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Mud

Mud is a fine-grained, cohesive mixture of water and sediment particles, primarily silt (0.002–0.063 mm in diameter) and clay (<0.002 mm), with at least 20% clay minerals such as kaolinite, illite, and montmorillonite that enable flocculation and binding through electrostatic forces.^[1] This viscous, plastic material forms naturally via the physical and chemical weathering of rocks, often incorporating organic matter and quartz grains, and exhibits thixotropic properties—liquefying under stress before regaining solidity.^[1] Mud's semi-colloidal nature distinguishes it from mere wet soil, as its high water content (up to 60% in fluid states) and fine particle size create a slippery, moldable consistency essential to various geological and anthropogenic processes.^[2] In geological contexts, mud serves as a primary depositional sediment in aquatic and terrestrial environments, settling in low-energy settings like river deltas, lakes, and ocean basins where it accumulates to form thick layers that compact into mudrocks—fine-grained sedimentary rocks comprising the majority of Earth's stratigraphic record, exceeding 50% of all preserved sediments.^[3] These deposits play a pivotal role in global biogeochemical cycles, particularly carbon sequestration, as mud traps organic material and regulates nutrient exchange between water columns and seafloors, influencing climate over geological timescales. Mud also contributes to landscape evolution through erosion and transport, fostering fertile floodplains and enabling the preservation of fossils in anoxic conditions.^[4] However, in dynamic settings, mud can trigger hazardous events like mudflows—rapid, high-viscosity masses of saturated fine-grained debris that devastate communities in mountainous or volcanic regions.^[5] Humans have harnessed mud's plasticity for millennia, notably in construction where sun-dried adobe bricks—composed of clay-rich mud stabilized with straw or organics—form durable, low-cost structures in arid climates, as seen in ancient and modern earthen architecture.^[6] Beyond building, mud's mineral content supports ceramics production, where refined clays yield pottery and tiles after firing,^[7] while in modern industry, engineered muds (often bentonite-based) function as drilling fluids to lubricate boreholes, remove cuttings, and stabilize wells during oil, gas, and geothermal extraction.^[8] Additionally, therapeutic muds rich in minerals like calcium and magnesium are applied in pelotherapy for skin treatments and wound healing, leveraging their absorbent and anti-inflammatory properties.^[9]

Definition and Properties

Composition

Mud is defined as a fine-grained, cohesive sediment deposit consisting of a colloidal suspension of mineral particles in water, where the particles are primarily clay and silt with sizes typically less than 63 μm (clay <2 μm and silt 2–63 μm). This suspension forms due to the electromagnetic properties of clay particles, which enable flocculation and cohesion even at low concentrations of clay minerals (≥20%).^[10] The primary components of mud include clay minerals such as kaolinite (Al₂Si₂O₅(OH)₄), illite (K₀.₆₅Al₂.₀(Al₀.₆₅Si₃.₃₅O₁₀(OH)₂), and montmorillonite ((Na,Ca)₀.₃₃(Al,Mg)₂(Si₄O₁₀)(OH)₂·nH₂O), which provide the structural backbone; silt particles for bulk volume; minor amounts of fine quartz sand; and organic matter, often in the form of fecal pellets or decomposed material comprising up to 25% of the dry sediment. Water content in natural mud typically ranges from 40% to 90% by volume, enabling the fluid-like behavior while maintaining cohesion through particle interactions.^[10]^[11]^[2]^[12] Variations in mud composition arise from depositional environments and source materials. Alluvial mud, derived from riverine transport, predominantly features clay, silt, and fine sand accumulated in floodplains, with higher organic content from terrestrial inputs. Volcanic mud, often associated with eruptions or hydrothermal activity, incorporates phyllosilicates like kaolinite, smectite, illite, and chlorite, alongside quartz, feldspar, and carbonates, reflecting altered igneous origins. Glacial till mud consists of an unsorted mixture of clay, silt, sand, and gravel embedded in a fine matrix, transported and deposited by ice movement.^[13]^[14]^[15] Chemically, mud is dominated by silicate minerals from clay structures, along with aluminum oxides (e.g., in kaolinite) and iron compounds (such as iron oxides or substituted in smectites), which influence stability and reactivity. The pH of natural mud sediments generally falls within 5–8, often near neutral (6.6–7.6) in marine or shelf environments due to buffering by carbonates and silicates.^[11]^[16]

Physical Characteristics

Mud exhibits complex rheological behavior as a non-Newtonian fluid, characterized by its dependence on applied shear stress rather than following a linear relationship between stress and strain rate.^[17] Specifically, natural mud suspensions display viscoelasticity, yield stress, and thixotropy, where the material undergoes a reversible decrease in viscosity under shear, allowing it to flow more readily when disturbed but regain structure upon rest.^[17] This thixotropic property is evident in mud streams and similar suspensions, where viscosity can drop significantly from high values at rest due to particle interactions to much lower values under agitation, facilitating movement while maintaining stability otherwise.^[18] The density of mud typically ranges from 1.5 to 2.0 g/cm³, influenced by its water content and particle composition, with fluid mud averaging around 1.73 g/cm³.^[19] Mud also demonstrates notable plasticity, defined by the plastic limit—the water content at which it can be deformed without cracking, generally around 20-30% for clay-rich mixtures.^[20] Clay minerals in mud enhance this plasticity by enabling cohesive deformation under moderate moisture levels.^[20] Thermal properties of mud include low conductivity, typically 0.5-1.5 W/m·K, which contributes to its use in insulation applications by limiting heat transfer.^[21] Electrically, mud's resistivity varies significantly with salinity; higher salt content reduces resistivity, making saline mud a better conductor, while fresh mud exhibits higher values due to lower ion mobility.^[22] Upon drying, mud undergoes shrinkage from water evaporation, generating tensile stresses that lead to cracking patterns, often forming polygons as the material contracts unevenly.^[23] These polygonal cracks result from the buildup of surface tensile stress exceeding the material's strength, creating a network that relieves internal strain during desiccation.^[24]

Natural Formation and Habitats

Geological Processes

Mud primarily forms through the weathering of bedrock, a process that disintegrates rocks into fine-grained particles over geological timescales often spanning millennia. Physical weathering mechanisms, such as abrasion by wind, water, glaciers, and thermal expansion, mechanically break down rocks into smaller fragments, including silt- and clay-sized particles essential to mud composition.^[25]^[26] Chemical weathering further transforms these materials by altering mineral structures; for example, hydrolysis of feldspar minerals in the presence of water and carbonic acid leaches out ions like potassium and sodium, yielding stable clay minerals such as kaolinite and illite.^[27]^[25] These clays, with particle sizes typically below 0.002 mm, contribute to mud's fine-grained nature and plasticity.^[27] The fine sediments produced by weathering are subsequently transported by erosional agents like rivers and currents before depositing in low-energy environments where flow velocities diminish, allowing particles to settle. Such depositional settings include river deltas, lake basins, and abyssal ocean floors, where mud accumulates in stratified layers due to the lack of disturbance from waves or strong currents.^[25] Clay and mud dominate deep-sea sediments, covering much of the ocean floor in basins and comprising a significant portion of global marine deposits alongside calcareous oozes.^[28] Notable geological events highlight mud's role in sedimentary records; in the Devonian period (approximately 419–359 million years ago), extensive mudrocks formed across regions like eastern North America through erosion of the Acadian Mountains, depositing mud in shallow marine and terrestrial basins during transgressions and regressions.^[29]^[30] In contemporary examples, the Mississippi River Delta demonstrates active mud deposition, with layers up to 10 meters thick in subdeltaic deposits like the Atchafalaya, built from suspended sediments during high-discharge events.^[31] Several factors influence mud formation and accumulation rates. Erosion rates, driven by tectonic uplift that exposes fresh rock surfaces and steepens slopes, accelerate the supply of weathering products to depositional sites.^[32] Climate exerts a strong control, with humid, warm conditions promoting chemical weathering through abundant rainfall that enhances hydrolysis and clay generation, while arid climates favor physical breakdown.^[27]^[25] Tectonic activity also shapes basin geometry, creating subsiding areas conducive to thick mud preservation.^[32]

