A contribution to a physiochemical study of the sands of the Tamanrasset region, Algeria

Abstract

In this work, we have studied the physical and chemical properties of the sand of Tamanrasset region by granular classification, FTIR spectroscope, scanning electron microscope SEM. It was found Tamanrasset region is very coarsz sand with a percentage of 29.88%. Also, FTIR analysis showedthe presence of quartz (SiO₂) as the main and predominant component in the studied sand sample, with the appearance of other compounds, namely: dolomite, wollastonit, lead carbonat and water. The results of the X-ray fluorescence technology showed that sand of Tamanrasset region contains 63.35% of quartz (SiO₂) and alumina (Al₂O₃) in good proportions with the presence of other oxides in small proportions.

SEM and EDX analysis confirmed that the sample contains oxygen (O) and silicon (Si) in large portions, which refer to the quartz compound (SiO₂), as well as large proportions of the elements; Aluminum (Al) and Iron (Fe) and small proportions of the elements: cobalt (Co), titanium (Ti), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K) and calcium (Ca).