minerals
identified are mainly quartz and feldspars as wel1 as calcite, dolomite, gypsum
and anhydrite The clay minerals are mainly smectite, kaolinite and illite in a
decreasing order as well as interstratified clay mineral (smectite-illite) for
some samples. The smectite is mainly calcic smectite as revealed by 14 A d
spacing. The characteristic difference between the different locations is in the
relative prop01iion of each of the clay minerals.
_ Chemical analysis as well as the loss of ignition (L.O. I), showed that Si02,
AhOJ, Fe201, Ti02, Cl0, lVlgO, Na20 and K20 dominated the chemical
composition of the studied sl-ate samples.
_ The Si02
( Ah01 ratio is about 3: 1. Thus indicating that the shale samples
consist mainly of mixtures of smecitite and kaolinite.
JogCal.Q!Jdchemic;r;rlswdies Qr).i!tf[erenl ~shales
2. Physical and chemical properties:
Grain size distribution analyses r”vealthat the studied samples are mainly
very fine. The clay percent varies from 41.’ to 84.4%, the sill size
fraction ranges between 13.1 and 43 JOlo and the sand size fraction ranges
from 0.1 to 16.3°/0.
_ Values of bulk density ranges between 1.17 and 1.33 g/cm
3
.
_ Values of total porosity ranged from 48.7 to 56.7°/0.
_ Values of moisture retention at field capacity ranged between 33.2 and
65.9% (w/w), willing point ranged from 15.2 to 42.6% (w/w) and available
water ranged between 15.1 and 23.5°10 (w/w).
_ Pore size distribution revealed that volume drainable pores (VDP) ranges
between 35. t and 54.5°/0 (v/v’” water holding pores (WHP) ranges from
19.6 to 28.4% (v/v) and non-eseful pores (NUr) ranges between 8.5 and
50.7°10 (v/v).
_ Values’ of hydraulic conductivity (K) ranged between 0.025 and 0.22
cm/hour.
_ Electrical conductivity values nlllged from 11.31 to 32.45 (dS/m).
_ Concerning dissolved cations and anions in shale paste extracts, it was
found that sodium was the predominant cation followed by magnesium
and calcium, while potassium was the least existing cation. The anions
were present in the following descending order: cr > SO/’ > HCOOI.
_ pH values in 1:2.5 shale-water suspension ranged from 7.06 10 8.09
_ Calcium carbonate content of the studied shale deposits are generally less
than 2.0°/0 except for Beni Suef and Quasr El-Basillocations.
_ Organic matter content of the investigated shale was, generally low and
did not exceed 0.660/0.
Cation exchange capacity values (CEC) ranged from 29.40 to 102.0
me/l 00 g; .
Shales suitable for reclai’ning light textured soils must be high in clay
content, the dominant clay minerals must be one or more of the smectite
group, CaCO, content should be as low as possible and cation exchange
capacity should be relatively high. According to these conditions and the
results obtained herein the shale samples taken from different locations under
study could be arranged descendinlv in the following orders:
According to the clay content: Q> CI > CS > B > CB > WN> WHo
According to the percentage of smectite minerals: WH>CB>CI>CS>WN >Q.
According to the cation exchange capacity: CS> CI> CB> WH> Q> WN> B.
According to the salinity: CB > CI > WN > CS > WH > Q > B.
According to the CaC03 content CS > CI > WH > WN> CB > Q > B.
Also, the results indicated that shale deposits were suitable for building-brick
manufacture although, the prO’::essing of clays is made possible by addition of
plasticity reducing agents (sand and lor grog).
WN = Wadi El-Natroun location
WH = Wadi El-Hai location
CB = Cairo-Belbais desert ror.d location
CS = Cairo-Suez desert road location
CI = Cairo-Ismalia desert road location
B = Beni Suef location
Q = Quasr EI-Basellocation