CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY.

Clay is a term that refers to a number of earthy materials that are composed of minerals rich in alumina, silica and water. Clay is not a single mineral, but a number of minerals; it is abundant in many places of the world. Clay is formed as a result of weathering of several kinds of rocks in a process that took thousands and millions of years as a result of the actions of environmental agents such as wind, rain, glacier, and freezing. In addition to the weathering process, clay deposits may be formed in a place as residual deposits in soil, however thick deposits usually are formed as a result of secondary sedimentary deposition process after they have been eroded and transported from their original location of formation.

According to Rhodes (1971) there are several types of clays. Clay is an important part of the earthy materials which make up the surface of the planet. It is the end product of weathering of feldspathic rocks. As mountains and hills are worn away by the action of water, the fine ground debris, resulting from the action of water, is finally laid down quietly in still estuaries or deltas, and separated out as it settles in the water to various particle sizes.

This type of clay deposit is common in formal glacial lakes. When glacial lakes are formed, there is very little movement of water that makes the lake, this water contained eroded soils which Settle on the lake bed. This allows such an even distribution on the….

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