Terrestrial and Aquatic Environments

In terrestrial environments, mudflats and wetlands provide essential habitats for burrowing animals, including fiddler crabs (Uca spp.) in salt marshes, where these crustaceans excavate extensive burrow networks in the soft sediments to evade predators, thermoregulate, and forage during low tides.^[33]^[34] These burrows, often numbering in the thousands per square meter, aerate the mud and promote nutrient exchange, supporting the overall ecosystem productivity.^[35] In mangrove forests, the nutrient-rich mud accumulates organic matter from tidal inputs, nourishing the prop roots of species like Rhizophora and Avicennia, which anchor into the sediment for stability and efficient uptake of minerals such as nitrogen and phosphorus.^[36]^[37] The fine particles comprising mud, originating from geological erosion and deposition, enable the cohesive stability of these terrestrial habitats, preventing excessive erosion while allowing root penetration. In aquatic settings, marine mud habitats such as abyssal plains on ocean floors sustain benthic communities dominated by deposit-feeding polychaete worms (Polychaeta), which burrow into the anoxic sediments to process organic detritus and contribute to deep-sea carbon cycling.^[38]^[39] These worms, including species like Laetmonice and Paradiopatra, form dense populations that enhance sediment bioturbation and nutrient remineralization across vast expanses covering millions of square kilometers.^[40] In freshwater ecosystems like ponds and lakes, mud bottoms offer protected spawning grounds for fish such as sunfish (Lepomis spp.) and bass (Micropterus spp.), where males construct shallow nests in the soft substrate to deposit and guard eggs during spring reproduction.^[41]^[42] Mud-dependent ecosystems exhibit remarkable biodiversity, with intertidal zones supporting over 300 species of invertebrates alone, including iconic mudskippers (Periophthalmus and Boleophthalmus spp.) that navigate exposed mud surfaces using adapted fins for locomotion and aerial respiration.^[43]^[44] These amphibious fish, endemic to Indo-Pacific and Atlantic mangroves, forage on intertidal mud for insects and algae, exemplifying adaptations to fluctuating submersion and exposure that sustain food webs for birds and larger predators.^[45] Seasonal dynamics profoundly shape these mud habitats; during summer dry periods, surface mud desiccates and forms polygonal cracks up to several centimeters deep, limiting burrowing access for fauna and altering evaporation rates.^[46] With the onset of rainy seasons, rapid rewetting saturates the cracks, often generating transient anaerobic zones in deeper layers where oxygen depletion fosters sulfate-reducing bacteria and impacts benthic respiration.^[47] These cycles influence species distributions, with drought-tolerant organisms like certain polychaetes dominating cracked surfaces while flood events boost microbial activity and nutrient pulses.^[48]

Construction Applications

Mud as Adhesive and Binder

Mud's adhesive qualities stem from the cohesive interactions between clay particles and water, which form a viscous, sticky paste capable of bonding to various surfaces in construction applications. This stickiness enables mud to serve as a natural binder in traditional building techniques, particularly for sealing and filling gaps in structures.^[49] In wattle and daub construction, mud is applied as daub to woven frameworks of wooden stakes and twigs, a method originating in the Neolithic period, with evidence dating back to around 5000 BCE and persisting in vernacular architecture worldwide. The technique relies on mud's ability to adhere firmly to organic lattices, providing insulation and weather resistance once dried.^[50]^[51] The binding mechanisms in mud involve cohesion driven by van der Waals forces between clay platelets and hydrogen bonding with adsorbed water layers, which collectively enable the mixture to encapsulate and hold aggregates such as straw or animal dung for added tensile reinforcement. These intermolecular forces create a matrix that distributes stress evenly, enhancing the overall integrity of bound materials without requiring chemical additives.^[52]^[53]^[54] Historically, ancient Mesopotamian reed huts were sealed with mud mortar to protect against environmental exposure, as evidenced in Sumerian architectural practices where bundled reeds formed the primary structure and mud provided a durable, impermeable coating. This application demonstrated mud's efficacy as a binder in marshland environments, where it was layered over reed mats to create stable enclosures.^[55] Dried mud mortar typically exhibits a tensile strength of up to 0.5 MPa, sufficient for low-load bearing in traditional infill and sealing roles, though values vary with composition and curing conditions. Preparation of mud for adhesive use involves selecting clay-rich soils and blending them with aggregates to achieve optimal performance; a common ratio is 1:3 clay to sand, which balances plasticity and shrinkage resistance to minimize cracking during drying. This mixture is often tempered by adding water incrementally and kneading to ensure uniform distribution, allowing the clay to fully hydrate and develop its cohesive properties.^[56]^[57] The plasticity inherent in mud's physical characteristics further aids its workability, facilitating easy application in binding tasks.^[58]

Mud-Based Building Materials

Mud-based building materials encompass structured forms of mud used in load-bearing construction, transforming the natural soil mixture into durable elements through drying, firing, or stabilization processes. These materials leverage mud's inherent compressive strength while addressing its limitations, such as erosion susceptibility, to create walls, foundations, and other structural components. Mudbricks, also known as adobe, are sun-dried blocks formed from a mixture of mud, water, and often straw or other fibers for reinforcement. Typical dimensions are approximately 30 cm in length, 15 cm in width, and 10 cm in height, allowing for efficient stacking in walls. These bricks exhibit a compressive strength ranging from 1 to 3 MPa, sufficient for low-rise structures in dry climates. Historical examples include sections of the Great Wall of China constructed during the Qin Dynasty around 221 BCE, where sun-dried mud bricks were rammed and covered with clay for protection against weathering. Modern standards, such as those in the International Building Code, require adobe units to have a minimum compressive strength of 300 psi (about 2.1 MPa) when tested per ASTM C67.^[59] Fired bricks represent an advancement over sun-dried variants, involving molding mud into shapes and then kiln-firing at temperatures between 900 and 1100°C to vitrify the clay into a ceramic material. This process enhances durability and water resistance, producing strong, reddish-brown bricks used extensively in ancient architecture. The origins of fired brick technology trace back to the Indus Valley Civilization around 2500 BCE, where baked bricks were employed in urban structures at sites like Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa for walls, drains, and flood barriers during the Mature Harappan phase (2600–1900 BCE). In modern applications, stabilized mud incorporates chemical additives such as 5-10% cement or lime to improve mechanical properties and longevity, particularly in rammed earth walls where the mixture is compacted in layers within formwork. These additives react with soil particles to form binding compounds, yielding compressive strengths of 5-10 MPa and greater resistance to erosion, making stabilized mud suitable for seismic zones and humid environments. For instance, cement-stabilized rammed earth has been used in contemporary sustainable housing projects, demonstrating enhanced performance over unstabilized forms. Despite their advantages, mud-based materials generally offer high compressive resistance but remain vulnerable to water exposure, which can cause up to 50% loss in strength when saturated due to softening and dissolution of binders. Protective measures, such as lime plasters or overhangs, are essential to mitigate this issue and ensure long-term structural integrity.

