Valorization of Scrapped Marble Slurry Powder as Potential Sand Dune Stabilizer: Pilot Studies on Thar Desert Soils

Abstract

Rajasthan is considered the marble state of India, accounting for more than 94% of marble production in the country. Owing to unengineered marble processing and polishing, more than 70% of raw marble stone is scrapped as slurry powder, posing a great challenge in terms of finding sufficient dumping space, as well as an environmental concern. Concurrently, Thar Desert in Rajasthan experiences severe sand migration, owing to intense aeolian action. In this study, it is proposed to resolve both challenges through sustainable valorization of scrapped marble slurry powder to stabilize migrating sand dunes in Thar Desert. A novel surface treatment is proposed to form a crust on the sand dune using varying mixtures of scrapped marble slurry and sand sampled from Osian sand dunes in Thar Desert. With the presence of very fine particles and associated cohesion in marble slurry powder, a sufficiently thick crust is formed on the sand dune. Erodibility studies are conducted on the crusted specimens using a laboratory wind simulator. It is concluded that the proposed marble slurry–sand mixtures are effective in increasing the threshold friction velocity, thereby reducing wind-led soil erosion up to 70%. Overall, this study serves as a basic benchmarking pilot study; further scaled laboratory tests and field verifications are needed in establishing an optimized marble slurry–sand mixture.