Baseline Levels of the Chemical Parameters in the Vicinity of Quarry Industries in Igarra, Akoko Edo Local Government, Edo State

A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of mineral calcite (CaCO 3 ), formed by either organic or inorganic processes Worldwide, quarry mining involves a variety of operations which can be environmentally disruptive if proper sitting design, construction, operation and follow-up monitoring are not provided. This is so because of the associated fine dust particles, disruptions of the earth's surface via use of explosives in the blasting process via-a-vis health hazards to site workers. Thus, it becomes imperative to assess the soil of such area to quantify the environment for sustainability (Bayramiet al., 2008). Marble is a metamorphic rock composed essentially of calcite (CaCO 3 ), dolomite [CaMg(CO 3 ) 2 ], or a combination of the two, with a fine to coarse-grained crystalline texture Calc-gneisses are marble with an impure composition (in other words, the ones that contain a high amount of silica, which combines with calcium and magnesium to form pyroxenes, anfiboles and olivine as well). It often happens in the metamorphism of plataformal sequences where limestones are present. Calc-gneiss occurs in association with marble in places especially around the Geoworks quarry sites Limestone comes in many different varieties. Chalk is a very fine grained, porous marine limestone composed almost entirely of microscopic fossils. Travertine is a freshwater sedimentary limestone