Artistic and Industrial Uses

Pottery and Ceramics

Mud, particularly in the form of clay, serves as the foundational material for pottery and ceramics, where its plasticity allows for shaping into functional and artistic forms. Clays suitable for pottery are primarily composed of kaolinite, illite, and quartz, providing the necessary workability when mixed with water. For high-fired varieties like porcelain, kaolin-rich clays are preferred due to their purity and high alumina content, which enable vitrification—a process where the material becomes glass-like and impermeable—upon firing at temperatures between 1200°C and 1400°C.^[60]^[61] Traditional pottery techniques have evolved from hand-building methods to more advanced wheel-based processes. Coiling, one of the earliest techniques, involves rolling clay into elongated strands and stacking them to form vessel walls, a method evident in the Jōmon pottery of Japan dating back to approximately 14,000 BCE, characterized by cord-impressed decorations on utilitarian vessels. Throwing on a potter's wheel, which uses centrifugal force to shape clay symmetrically, originated in the Near East around 3500 BCE and was adopted in ancient Greece by the 2nd millennium BCE; it became prominent with the advent of black-figure pottery around 700 BCE, where figures were painted in slip before firing to create contrasting silhouettes. These techniques highlight mud's versatility in creating both everyday items and elaborate artworks.^[62]^[63]^[64] The transformation of shaped clay into durable ceramics occurs through controlled firing stages. Bisque firing, typically at around 900°C, hardens the ware by driving off remaining moisture and organics, providing structural strength for subsequent handling and glazing. Glaze firing follows at higher temperatures, often 1000–1300°C depending on the clay body, fusing a vitreous coating that renders the surface waterproof and decorative. Throughout these stages, clay undergoes significant shrinkage of 10–20%, influenced by particle size and composition, which potters must account for to avoid cracking.^[65]^[66]^[67] Iconic examples of mud-based ceramics include China's Terracotta Army, buried around 210 BCE, where life-sized warrior figures were molded from local yellow clay sourced near Mount Li, fired in sections and assembled to create an immense funerary ensemble. This application demonstrates mud's role in large-scale artistic endeavors, blending technical precision with cultural symbolism.^[68]

Other Industrial Applications

In the oil and gas industry, mud plays a critical role as drilling fluid, particularly bentonite-based formulations that provide lubrication to drilling equipment and control formation pressure to prevent blowouts. These fluids maintain a typical apparent viscosity of 10-50 cP, enabling effective circulation and removal of cuttings from the borehole.^[69] The global market for bentonite, predominantly used in such drilling applications, was approximately 21 million metric tons as of 2024, underscoring mud's economic significance in energy extraction.^[70] Kaolin-rich mud finds extensive use in cosmetics, where it serves as an absorbent agent in face masks to draw out excess oil and impurities from the skin, promoting a smoother complexion.^[71] In pharmaceuticals, kaolin mud is FDA-recognized as generally safe (GRAS) and has been incorporated into anti-diarrheal medications like historical formulations of Kaopectate, where it adsorbs toxins and bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract to alleviate symptoms.^[72]^[73] Mud, especially kaolin variants, acts as a filler in paper production to enhance opacity by scattering light and filling interstices between fibers, improving print quality without excessive weight addition. In textiles, kaolin mud functions similarly as an extender in pigment printing pastes, contributing to color opacity and durability on fabrics.^[74]^[75] For waste management, compacted mud or clay liners are integral to landfills, offering low hydraulic permeability on the order of 10^{-7} cm/s to impede leachate migration into groundwater and protect environmental quality. This property arises from the dense, non-porous structure achieved through proper compaction, meeting regulatory standards for barrier systems.^[76] The rheology of mud, particularly its shear-thinning behavior, facilitates its application in such fluid and semi-fluid containment systems.^[77]

Cultural and Recreational Aspects

Traditional and Cultural Significance

Mud has held profound symbolic and societal roles in various cultures, often representing the earth's nurturing essence, resilience, and connection to ancestral lands. In architectural heritage, ancient mud-built cities exemplify this enduring legacy. The Old Walled City of Shibam in Yemen, originating in the pre-Islamic period and becoming the Hadramaut capital after AD 300, features towering sun-dried mud-brick structures up to seven stories high, rebuilt in the 16th century after floods and recognized for their unique urban planning and cultural preservation.^[78] Similarly, the Old Towns of Djenné in Mali, inhabited since 250 B.C. and a hub for trans-Saharan trade, showcase over 2,000 traditional mud houses and the iconic Great Mosque, embodying sub-Saharan Islamic architecture and pre-Islamic civilizations as a UNESCO World Heritage site.^[79] In rituals and artistic practices, mud symbolizes fertility, protection, and cultural identity. Among some sub-Saharan African communities, scarification rituals involve incisions followed by application of natural substances like mud or ash to deepen scars and signify rites of passage, social status, or tribal affiliation, though the practice is declining due to health risks.^[80]^[81] Native American Pueblo peoples, such as those at Taos Pueblo in New Mexico, construct multi-story adobe dwellings from mud and straw, which serve as living symbols of continuous cultural and spiritual traditions dating back over 1,000 years, emphasizing harmony with the earth.^[82] In Hinduism, mud idols crafted for Ganesh Chaturthi represent the deity's emergence from the earth—modeled by Parvati from clay in myth—embodying fertility, impermanence, and return to nature through ritual immersion, reinforcing cycles of creation and renewal.^[83] Folklore across cultures portrays mud as a primordial substance tied to human origins and moral lessons. In Maya mythology, as recorded in the Popol Vuh, the gods' initial attempt to create humanity from mud resulted in a watery, lifeless form that dissolved, highlighting themes of divine trial and the need for sacrifice in cosmic renewal.^[84] The English proverb "mud sticks," dating to at least the 17th century, illustrates mud's metaphorical stickiness in conveying how unfounded accusations or gossip cling to one's reputation, reflecting societal views on rumor and defamation.^[85] Economically, mud-based construction supports a significant portion of housing in developing regions, with earthen dwellings housing an estimated 20-25% of households, predominantly in rural areas where it provides affordable, locally sourced shelter integral to community livelihoods.^[86] This reliance underscores mud's role in sustaining traditional economies while facing challenges from modernization.

