tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5619415999233409312024-03-12T21:17:16.445-04:00The Marcellus Clay Experimentattempting to learn from a rockUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561941599923340931.post-51138002000674019112011-09-26T19:24:00.001-04:002013-11-06T17:25:43.374-05:00Introduction<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Though I'm a resident of Pennsylvania, it wasn't until I started working on <a href="http://www.catskillcenterpieces.blogspot.com/">a project in the Catskills</a> that the practice of fracking became a common topic. The part of the Catskills where we are working is full of shale. It wasn't clear what type it was, leaving me to wonder: is <i>that</i> the Marcellus? What is this stuff? Is it safe? What makes Marcellus so different from other rock formations?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dusty red and pink shale-bed roads and driveways are common in that part of Sullivan County. Outcroppings line the highways. After one particularly wet week, I recognized that the fine creamy silt settling in puddles and along the roadside was clay. Shale, I learned, makes excellent clay. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Questions resurfaced and I still had no answers. What is this stuff? Is it Marcellus? Is it safe to use? How do you made into a usable ceramic clay? Would the final product be foodsafe? What could I make with it? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This site documents the experiments, information, stories and lessons I've learned through this ongoing investigation into the use of Marcellus Shale as a material.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-561941599923340931.post-72936019143985944102011-09-25T20:04:00.001-04:002011-09-26T16:32:40.351-04:00Chapter 1: Catskill Red Shale<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This is typical of the part of Fallsburg I've been working in for the past year. Roads and driveways often sit directly on top of the bedrock stone. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5qBKPAzkJMO4VHDeaRAcC_nYIgo_A3vddjQ9BiO5lmmB-0Ttj6sCWj_yESxqT9aL43KQf1D1FQOcmq2XH_zxFMSY8KNRfc8ICuZRWACXCN2puYSRz5TUW9TuCnfMEPLFcW2Rb87H9jo2A/s1600/Untitled-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5qBKPAzkJMO4VHDeaRAcC_nYIgo_A3vddjQ9BiO5lmmB-0Ttj6sCWj_yESxqT9aL43KQf1D1FQOcmq2XH_zxFMSY8KNRfc8ICuZRWACXCN2puYSRz5TUW9TuCnfMEPLFcW2Rb87H9jo2A/s640/Untitled-1.jpg" width="535" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">The most common rock types in the area are bluestone and a reddish shale. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2kB473ifFTRYWwQqO5VXf575iqlRz20-IMKgy6VYdZVzIqzzikUYe9sxnkqn49oVVTHjrrx6yHvnJbL_kphvqAOfYuYewIyOK9GNMPXE2a5dGDsPAPHHtmvFvlYQIbUOa9uHKMcrAiAG/s1600/IMG_7724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2kB473ifFTRYWwQqO5VXf575iqlRz20-IMKgy6VYdZVzIqzzikUYe9sxnkqn49oVVTHjrrx6yHvnJbL_kphvqAOfYuYewIyOK9GNMPXE2a5dGDsPAPHHtmvFvlYQIbUOa9uHKMcrAiAG/s640/IMG_7724.jpg" width="478" /></a></div><br />
When side-by-side, the blue sandstone takes on a bright green.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTa0jJW3A2MpzkkfYIIl7WsldYH1GjuzDdu-TRmAPKSVqE2IU7NW7fB0boy8XWf2j9m6ikW3bdREVYKuSAxa2eWv7lAq2nIHJSIrsUDOGp8eVUDxpPyB1Ve9_YXQIDMSolcb9HPJJiiN5W/s1600/Untitled-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTa0jJW3A2MpzkkfYIIl7WsldYH1GjuzDdu-TRmAPKSVqE2IU7NW7fB0boy8XWf2j9m6ikW3bdREVYKuSAxa2eWv7lAq2nIHJSIrsUDOGp8eVUDxpPyB1Ve9_YXQIDMSolcb9HPJJiiN5W/s400/Untitled-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The shale - it's violet, pink, maroon, brick, brown and orange.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7z_RZMvHTJAg0p4oFxDcIA4rz3bbHXGEpuTeBj8tKAFyvLQnhyVH_RFQV3ceMdxBi99s0R2y8jxjWUIg1ANZagTL36HMbbhzG7THxZpn3bR-7FNMIyMh7oRifOPvKLBh_Ym-QhkGm6gBG/s1600/shale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="451" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7z_RZMvHTJAg0p4oFxDcIA4rz3bbHXGEpuTeBj8tKAFyvLQnhyVH_RFQV3ceMdxBi99s0R2y8jxjWUIg1ANZagTL36HMbbhzG7THxZpn3bR-7FNMIyMh7oRifOPvKLBh_Ym-QhkGm6gBG/s640/shale.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Puddles after a storm are blood red. As they evaporate, a dark red clay silt remains.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTVmqudptkbF5I0iEvaCeumfeyxqQ5BSk8LOmptOBp2f8qc9pJ2tWk5a-gIQsCrUvRifOtXpo6COgb1SnN_h7ev3oE_CXr-hgcW0zdJ7PgtrZMRoy4s7xRiniFU5YeaRjvoe9zo7dl6AS2/s1600/IMG_7721a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTVmqudptkbF5I0iEvaCeumfeyxqQ5BSk8LOmptOBp2f8qc9pJ2tWk5a-gIQsCrUvRifOtXpo6COgb1SnN_h7ev3oE_CXr-hgcW0zdJ7PgtrZMRoy4s7xRiniFU5YeaRjvoe9zo7dl6AS2/s400/IMG_7721a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Shale = silt stone. These puddles were the prime places to hunt for clay. It was a frustrating process - there just were too few puddles. Instead, I decided to try to refine mud collected by red shale outcrops . Three 5-gallon buckets of mud traveled back to Philly with me. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This was the beginning. The next step: refining. </div><div><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0