In:
Annales de la Société Géologique du Nord, Universite de Lille, , No. 19 ( 2012-12-01), p. 87-97
Abstract:
Arranged in strings, the plastic clay deposits from Andenne are fillings of cryptokarsts of white and colored clays associated with three layers of Dinantian Frasnian limestone oriented EW. Sands, brown coal and Tertiary (Neogene) clays have accumulated according to thekarstic dissolution forming a up to 100m deep pocket . The sulphuric acid stemming from the oxidation of sulphides of brown coals is the main responsible for the formation of kaolinitic clays at the expense of clay minerals and the feldspathic sands. The circulation of water induced the leaching of the iron and their accumulation in certain horizons. White clays that are rich in alumina and of low iron and alkali content were the most looked for their refractory properties. Exploited at first on surface then in subterranean galleries, the extraction reached its maximum development around the 19th and 20th centuries to stop definitively in 1970. The clay and the white sand were used in the industries of fire: glassware, crystal, metallurgy... and fed the pottery, brick, tile, earthenware factory, porcelain factories, pipe factory and industrial refractory industry. The white clay first and then the final products have been exported since the Middle Ages in Holland, Germany and France, contributing to the international reputation of the clays from Andenne. Depressions generated by the subsidence as a consequence of the underground extractions form a string of pools and ponds, which are sources of biodiversity. Finally, the Ceramics Museum preserves the traces of this remarkable geological, mining, industrial and artistic heritage with its outstanding collections of pottery, porcelain and pipes. As a living museum holder of memory, it provides educational and cultural functions from its exhibitions.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2540-3621
,
0767-7367
Language:
French
Publisher:
Universite de Lille
Publication Date:
2012
detail.hit.zdb_id:
210924-4
SSG:
13
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