Recreational Activities

Mud baths are a popular spa treatment involving the application of volcanic or mineral-rich mud to the skin for therapeutic purposes, primarily exfoliation and detoxification. These treatments leverage the abrasive texture and mineral content of muds, such as those sourced from the Dead Sea, to remove dead skin cells and improve skin barrier function. Dead Sea black mud, in particular, exhibits antimicrobial properties against various skin pathogens, supporting its use in managing chronic skin conditions like psoriasis through balneotherapy.^[87] Balneotherapy with mineral muds has been shown to reduce inflammation and stress-related skin issues by modulating immune responses, making it a complementary approach in dermatological care.^[88] Mud sports encompass competitive and endurance-based activities that incorporate mud as a challenging element, emphasizing physical exertion and camaraderie. Extreme mud runs, such as Tough Mudder events launched in 2010, feature 10- to 12-mile obstacle courses with mud pits designed to test participants' resilience, attracting hundreds of thousands annually in the early 2010s and peaking with over 3 million cumulative participants by 2016, though the series faced bankruptcy in 2020 before stabilizing under new ownership as of 2025.^[89]^[90] Mud wrestling, often staged as lighthearted recreational contests rather than formal competitions, involves grapples in mud pits for entertainment, with rules focusing on pins or object retrieval to keep the activity fun and non-serious.^[91] These events highlight mud's slippery and sticky properties, which intensify the physical and sensory demands on participants. In the animal kingdom, wallowing in mud serves as a key recreational and survival behavior for thermoregulation and hygiene. Elephants frequently roll in mud wallows to cool their bodies in hot environments and to create a barrier against parasites and insects, with studies confirming these sites' role in maintaining skin health and reducing ectoparasite loads.^[92] Pigs, lacking functional sweat glands, engage in mud wallowing to lower body temperature by up to 2°C through evaporative cooling and to protect against sunburn and external parasites, behaviors observed in both wild and farmed populations.^[93]^[94] These instinctive activities not only aid in parasite control but also provide opportunities for social interaction among herds.^[95] Children's play with mud, such as making mud pies or splashing in puddles, fosters sensory and cognitive development through hands-on exploration. This type of messy play engages multiple senses—touch, sight, and even smell—enhancing tactile processing and fine motor skills while promoting creativity and problem-solving.^[96] Research indicates that natural outdoor play, including mud manipulation, supports motor development, emotional regulation, and immune system strengthening via exposure to beneficial soil microbes.^[97]^[98] Such activities encourage curiosity and sensory integration, contributing to overall psychological well-being in young children.^[99]

Food and Nutritional Uses

Edible Mud Varieties

Geophagy refers to the deliberate consumption of clay-rich mud or soil by humans, primarily to obtain essential minerals such as calcium and iron that may be deficient in diets.^[100] This practice is widespread, affecting a notable portion of the global population, with estimates suggesting up to 36% prevalence among pregnant women worldwide and rates as high as 50-70% in certain African regions.^[101] It is especially common among pregnant women in Africa, where cultural, nutritional, and medicinal motivations drive its use to alleviate cravings and supplement micronutrients during pregnancy.^[102] Among edible mud varieties, bentonite clay, composed mainly of montmorillonite, is valued for its high swelling capacity, which enables it to bind and neutralize dietary toxins and pathogens in the gastrointestinal tract.^[103] Kaolin clay, primarily kaolinite, offers a neutral taste and texture, making it suitable for direct consumption or incorporation into nutritional supplements, and it is often sourced from deposits with low impurity levels for therapeutic use.^[104] Nutritionally, these clays typically contain 40-60% silica (SiO₂) as a primary component, alongside alumina and trace elements including iron, calcium, magnesium, copper, and zinc, which can contribute to mineral intake when sourced cleanly.^[105]^[106] The health benefits of geophagy include potential supplementation of iron and calcium to combat anemia, particularly in nutrient-poor environments, as the clays' mineral content can enhance bioavailability under certain digestive conditions.^[100] However, risks are significant, as many geophagic clays may contain heavy metals like lead, which can lead to toxicity and exacerbate health issues such as developmental delays in children; for instance, elevated lead levels have been detected in clays from regions including parts of India.^[107]^[108] Additionally, excessive consumption can bind essential nutrients, potentially worsening deficiencies, and introduce parasitic or bacterial contaminants.^[109] Historical evidence for geophagy dates back to the Paleolithic era, with archaeological findings at sites like Kalambo Falls in East Africa indicating that early hominins, such as Homo habilis, consumed calcium-rich white clays, suggesting the practice's deep evolutionary roots for nutritional purposes.^[109] While direct residues in ancient teeth are rare, isotopic and contextual analyses from prehistoric sites support mud consumption as a response to mineral needs in ancestral diets.^[110]

Culinary Dishes Involving Mud

Mud cake is a dense, fudgy chocolate dessert that gained popularity in Australia during the late 20th century, characterized by its moist texture and rich cocoa flavor that evokes the appearance of mud. Originating from American baking traditions in the 1970s, it typically consists of layers of chocolate cake, ganache, and sometimes marshmallows or nuts, but contains no actual mud or clay.^[111]^[112] Similarly, Mississippi mud pie, occasionally referred to as Louisiana mud pie in regional variations, emerged in the American South during the 1970s as a no-bake layered dessert featuring a chocolate cookie crust, pudding or mousse filling, and whipped topping, designed to mimic the dark, muddy banks of the Mississippi River. Its invention is linked to post-World War II adaptations of simpler mud cakes, emphasizing indulgent chocolate elements for a creamy, soil-like consistency without any earthen ingredients.^[113] In Southeast Asian cuisine, particularly Cambodian, fermented mud fish paste known as prahok serves as a foundational ingredient in various dishes, prepared by salting and fermenting small river fish like the mud carp (trey riel) in earthen jars for months to develop a pungent, umami-rich flavor. This paste is incorporated into cooked preparations such as prahok ktis, a creamy dip blending prahok with minced pork, coconut milk, eggplant, and herbs, often served with rice and vegetables to balance its intensity.^[114]^[115] In traditional Andean cuisine, edible clays such as chaco are incorporated into dishes, particularly with wild potatoes or tubers. These clays, mixed into a paste with salt, are eaten alongside or added to foods to adsorb natural toxins from bitter varieties, imparting a subtle earthy texture and mineral flavor while aiding digestion. This practice dates back to pre-Columbian times among Inca peoples and continues in rural Peruvian and Bolivian communities.^[116]^[117] Culinary traditions in some regions use "mud" metaphorically to describe thick, hearty stews with a muddy consistency, such as the 19th-century American fish muddle—a communal seafood stew simmered with tomatoes, onions, and potatoes—traced to British influences in colonial cookbooks where similar mixed broths were common. Edible clays may occasionally add a subtle earthy texture to such preparations in traditional recipes.^[118]

Environmental and Health Impacts

Ecological Roles

Mud serves as a vital component in nutrient cycling within ecosystems, particularly by trapping organic matter in sediments through sedimentation processes. This trapped material undergoes decomposition by microbial communities, releasing key nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen back into the system, which supports plant growth and overall productivity. In freshwater wetlands, mud-dominated sediments can retain up to 50% of phosphorus inputs, as observed in cypress swamp systems, while nitrogen retention in bogs often ranges from 50% to 100%, enhancing water quality by preventing nutrient runoff to downstream environments.^[119] In marine environments, mud contributes significantly to carbon sequestration, acting as a long-term storage reservoir for organic carbon. Continental shelf mud sediments alone store approximately 266 Gt of organic carbon in the top 1 meter, representing a substantial portion of global marine carbon stocks and aiding in climate change mitigation by preventing carbon release to the atmosphere. Sedimentation and burial processes in these mud layers occur at rates of 0.1 to 1 mm per year, burying organic matter away from oxidative degradation and preserving it for centuries or longer.^[120]^[121] Mud layers also facilitate water filtration, particularly in aquifer systems where fine-grained sediments like clay-rich mud act as natural barriers. These layers adsorb and trap pathogens, achieving removal efficiencies of over 90% for bacteria through physical straining, adsorption, and biological inactivation during subsurface flow. This purification process improves groundwater quality, supporting safe recharge and reducing contamination risks in replenished aquifers.^[122] Furthermore, mud underpins biodiversity by providing habitat and nutritional foundations for food webs. In estuarine and coastal systems, particularly mudflats, these food webs are often based on transported organic matter and detritus, supporting detritivores such as polychaetes and amphipods, which in turn sustain higher trophic levels including fish and birds. This basal role enhances overall ecosystem resilience and productivity.^[123]

