Aggregate

Definition

Granular material such as sand, gravel, or crushed stone used for a variety of purposes, but most commonly in relation to construction activities (Bobrowsky 1998).

Context

Natural aggregates (sand and gravel) occur in various deposits, reflecting different processes of erosion, transportation, abrasion, and deposition often representative of local/regional lithologies and all textural classes. The most common aggregate rich environments are fluvial and glacial deposits, but coastal, marine, desert, and other environments can also be exploited. In a fluvial environment, fine-grained aggregates are more common in meandering river and distal high energy streams conditions, whereas coarser aggregates occur in proximal high energy or braided stream conditions. Glacial environments are by nature more variable in sand and gravel composition but somewhat more predictable when relying on facies analysis and sequence stratigraphy (e.g., glaciofluvial deposits).

Crushed stone aggregate...