marl

[Middle English marle, from Old French, from Medieval Latin margila, marla, diminutive of Latin marga, marl, of Celtic origin.]

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A sediment that consists of a mixture of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) and any other constituents in varying proportions. Marls usually are fine-grained, so that most consist of CaCO₃ mixed with silt and clay. The dominant carbonate mineral in most marls is calcite (CaCO₃), but other carbonate minerals such as aragonite (another form of CaCO₃), dolomite [Ca, Mg(CO₃)₂], and siderite (FeCO₃) may be present. See also Aragonite; Calcite; Carbonate minerals; Dolomite; Siderite.

In North America, the name marl may be limited to a lake deposit that is rich in CaCO₃, but usually the term is extended to include marine deposits. Deep-sea marls consist of mixtures of clay and the CaCO₃ skeletons of microscopic planktonic animals (foraminiferans) and plants (coccoliths and discoasters). Marls deposited in the deeper parts of lakes consist of fine-grained CaCO₃, but marls deposited in shallow water may contain CaCO₃ in the form of shells of mollusks and fragments of calcareous algae such as Chara (stonewort) mixed with fine-grained CaCO₃ that is precipitated on the leaves of rooted aquatic vegetation. The CaCO₃ from these various sources is then mixed with sand, silt, or clay brought in by streams from the surrounding drainage basin. See also Marine sediments.

Although the term marl has been applied to sediments with a greatly variable content of CaCO₃, strictly speaking the CaCO₃ content should range between 30 and 70%. Because of the high CaCO₃ content, most marls are light to medium gray, although they can be almost any color. The high CaCO₃ content also tends to make dried marl earthy and crumbly.

The indurated rock equivalent of marl is marlstone. Equivalent terms range from calcareous claystone to argillaceous or impure limestone, depending on the amount of CaCO₃ that is present. Marlstone is common in marine sequences of all ages, and is particularly common in ancient lake sequences of Tertiary age in the western United States. For example, the famous “oil shale” of the Green River Formation of Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah is not a shale at all but a marlstone in which the dominant carbonate mineral is dolomite. See also Limestone; Oil shale; Sedimentary rocks.

A mixture of clay with lime (calcium carbonate). Marling is the addition of marl to a light soil to increase its water-retaining capacity and to improve its texture.

An earthy deposit; a mixture of clay and carbonate of lime.

Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - mergel
v. tr. - mergle

2.
n. - flerfarvet garn, stof af flerfarvet garn

Nederlands (Dutch)
mergel, bemergelen

Français (French)
1.
n. - (Géol) marne
v. tr. - marner

2.
n. - (Naut) lusin

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Mergel
v. - mergeln, mit Mergel düngen

2.
n. - Pfauenfederfaser

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (γεωλ.) μάργα, μάργης, αργιλοτίτανος
v. - αρπάζω, πιάνω με ένα λεπτό πισσαρισμένο σχοινί

Italiano (Italian)
marna

Português (Portuguese)
n. - calcário argiloso (m)
v. - adubar com marga

Русский (Russian)
известковая глина, удобрять почву мергелем

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - marga
v. tr. - margar, abonar con marga, cubrir o atar con vueltas de cordel

2.
n. - fertilizante

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - märgel
v. - märgla

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
泥灰, 土, 泥灰土, 撒泥灰土

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 泥灰, 土, 泥灰土
v. tr. - 撒泥灰土

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - 비료의 일종, 이회흙
v. tr. - 이회흙을 바르다

2.
n. - 얇은 밧줄

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 泥灰土, 泥灰煉瓦
v. - 泥灰土をまく

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) سماد للأرض (فعل) يسمد‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אדמת-סיד, חוור‬
v. tr. - ‮עירב חוור באדמה‬
n. - ‮חוט השזור מסיבים בצבעים שונים, בד העשוי מחוט זה‬

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