Hazards and Problems

Mud poses significant hazards through natural disasters such as mudslides and lahars, which can devastate human settlements with rapid, destructive flows. Lahars, volcanic mudflows formed by the mixing of ash, debris, and water, exemplify this danger; during the 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia, lahars buried the town of Armero and surrounding areas, resulting in over 23,000 fatalities. These flows can reach speeds of up to 50 km/h, carrying immense volumes of material that overwhelm escape efforts and cause widespread burial and trauma. The rheology of mud, characterized by its high viscosity and non-Newtonian behavior, enables such rapid mobilization and sustained momentum over distances, amplifying the destructive potential in steep terrains. For instance, the 2021 Semeru eruption in Indonesia produced lahars that affected thousands, highlighting ongoing risks as of 2025.^[124]^[125]^[126]^[127] Health risks from mud exposure are primarily linked to infections and physical injuries, particularly in contaminated environments. Floodwaters and mud often harbor pathogens like Leptospira bacteria, leading to leptospirosis outbreaks; this zoonotic disease spreads through contact with mud soiled by infected animal urine, causing symptoms ranging from fever to organ failure, with heightened incidence following floods that mobilize contaminated soil and water. In construction settings, slippery mud surfaces contribute to slip-and-fall incidents, which account for approximately 31% of nonfatal injuries in the industry, often resulting in fractures, sprains, and long-term disabilities among workers navigating wet or muddy sites.^[128]^[129]^[130] Environmental degradation is exacerbated by mud runoff, driven by human activities like deforestation, which strips protective vegetation and accelerates soil erosion into waterways. In regions such as the Ganges-Brahmaputra basin, this process delivers an annual sediment load of about 1 billion tonnes, leading to river clogging, reduced navigability, and downstream flooding as silt accumulates and alters channel morphology. Such sedimentation not only disrupts aquatic habitats but also intensifies flood risks for millions in densely populated deltas.^[131] Infrastructure faces substantial damage from mechanical forces associated with mud flows and erosion. Global corrosion costs exceed $2.5 trillion annually across all causes, with sediment-laden environments contributing to abrasion and repair burdens in coastal and riverine infrastructure.^[132]

