Marl

Marl (мергель; mergel). A term applied to a great variety of sediments and rocks which contain an earthy mixture of fine-grained minerals. They normally consist of calcium carbonate (calcite) or magnesium carbonate and clayey minerals, and they are commonly used as building material or (in the case of marls with a high carbonate content) in the manufacture of cement. In Ukraine marls occur among sediments from various ages (most frequently from the Upper Cretaceous period) in Volhynia, the Chernihiv region, the Donets Basin, the Crimea, the Dnister River Basin, and other regions. Marl deposits near Amvrosiivka and Karpivka, in Donetsk oblast (one of the largest marl deposits in the world), and near Novorosiisk, in Krasnodar krai, have significant industrial importance, particularly in the cement industry.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]