Characteristics of ‘Gadhi’ soil Available to Purchase

‘Gadhi’ is a small hill-sized soil deposit found in the villages of the Maharashtra state of India. The villagers have been using ‘Gadhi’ soil (GS) over many generations for the construction of houses and have found that it offers excellent seasonal comfort, sufficient strength and durability. Native people say that older generations traditionally prepared GS by mixing unknown ingredients in the local black cotton soil (BCS). To obtain an insight into the advantageous properties of GS as a building material, its physical, mineralogical, chemical and dielectric characteristics are studied and compared with those of BCS. GS is a silty soil with medium to high plasticity, and BCS is clay of high plasticity. X-ray diffraction analysis of BCS and GS revealed kaolinite as the principal clay mineral, the crystallinity of GS and the amorphous nature of BCS. X-ray fluorescence spectrometry provided their elemental analysis. Chemical analysis showed the oxide contents, with lower concentrations of iron oxide and higher silica in GS as compared with BCS. Scanning electron microscope analysis of GS was used to study inter-molecular bonding and showed kaolinite sheets on quartz crystals. The dielectric constant of GS revealed its nature as an insulating material. This database will be useful for future studies on correlation analyses between BCS and GS and its stabilisation process.