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Adobe bricks (mud bricks) are made of earth with a fairly high clay content and straw. They are a fireproof, durable yet biodegradable, non-toxic building ...
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Property of mud and its application in cosmetic and medical fields
Mar 7, 2022 · Mud is a semi-colloidal substance formed by the mixture of inorganic, organic and water under the influence of various physical and chemical ...Missing: definition | Show results with:definition
[9]
Mud - Coastal Wiki
Feb 14, 2024 · Clay particles act as colloids, defined as particles mainly less than 2 μm with large surface areas per unit mass. They are chemically active ...The nature of flocculation · Size distribution of single... · The biological component...
[10]
Environmental Characteristics of Clays and Clay Mineral Deposits
Apr 1, 2009 · Kaolinite is found in most weathering zones and soil profiles. Montmorillonites, which are chemically more complex than kaolinites, are common ...
[11]
Engineering Properties of Alluvial Soils - Douglas Partners
Mar 10, 2025 · These soils are commonly found in alluvial fans, where sand, silt, clay, and other materials accumulate through alluvial deposition and more ...
[12]
Geochemistry and mineralogy of muds and thermal waters from mud ...
The mineral composition of the muds is dominated by quartz, phyllosilicates (kaolinite, smectite, illite and chlorite), feldspar, carbonates (dolomite, calcite) ...
[13]
Glacial Till - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
Glacial till refers to sediment comprised mainly of silt, clay, sand, and gravel that is deposited by glaciers during their advance or retreat, resulting in ...
[14]
Benthic pH gradients across a range of shelf sea sediment types ...
Mar 31, 2017 · The pH ranged from 6.6 to 7.6. As the transport of solutes through this type of sediment is dominated by diffusion, the pH steeply decreases ...
[15]
Rheological analysis of natural and diluted mud suspensions
Natural mud usually exhibits non-Newtonian rheological behaviors like viscoelasticity, thixotropy and yield stress. The history of each mud sample is also ...
[16]
Influence of thixotropic parameters on a non-Newtonian fluid flow
Mar 3, 2020 · Thixotropy is a complex rheological property associated with the microstructure of a material, which evolves with flowing time. To model the ...INTRODUCTION · Governing equations · Numerical approach · Thixotropic models
[17]
Density of Mud, fluid in 285 units of density - Aqua-Calc
Mud, fluid weighs 1.73 gram per cubic centimeter or 1 730 kilogram per cubic meter, i.e. density of mud, fluid is equal to 1 730 kg/m³.
[18]
Atterberg Limits - Geoengineer.org
The Liquid Limit (LL or wLL), also known as the upper plastic limit, is the water content at which the soil changes from the liquid state to a plastic state. It ...
[19]
Thermal conductivity soil - Cableizer
Measurements in 1999 of thermal conductivity for deepwater soils from the Gulf of Mexico by MARSCO Inc. have shown values in the range of 0.7 to 1.3 W/(m.K), ...
[20]
Electrical Resistivity | US EPA
Mar 7, 2025 · Resistivity tends to decrease with the presence of certain ore minerals, fine grain materials (e.g., clay minerals), and high temperatures.
[21]
Mud peeling and horizontal crack formation in drying clays
Mar 30, 2011 · During drying, tensile stresses arise at the surface of the clay which can lead to shrinkage cracks perpendicular to the clay surface. Once ...
[22]
Universal scaling of polygonal desiccation crack patterns
Jan 14, 2019 · Here we experimentally investigate polygonal cracks in drying suspensions of micron-sized particles by varying film thickness, boundary adhesion, packing ...
[23]
5 Weathering, Erosion, and Sedimentary Rocks - OpenGeology
Chemical weathering includes carbonic acid and hydrolysis, dissolution, and oxidation. Erosion is a mechanical process, usually driven by water, wind, gravity, ...
[24]
Soil Weathering Processes | Soils 4 Teachers
Physical weathering is the breaking of rocks into smaller pieces. This can happen through exfoliation, freeze-thaw cycles, abrasion, root expansion, and wet-dry ...
[25]
Weathering & Clay Minerals - Tulane University
Nov 18, 2014 · Geologists recognize two categories of weathering processes · Iron oxides, Aluminum oxides - such as hematite Fe2O3, and gibbsite Al(OH)3. · The ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[26]
Deep-sea sediments of the global ocean - ESSD Copernicus
Dec 11, 2020 · 7. Calcareous sediment and clay dominate throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, whereas clay occupies the deep basins and ...
[27]
Devonian Geology | NY Rocks! Ancient Life of the Empire State
The rock layers across the 11 Finger Lakes come from the same source: sand, silt, and mud that washed into a shallow sea from the Devonian Acadian Mountains.
[28]
Mudrocks of the Devonian - GeoScienceWorld
Nov 27, 2017 · Mudrocks in the Devonian thus occur in several distinct sedimentary regimes: in the north, terrestrial facies (Old Red Sandstone) formed as ...
[29]
[PDF] Efficient retention of mud drives land building on the Mississippi ...
For simplicity, we show the case where each layer is of unit thickness and is the full width of the channel. ... Mississippi. Delta shows that crevasse splay ...
[30]
Global evaluation of erosion rates in relation to tectonics
Dec 19, 2017 · Furthermore, tectonic activity produces high relief topography prone to erosion, resulting in higher erosion rates. The effects of slope and ...
[31]
Fiddler Crabs - Fort Matanzas National Monument (U.S. National ...
Jan 15, 2022 · These are fiddler crab burrows. Each crab digs its own burrow, and uses the burrow to escape predators and the scorching sun. Hence a crab will ...
[32]
[PDF] Living Treasures-The Plants and Animals of Long Island Sound
Fiddler crabs, a crustacean, are found almost exclusively in salt marshes where their burrows line the banks of tidal creeks and mos- quito ditches.
[33]
Effects of Fiddler Crab Burrows on Sediment Properties in the ... - NIH
Jan 19, 2016 · Fiddler crabs are known to increase water content and permeability and reduce median grain size of mudflats [15]. Burrow construction and ...Missing: wetlands | Show results with:wetlands
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[PDF] Carbon Cycling and Storage in Mangrove Forests
Most mangrove carbon is stored in soil and sizable belowground pools of dead roots (Alongi et al. 2003, 2004b), which helps to conserve and recycle nutrients ...
[35]
[PDF] Facilitation in Mangrove Ecosystems - Integrative Biology |
The plants themselves modify these stresses by slowing water down, reducing wave heights, stabilising sediments against erosion with their roots and by ...<|separator|>
[36]
The heterogeneous abyss - PMC - PubMed Central - NIH
Jul 10, 2020 · 7, 8, 13–15), while soft-sediment faunal communities are typically characterized by mobile animals including deposit-feeding polychaete worms ...Missing: organisms | Show results with:organisms
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[PDF] Abyssal food limitation, ecosystem structure and climate change
Another hotspot appears to lie in the equa- torial Pacific, where the diversity of polychaete and nema- tode worms (and probably isopods and holothurians) is.
[38]
The dynamics of biogeographic ranges in the deep sea - PMC
Genetic analyses verified reportedly widespread distributions of a common polychaete worm throughout the abyssal Pacific, Atlantic and Southern Oceans Mincks et ...
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Improving Fish Populations in Recreational Ponds
May 18, 2021 · Similar to channel catfish, spawning occurs when water temperatures reach 70 degrees F. Nests are made several feet below the surface of the ...
[40]
Common Pond Fishes - KDWP
Spawning occurs during spring when water temperatures reach 60-70°F. The male makes a large saucer-shaped nest on the bottom in shallow water by fanning an ...
[41]
[PDF] Animals of the Intertidal Sand and Mud Flats
As many as 300 different species of invertebrates can be found burrowing or scurrying about the mud and sand grains. In an area roughly the size of an average ...
[42]
A field guide to Kenyan Mangroves
Fish also show unique adaptations to the intertidal ecosystem, such as the Gobidae mudskippers common to mangroves (Macnae, 1968).Missing: count | Show results with:count
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Biogeographical role of the Kuroshio Current in the amphibious ...
Oct 28, 2015 · This study aimed to elucidate the evolutionary influences of contemporary and glacial physical barriers on the population structure, demography ...Missing: zones count
[44]
[PDF] Soil Survey Manual 2017; Chapter 3
Internally initiated cracks appear if the soil material has appreciable shrink-swell potential and drying was sufficient. In some soils this sub- zone restricts ...
[45]
[PDF] ADAMS BROADWELL JOSEPH & CARDOZO
Feb 22, 2021 · ... rewetting of a dry soil often yields a pulse in soil CO2 production.”187 Additionally, “[t]he drying and rewetting process also releases ...
[46]
[PDF] Recommended Methods for Monitoring Floodplains and Wetlands
It is important to measure physical and chemical parameters of wetlands to establish seasonal patterns and the changes that occur with flooding and drying.
[47]
Application of Biological Glue–Clay Composite Substrate in Slope ...
Sep 14, 2023 · The inherent cohesive properties of clay particles and their interactions with water contribute to the high strength and structural stability of ...
[48]
Earth construction from past to present: Initial results of the ...
The technological evolution that took place over several millennia (12,000–6,000 BCE) according to the traditionally accepted sequence of wattle-and-daub/cob/ ...
[49]
Overview: From Neolithic to Bronze Age, 8000 - 800 BC - BBC
