Answer to Question #92054 in General Chemistry for James Godman

Question

My Girlfriend and i were in Charleston SC this past weekend for a mini vacation. Went kayaking out to the mouth of the bay of Charleston. We pulled off to a small shore to take a break. Got to the small shore but covered in oyster shells. Looking for good shells to bring home, i came across a red rock. Seems to be sand stone. But there is not an ounce of red clay around there. Its all muck and smelly black mixed with sand, like quick sand. Charleston mud as they call it. Anyways, knowing the history of Charleston. Earthquakes, fires, different wars, hurricanes, people. So on, the whole town was made of bricks. And with the war, exploding buildings of brick went flying all over and into the water.
Now my question is what happens to brick in saltwater? Not new and improved bricks we have now but bricks made from 200 years ago. What type of materials did the french use to make the bricks and how does that react to at least 150 years of it being in salt water?
I appreciate anything answers you can give me.

Answer 1

In those days, in other matters, as now, the brick was made of clay. Clay is an aluminosilicate containing impurities that give it a certain color and physical characteristics. The extracted clay was put in a form, then dried. After drying, it was sintered at a certain temperature (more than 800 ° C, and the current temperature was determined by the color in the furnace). After calcination, the finished brick was obtained. In theory, these bricks do not have to react with salt water, as well as most of the substances that surround us.