Using the Volcanic Georesources of the Moroccan Middle Atlas to Produce a Lightweight Ecological Mortar

Summary The mio-polio-quaternary volcanism of the tabular Middle Atlas, which corresponds to prospective levels of exploitable raw minerals, is a characteristic feature of the Moroccan Middle Atlas, and in particular of the Azrou-Timahdite region. Given their importance in Moroccan human development policy, supporting both the sociological and economic aspects, this area has consequently been the focus of various investigations and prospecting of these levels in order to develop these reserves. The result of this work is a massive amount of data on the influence of incorporating natural pozzolanic sand from the Middle Atlas and expanded clay sand on the properties of lightweight mortar. The research aims to optimize the use of local resources, thereby reducing construction costs. In addition, it aims to contribute to reducing the housing shortage through the development of more durable and cost-effective building materials. To explore the thermal characteristics of lightweight mortar blocks, different samples were prepared with varying proportions of natural pozzolan sand and expanded clay sand, ranging from 20% to 100%. The thermal properties of these composite materials were analyzed by means of experimental measurements carried out under dry conditions at an ambient temperature of 20°C, using the steady-state hot-plate method.