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Mineralogical and Physical Characterisation of QwaQwa Sandstones

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Transactions on Engineering Technologies

Abstract

Mineralogy, texture and sedimentary structure are essential to the study of all sedimentary rock. Sandstones from QwaQwa rural area in South Africa were characterised for their mineralogical and physical properties. Six samples (whitish, greenish, blackish, reddish, yellowish and greyish) were collected and studied. The X-ray Diffraction (XRD) revealed that the samples were quartz based. Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) revealed the differences in the morphology and Silicon element was found present in all the samples. The X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) exhibited that the samples contained 43.14 % of Silicon (whitish). The grain sizes of the samples ranged from coarse, medium to fine grains. The Greyish sample had the highest compressive strength value of 56.74 MPa. Dielectric properties measurements were also conducted on the samples; and the results were temperature dependant. The water absorption by total immersion revealed that the blackish sandstone had the highest percentage of 6.62 %. Furthermore, the greyish sandstone had the highest density (2.7235 g/cm3) and the reddish sample had the lowest (2.6502 g/cm3).

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Acknowledgments

The author acknowledges Prof A. F. Mulaba-Bafubiandi for initiating the project on QwaQwa sandstones. Fikile Moreti sandstones (Mr. Karafu, QwaQwa, South Africa) for providing the sandstone samples. The financial support of the University of Johannesburg is acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg, Kingsway Campus, Corner Kingsway and University Road, Auckland Park, P.O. Box 524, Johannesburg, 2006, South Africa

    Mukuna P. Mubiayi

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  1. Mukuna P. Mubiayi
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Correspondence to Mukuna P. Mubiayi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Multimedia Engineering, College of Engineering, Mokpo National University, Mokpo, Jeonnam, Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

    Gi-Chul Yang

  2. Unit 1, 1/F IAENG Secretariat, International Association of Engine, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR

    Sio-Iong Ao

  3. Department of Applied Mathematics and Computing, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom

    Len Gelman

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Mubiayi, M.P. (2014). Mineralogical and Physical Characterisation of QwaQwa Sandstones. In: Yang, GC., Ao, SI., Gelman, L. (eds) Transactions on Engineering Technologies. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8832-8_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8832-8_16

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-017-8831-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-8832-8

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