Feb 28, 2011 · Neolithic houses were usually rectangular thatched buildings made from timber with walls of wattle (woven hazel rods) smeared with a plaster- ...<|separator|>
[50]
[PDF] CCL cc.
Present information suggests that surface hydration results from hydrogen bonding, van der Waals forces and electrostatic attraction between the clay particle ...<|separator|>
[51]
Van Der Waals Attractive Force Between Clay Particles in Water and ...
A rational method of calculating the van der Waals attractive force between two clay particles is presented.
[52]
[PDF] DEFORMATION AND FLOW PROPERTIES OF CLAY SOILS FROM ...
H-bonds and Van Der Waals' forces, acting in the adsorbed or otherwise adherent aqueous phases; and. 4. The strength of impurities in metals decreases with ...
[53]
[PDF] The ecology of the mudhif - WIT Press
The earliest known example of such construction still in use is the Sumerian, reed-built mudhif which is also one of the oldest known monumental building types.
[54]
Mixing and Applying Cob - Green Home Building
The ratio might range between 2 parts clay soil to 1 part sand and 1 part clay soil to 3 parts sand. When you take 1 bucket of clay soil, mix it with 1 bucket ...<|separator|>
[55]
Characterization of traditional mud mortar of the decorated wall ...
In earthen plaster with high aggregates (sand + silt) to binder (clay) volume ratio (4:1), it has been observed that adding a significant amount of straw helps ...
[56]
4. Properties of clay materials, soils and mudrocks
The purpose of this chapter is to provide a background to the properties of natural clay materials used in the con- struction industry and other ...
[57]
Mineralogical, physico-chemical and ceramic properties of clay ...
Jul 16, 2021 · In term of mineralogy, studied clays are rich in smectites, illite, kaolinite, quartz, feldspar and mica. Physicochemically, results show large ...
[58]
Preservation Self-Assessment Program (PSAP) | Object Materials
Of all pottery types, it is fired at the highest temperatures, typically above 2372°F (1300°C), making it totally non-porous and impervious to water even when ...
[59]
Oldest Pottery | The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program
May 27, 2025 · Some of the oldest known pottery from East Asia is about 18,000 years old. Exhibit Item. Site: Lake Anenuma, Honshu, Japan. Age: About 12,000 ...
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Black-Figure Vase Painting | Department of Classics
Jun 14, 2018 · The black-figure technique of vase painting was invented in the city of Corinth around 700 B.C.E. It was around this time that Corinthian ...
[61]
Potter's Wheel | Department of Classics
Jun 15, 2018 · Before the invention of the potter's wheel, pottery was made by hand, primarily using the coiling method. This essay was written to accompany a ...
[62]
[PDF] Firing Temperatures - Bellevue College
Normal or soft stoneware/porcelain bisque can be fired from cone 08 to 04. Low fire white & terra cotta is generally bisque fired at cone 02 to 1.
[63]
Shrinkage | Department of Classics - University of Colorado Boulder
Jun 15, 2018 · Shrinkage occurs in the production of pottery and affects pottery at two stages in the process, during both drying and firing.
[64]
[PDF] Notes on Clay & Glaze:
Because of it's varied particle size most clays shrink at different rates, the more fine the particle the greater the shrinkage. Ball clay, which is very fine, ...
[65]
Terracotta Army Archaeology: Understanding of Ancient Military and ...
Sep 10, 2017 · The Terracotta Army is extremely important to modern archaeology for its insights into the ancient Chinese society of the Qin Dynasty.Missing: type | Show results with:type
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[PDF] Range of Rheological Properties for Bentonite Drilling Muds - CIGMAT
The minimum and maximum values of apparent viscosity for drilling mud with varying bentonite contents were 1.1 cP and 19.7 cP respectively and the mean,.
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Bentonite Market - Reports and Data
$$3,800.00The global bentonite market was valued at USD 2.74 billion in 2024, with total consumption volumes estimated at 20.85 million metric tons, making it one of the ...
[68]
Kaolin | AMERICAN ELEMENTS®
... Kaolin is used as the active substance in liquid anti-diarrhea medicines such as Kaomagma and Kaopectate. In Africa it is used for facial masks or soap and ...
[69]
Kaolin: Uses, Interactions, Mechanism of Action | DrugBank Online
Kaolin is a natural ingredient used for the short-term symptomatic treatment of various conditions including diarrhea, skin dryness, and minor skin bleeding.Missing: FDA | Show results with:FDA
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Kaolin - Uses, Side Effects, and More - WebMD
Kaolin is used to stop bleeding and for a condition that involves swelling and sores in the mouth (oral mucositis). It is also used for diarrhea and many other ...Missing: cosmetics face masks
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Chapter 5 Kaolin Applications - ScienceDirect.com
One of the most important applications of kaolin is coating and filling paper. As filler, the kaolin is mixed with the cellulose fibers in wood pulp and as a ...
[72]
Textiles – EICL Limited | Best china clay manufacturers in india
Starch has multiple applications in the textile sector including for pre-treatment, weaving, brighteners, dyeing, pigment printing, finishing agents, inkjet and ...
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[PDF] From Fuller´s Earth to Bleaching Earth: A Historical Note.
In an Egyptian papyrus (about. 2000 BC) it was said of a dyer: “His hands stink ... A special procedure is the use of alumosilicates like clay, kaolin etc.
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Performance-based design of landfill liners - ScienceDirect
... cm-thick clay liner having hydraulic conductivity of 10−7 cm/s (4.73×105 l/ha/y), the geomembrane liner releases a much greater mass of organic chemicals ...Missing: mud | Show results with:mud
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(PDF) Field Performance of Compacted Clay Liners - ResearchGate
Aug 7, 2025 · ... 10. ⫺8. cm/s for liners ⬃0.6 m thick and 1 ⫻10. ⫺8. cm/s for liners ⬃1.5 m thick. Moreover, K. F. is <10. ⫺7. cm/s for. all liners at least 1 m ...Missing: mud | Show results with:mud
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Old Walled City of Shibam - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
The tall cluster of sun-dried mud brick tower houses of the 16th century walled city of Shibam, which rises out of the cliff edge of Wadi Hadramaut has been ...Gallery · Documents · Maps · Videos
[77]
Old Towns of Djenné - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
“Old Towns of Djenné” is a serial property comprising four archaeological sites, namely Djenné-Djeno, Hambarkétolo, Kaniana and Tonomba.
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Scarification in sub‐Saharan Africa: social skin, remedy and medical ...
Apr 5, 2017 · Hypotheses and theories of scarification and tribal marking in sub-Saharan Africa are described, plus the procedure of scarification, examples ...
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Scarification: History, Process, Aftercare, and More
Jun 14, 2022 · Scarification is a form of permanent body modification that involves cutting or burning a pattern or design onto the skin.
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Taos Pueblo: World Heritage Site (U.S. National Park Service)
Jul 23, 2020 · It is the only World Heritage Site in the United States cited for the significance of its traditional Native American living culture.
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Shri Ganesh Chaturthi Puja Rituals - Hindu Janajagruti Samiti
An Idol of Ganesh is sculpted from mud on Bhadrapad Shukla Chaturthi. According to the ritual mentioned in the scriptures, it is to be placed on the left ...
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Digital Florentine Codex
The Getty Research Institute provides global access to the Florentine Codex, considered the most important manuscript of early colonial Mexico.
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mud noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes
mud sticks. (saying) people remember and believe the bad things they hear about other people, even if they are later shown to be false. somebody's name is ...Missing: proverb scholarly<|separator|>
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The state of earthen housing worldwide: how development affects ...
The proportion of households living in earthen dwellings worldwide is estimated to be 8–10%, and the average across developing countries to be 20–25%. There is ...
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The Role of Thermal Water in Chronic Skin Diseases Management
Dead Sea black mud showed marked antimicrobial action when test microorganisms (C.
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Balneotherapy, Immune System, and Stress Response: A Hormetic ...
Jun 6, 2018 · Balneotherapy is a clinically effective complementary approach in the treatment of low-grade inflammation- and stress-related pathologies.
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Mud runners risk limb and even life to satisfy extreme-sports passion
Dec 16, 2014 · Tough Mudder, the organizing body that popularized mud runs five years ago, says 700,000 people participated in its events last year, and ...
[88]
About Mud Wrestling - Topend Sports
Mud wrestling is considered more of an entertainment rather than a competitive sport, most matches are just friendly contests.
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Insights into artificial waterhole utilization patterns by elephants and ...
Oct 16, 2024 · Waterholes also vary in shape and lateral extent and may be associated with mud wallows, which are important for thermoregulation and parasite ...
