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RETRACTED ARTICLE: Petrophysical characterization and durability aspects of tufa rocks at Kurkur Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt

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Abstract

Various kinds of rocks can be used as building stones based on their durability, appearance, and availability. During many periods of times, particularly the Hellenistic, tufa rocks were used as building stones because of their appropriateness for construction. In this research, tufa rocks exposed at Kurkur Oasis are evaluated based on various geological, petrophysical, and geomechanical investigations on 47 rock samples collected from four sites in the study area. Mineralogically, the studied tufa consists essentially of calcite with slight amounts of other minerals such as quartz, dolomite, gypsum, halite, and clay minerals. The tufa rocks are characterized by heterogeneous petrophysical and elastic properties. Porosity, density, and the geomechanical properties vary widely based on different facies and diagenetic processes. Major geomechanical differences between the studied rocks give constraints on the use of these rocks as bedrock foundation, or as construction and building stones. The obtained results and correlations between the different parameters help to predict the geomechanical properties from the more easily measured elastic and petrophysical parameters. Although the uses of tufa as an ornamental stones may be productive to the national economy, however, it is suggested that processing the tufa into polished, ornamental stone, cladding, tiles, and face slabs will be of more economical value both to the investors and the national economy especially at this time of economic stagnation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank E. Sallam, Benha University, Egypt, for his help during field work and sample preparation. The authors are also greatly indebted to the editor of BEGE and the reviewers for their valuable time and the comments they raised that have improved the rigor of the work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut Branch, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

    Ahmad K. Abd El Aal

  2. Civil Eng. Dept., Faculty of Engineering, Najran University, P.O. Box 1988, Najran, Saudi Arabia

    Ahmad K. Abd El Aal

  3. Department of Geology, American University of Beirut, Riad El Solh, Beirut, 1107 2020, Lebanon

    Mohamed K. Salah

  4. Science and Engineering Mathematics Department, Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering, Suez University, Cairo, Egypt

    Nevin Aly

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Abd El Aal, A.K., Salah, M.K. & Aly, N. RETRACTED ARTICLE: Petrophysical characterization and durability aspects of tufa rocks at Kurkur Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt. Bull Eng Geol Environ 80, 2367–2384 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-020-02054-9

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