Question

what is diatamacious earth ?why is it of economic importance?

Answer 1

Dear Student,

Diatomecious earth is soft, silicon rich sedimentary rock and is formed naturally in marine sediments.
It is formed from diatoms, a form of algae by fossilisation. The remains of dead diatoms rich in amorphous silica get accumulated in marine sediments to form diatomecious earth.
Economic importance: It has several economic applications, some of them are:-
i. used as filtration material.
ii. used in toothpastes, insecticides etc., as abrasive.
iii. used as absorbent for several liquids.
iv. used as thermal insulator.
v. used as porous support for chemical catalysts.

Regards