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[PDF] Animal Welfare and Production Challenges Associated with Pasture ...
Jun 11, 2020 · Reductions up to 2 °C of body temperature have been reported in response to wallowing [35]. The layer of mud acts also as a barrier to the sun ...
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A critical reflection on intensive pork production with an emphasis on ...
Outdoor pigs have more choice of location and can use natural thermoregulatory behaviors such as wallowing in mud, mainly for cooling, sunburn protection, and ...
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[PDF] Spatial Ecology of Wild Pigs in Southwest Florida - VTechWorks
Dec 14, 2022 · ... wallowing in mud and soaking in water to keep body. Page 69. 55 temperatures cool and to rid themselves of external parasites (Giuliano et al.
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Muddy Play. Reflections on Young Children's Outdoor Learning in ...
Muddy play is a valuable experience. It helps children engage in the natural world through the manipulation of a range of materials during rich play encounters.Missing: studies | Show results with:studies
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The importance of play in natural environments for children's ...
Nov 11, 2022 · In previous years, studies have shown benefits of playing in natural environment for children's motor development and attention restoration.
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Mud, mess, microbes: Why kids need to play in the dirt | C&NN
and the microbes in it — may positively influence children's immune systems. Maybe a tromp through some puddles should ...Missing: reputable | Show results with:reputable
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[PDF] Rooted in Play: Empowering Development Through Nature-Based ...
May 1, 2025 · playing in the mud, these activities can facilitate motor skills, emotional regulation, sensory processing skills, executive functioning ...
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Geophagia: Benefits and potential toxicity to human—A review - PMC
Jul 26, 2022 · Geophagy is the habit of consuming clay soil such as chalk or kaolin. Though it is globally practiced, the safety of those involved is yet to be fully ...Missing: mud | Show results with:mud
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Geophagia in pregnancy and its association with nutritional status
Mar 4, 2025 · The prevalence of geophagia in pregnancy (GiP) varies between and within countries but is estimated globally to be 36% with up to 73% in some ...
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Prevalence of geophagia and its contributing factors among ...
Geophagia is very common among pregnant women, particularly in Africa. There are many reasons given for geophagia such as cultural, medicinal and religious.
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Bentonite Clay as a Natural Remedy: A Brief Review - PMC
Bentonite clay is one of the available clays in nature, used as traditional habits, and remedies in many cultures.Missing: mud | Show results with:mud
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Bentonite, Kaolin and Selected Clay Minerals (EHC 231, 2005)
Ball clay consists primarily of kaolinite, with minor amounts of illite, chlorite, smectite minerals, quartz, and organic materials.Missing: edible | Show results with:edible
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Science and Composition of Bentonite Powder - CMS Industries
Nov 29, 2024 · The content of silica in bentonite typically ranges from 40% to 60%, depending on the type of bentonite and its source. Silica is responsible ...
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Bentonite Clay Benefits, Uses and Side Effects - Dr. Axe
Jul 18, 2024 · Bentonite clay is known to have an abundance of minerals, including calcium, magnesium, silica, sodium, copper, iron and potassium.Missing: percentage | Show results with:percentage<|separator|>
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(PDF) Geophagia: Benefits and potential toxicity to human—A review
Jul 26, 2022 · Geophagy is the habit of consuming clay soil such as chalk or kaolin. Though it is globally practiced, the safety of those involved is yet to be fully ...
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In-vitro bioaccessibility and bioavailability of heavy metals in mineral ...
Jun 1, 2020 · These clay products are rich in essential minerals, but also include potentially harmful heavy metals such as Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd) and ...<|separator|>
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Medicine Beneath Your Feet: A Biocultural Examination of the Risks ...
Jan 1, 2024 · The greatest potential risks of geophagy include toxicity or heavy metal poisoning, and diseases resulting from consumed clays binding nutrients and beneficial ...
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Human Geophagy: A Review of Its Distribution, Causes, and ...
Geophagy can still be found relatively easily throughout many societies of the world today. While investigating geohelminth (i.e., parasitic worm) infection ...
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A Muddy Cake Story. - The Old Foodie
Jul 13, 2007 · The Mud Cake is a fairly new species which seems to have sprung off the American parental tree in the early 1970's, along with its cousin, The Mud Pie.
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Everything You Need to Know About Mississippi Mud Pie - Eater
Apr 30, 2016 · Some think Mississippi mud pie is a 1970s reincarnation of Mississippi mud cake, which appeared in the World War II era. Thrifty women on the ...
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Prahok: The pungent fish elevating Cambodian cuisine - BBC
Jul 8, 2021 · Prahok is typically made using a local mud carp called trey riel that lives in Cambodia's rivers. (Credit: Tang Chhin Sothy/Getty Images)
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An Authentic Khmer Prahok Ktis (Prahok K'tis) Recipe
Rating 5.0 (7) · 22 minPrahok ktis is made with fermented fish, minced pork, pea eggplants, coconut milk. This recipe is authentic, learnt from local women cooks.
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The Unmuddled History of Virginia's Chicken Muddle
Jun 13, 2023 · The basic recipe for fish muddle can be traced back to eighteenth-century British cookbooks. Recipes in those books for fish stews and chowders ...
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[PDF] Sediment and nutrient retention by freshwater wetlands: Effects on ...
Jan 9, 2009 · Wetlands retain sediment and nutrients through sedimentation, plant uptake, litter decomposition, soil retention, and microbial processes, ...
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[PDF] Prioritizing the Management of Sedimentary Organic Matter Across ...
Continental shelf sediments represent 8.9% of the seafloor (P. T. Harris et al., 2014) yet are estimated to store. 266 Gt of OC within the top 1m of sediment ( ...
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Long-term carbon storage in shelf sea sediments reduced ... - Nature
Oct 28, 2024 · Bottom trawling, as a widely used fishing technique, resuspends more than 20 Gt of sediment annually on global continental shelves, representing ...
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Soil Aquifer Treatment as Disinfection Unit - ASCE Library
The effluent undergoes soil aquifer treatment (SAT) by controlled passage through the unsaturated zone and an average retention time of 960 days in the aquifer.<|control11|><|separator|>
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Food webs supporting fish over subtropical mudflats are based on ...
Aug 10, 2025 · Organic matter from seagrass meadows is clearly important at the base of food webs for fish on adjacent unvegetated mudflats. We are uncertain ...
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Memorial in Armero, Colombia, to those who died in the 1985 lahar p...
Aug 31, 2013 · More than 23,000 fatalities occurred in the city of Armero and surrounding communities. Memorials honor those who died in the lahar.
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Nevado del Ruiz - Eruption Features - NOAA
The 1985 lahar began when twenty million cubic meters of hot ash and rocks erupted ... The tremendous death toll at Nevado del Ruiz inspired a new respect for ...
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Rheology of debris flow materials is controlled by the distance from ...
Debris flows are fast-flowing and dangerous slurries of soil and water that often form when intense rainfall soaks hillsides burned by wildfire.
[122]
[PDF] Leptospirosis - Hawaii Department of Health
Leptospira bacteria are spread in the urine of infected animals. People catch leptospirosis when Leptospira bacteria in freshwater streams, mud or animal urine ...
[123]
Understanding Leptospirosis: The Silent Threat Brought by Floods
Nov 1, 2024 · When flooding occurs, these bacteria mix with the water, soil, and mud, becoming an invisible danger that threatens people's health.
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Construction Safety Statistics (2025)
Jun 19, 2025 · The latest construction fall statistics show that 31% of injuries in construction are due to falls, slips, and trips. ; Falling is responsible ...
[125]
Sediment delivery to sustain the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta ... - Nature
Apr 27, 2023 · ... Ganges-Brahmaputra delta is the unabated delivery, dispersal, and deposition of the rivers' ~1 billion-tonne annual sediment load. Recent ...
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Effects of Corrosion - American Galvanizers Association
Steel corrosion is a costly problem in fact the annual direct cost of metallic corrosion worldwide is $2.5 Trillion USD.