Skip to main content

Aggregate

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Engineering Geology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

  • 76 Accesses

Definition

Granular material such as sand, gravel, or crushed stone used for a variety of purposes, but most commonly in relation to construction activities (Bobrowsky 1998).

Context

Natural aggregates (sand and gravel) occur in various deposits, reflecting different processes of erosion, transportation, abrasion, and deposition often representative of local/regional lithologies and all textural classes. The most common aggregate rich environments are fluvial and glacial deposits, but coastal, marine, desert, and other environments can also be exploited. In a fluvial environment, fine-grained aggregates are more common in meandering river and distal high energy streams conditions, whereas coarser aggregates occur in proximal high energy or braided stream conditions. Glacial environments are by nature more variable in sand and gravel composition but somewhat more predictable when relying on facies analysis and sequence stratigraphy (e.g., glaciofluvial...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bobrowsky PT (ed) (1998) Aggregate resources: a global perspective. Balkema, Rotterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Langer WH (1993) Natural aggregates of the conterminous United States. USGS Bulletin, vol 1594. United States Government, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter T. Bobrowsky .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Bobrowsky, P.T. (2018). Aggregate. In: Bobrowsky, P., Marker, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Engineering Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12127-7_9-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12127-7_9-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-12127-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-12127-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics