The determination of the technological properties of Dağyolu formation (Northern Cyprus) clay deposits and the investigation of suitibility for brick and tile production

The Northern Cyprus (NC) has the status of a micro scaled island economy that has very limited options regarding the variety of natural resources. In NC where the economy is based on tourism and higher education the increasing construction investments in both sectors consequently increases the need for high quality construction materials. Although the technological investments that have been made in the last decade in NC in order to supply the need for the quality construction materials have had important consequences regarding the decrease in import numbers, the high wastage ratio especially in brick production has environmentally negative results, and harms the business economics. In this respect, an extensive investigation of clay deposits that are the main raw material of brick and tile production and the characterization of their properties have become imperative. In this PhD thesis the clay deposits lying between Yılmazköy and Geçitkale that are suitable for brick and tile production have been investigated in detail. The physical, chemical, mineralogical and other technological properties of samples taken from Dağyolu formation representing clayey formation have been identified and their suitability for brick and tile production has been addressed. In the light of these results, based on their compressive strength, clay deposits have been classified using geostatistical methods and the raw material sites have been mapped accordingly. As a result the most suitable raw material sites for brick and tile production at 900 °C have been identified to exist in the areas of Görneç, Serdarlı, the northwest of Haspolat village, Taşkent, Pınarbaşı, Dağyolu, Yılmazköy and Şirinevler.