Clay to Clinkers EarthCache

Clay is a common component of sedimentary rock.  Shale is formed largely from clay and is the most common of sedimentary rocks. However, most clay deposits are impure. Many naturally occurring deposits include both silts and clay. Clays are distinguished from other fine-grained soils by differences in size and mineralogy. Clay minerals most commonly form by prolonged chemical weathering of silicate-bearing rocks. They can also form locally from hydrothermal activity. The clay minerals formed depend on the composition of the source rock and the climate. There are two types of clay deposits: primary and secondary. Primary clays form as residual deposits in soil and remain at the site of formation. Secondary clays are clays that have been transported from their original location by water erosion and deposited in a new sedimemtary deposit. Clays are used for making pottery, and construction products, such as bricks, walls, and floor tiles. Different types of clay, when used with different minerals and firing conditions, are used to produce earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. We are here to discuss the clay bricks called CLINKERS.

Named for the distinctive sound they make when banged together, clinker bricks are the result of wet bricks placed too close to the fire. The intense heat of coal-burning traditional kilns created a hard, durable brick that often twisted into volcanic shapes and textures. Overbaking produced rich, warm colors as well that ran the gamut from reds, yellows and oranges to deep, flash-burned browns, purples and blacks. It's a matter of too much heat so the body of the brick melts and attaches itself to the next brick.  No two clinker bricks were alike, rendering them trash to brick manufacturers who prized uniformity, but treasure to early modern architects, builders, and homeowners seeking uncommon architectural detail. 

Clinker bricks were rejects because they were discolored or misshaped. The bricks were, however, still a solid building material, and in the early 20th century clinkers became popular when avant-garde architects started building houses with them precisely because they were so unusual.

Before you is a whole wall of both clinkers and regular brick, that I thought was volcanic rocks mixed in with the regular bricks when I first seen it, until I did research for this EC and found out they were clinker bricks.

Send the answers to the follow questions to me to get credit  for this Earthcache.-

1.  What kind of rock is clay?

2.  Why are they called clinker bricks?

3.  What caused this to be clinker bricks?

4.  What is the name of the company that built the bricks?  (By the way they are still making bricks in OKC today)

5. When you log as a find, please include a picture of you or something of your in front of the clinker wall in your log.

Favorite points are always appreciated.   Thank you

ENJOY THE WONDERFUL WALL AND ALL IT UNIQUENESS.