Geological and engineering characteristics of expansive soils and rocks in northern Oman

The geology and former climate of northern Oman favoured the formation of smectite clay minerals in certain materials which are implicated in ground heave problems. Investigations have shown that the smectite content of these expansive materials was developed in Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene times. No evidence of a significant content of smectite was found in pre Eocene strata or in Quaternary strata, except for Desert Fill. It is shown that the main types of expansive materials in northern Oman are bentonitic mudstones, marls and silty mudstones, argillaceous dolomitic limestone, altered conglomerates and the desert fill derived from these. These swelling materials exist as impersistent bands within the bedrock Tertiary conglomerates and limestones. A geotechnical testing program was carried out on undisturbed samples from Sultan Qaboos University staff housing areas where building damage had occurred, to evaluate mineralogical composition, cation content and swelling characteristics. The test results characterized these soils/rocks as highly expansive type with Na-smectite as the dominant clay mineral.     

The impact of cyclic wetting and drying on the swelling behaviour of stabilized expansive soils

Black cotton soil (BCS) deposits, stabilized with waste materials-wood-ash and organic matter (leaves, grass, etc.) exist in BCS areas of North Karnataka, India. These ash-modified soils (AMS) are apparently stabilized by hydrated lime produced by biochemical, dissolution, and hydration reactions. The influence of cyclic wetting and drying on the swelling behaviour of wood-ash-modified BCS and laboratory lime-treated BCS specimens are examined in this study. Such a study is required to assess the long-term behaviour of chemically stabilized soils in geotechnical applications. Cyclic wetting and drying caused the AMS specimens to become more porous and less saturated. Consequently, the cyclically wetted and dried (or desiccated) AMS specimens collapsed significantly at the experimental flooding pressures. The beneficial effects of lime-stabilization of the BCS specimens were also partially lost in cyclically wetting and drying them. The clay contents of the lime-treated BCS specimens increased on cyclic wetting and drying. The increased clay contents in turn, affected their Atterberg limits and swell–shrink potentials. Partial loss of inter-particle cementation, increased porosity, and reduced degree of saturation, also imparted small to moderate collapse potentials to the desiccated lime-treated BCS specimens.     

Compressibility and swelling characteristics of Al-Khobar Palygorskite, eastern Saudi Arabia

Expansive soils are found in different locations in eastern Saudi Arabia. The area is arid with high temperatures, highly variable humidity and an excessive rate of evaporation compared to the low precipitation. This resulted in the formation of water sensitive soils. In the present investigation, line valve buildings for a sweet water feeder (1118 mm in diameter) were constructed on a highly expansive material consisting mainly of brown palygorskite and gray palygorskite with thin sheets of gypsum and limestone. Block samples from both palygorskites were brought to the laboratory and cores as well as remolded samples were obtained from the blocks. The two palygorskites were found to be highly plastic and have a very high swelling potential. The liquid limit (LL) and plastic limit (PL) values for the brown palygorskite are 261% and 140%, respectively. The gray palygorskite has a LL of a 285% and a PL of 123%. The oedometer free swell tests for the two palygorskites produced an expansion ranging between 31.8% and 42.5% for the remolded samples. However, the expansion for cores ranges between 8.3% and 19.3%. The constant volume pressure tests produced a stress in excess of 4240 kPa. The swell potential reached a steady state after four days while the swelling pressure reached a steady state in about 3 h. The paper addresses the geology of the area, the characterization of the geomaterial including mineralogical composition using X-ray diffraction and SEM techniques and the swelling characteristics of the material.     

Free-Swell and Swelling Pressure of Unsaturated Compacted Clays; Experiments and Neural Networks Modeling

Expansive soils have received attentions of several investigators in the past half of century in the problematic soils context. Volume change behavior of unsaturated compacted soils in presence of water and change of degree of saturation was observed in two form of heave or collapse. Low water content and low density compacted soils in presence of enough surcharge pressure lose stability and collapse, because of their metastable and susceptible structure to change of degree of saturation. Free-swell and swelling pressure of five compacted clays, covering low to high plastic clays have been investigated in respect to compaction states and swelling pressure was compared with collapse pressure threshold. The results of experiments were utilized in two Artificial Neural Networks to predict free-swell percent and swelling pressure of a soil sample based on index properties and compaction state.     

Zarka shakedown modelling of expansive soils subjected to wetting and drying cycles

Unsaturated expansive soils subjected to wetting and drying cycles result in huge differential settlements of structures built on these materials. The existed models for these materials present large number of parameters that lead to time-consuming procedure to characterise their mechanical behaviour during wetting–drying cycles. In this context, Zarka shakedown theory previously applied to the mechanical loading of granular materials has been used for expansive soils subjected to suction cycles. The parameters of this shakedown-based model were calibrated for two different expansive soils. The comparisons between the experimental results and the calculations for the different tests, demonstrate the capacity of Zarka shakedown theory to simulate the mechanical behaviour of unsaturated expansive soils.     

膨胀土判别与分类方法探讨

膨胀土的胀缩等级评判是进行膨胀土处治的首要任务,开展膨胀土的判别与分类方法探讨具有重要意义。对现有膨胀土判别与分类方法进行了评价,对反映和表征膨胀土胀缩机理和特性的指标进行了深入探讨,提出了以能充分反映和表征膨胀土胀缩机理和特性的液限、塑性指数、自由膨胀率、小于0.005 mm颗粒含量、胀缩总率等5个指标作为膨胀土的判别指标,建立了一种新的膨胀土判别与分类方法,并通过试验进行了验证。新的膨胀土判别与分类方法具有准确度高、易操作的优点。     

A simple test and predictive models for assessing swell potential of Ankara (Turkey) Clay

During the past three decades, damage due to swelling action of Ankara Clay has been observed more clearly in some parts of Ankara where rapid expansion of the city led to the construction of various kinds of structures. In this study, a comprehensive research program has been conducted (i) to investigate the effect of remoulding and desiccation on the swelling behavior of Ankara Clay and its swelling anisotropy, (ii) to estimate depth of active zone, (iii) to develop a simple technique in determining the magnitude of swelling based on water content of the soaked specimen after 24 and 72 h (w_max24,72), and (iv) to produce predictive models which could be used to estimate the swelling potential of Ankara Clay from its mineralogical and simply measured engineering characteristics. A laboratory testing program was carried out using both undisturbed, and remoulded and desiccated samples selected from 20 different locations. Montmorillonite was identified as being the main clay mineral present. Based on the moisture content variation with depth, the active expansive zone was considered to be about 2 m. The test results suggest that swelling pressure of the clay considerably decreases and/or dies out when the water content is greater than 30%. It is also noted that the measured lateral swelling is significantly in excess of the vertical equivalent indicating an anisotropy with respect to swelling. Statistical assessments indicate that a new parameter (w_max24,72) from a simple test, suggested in this study, is a very strong parameter for predicting swelling parameters of Ankara Clay. Based on 60 empirical predictive equations with coefficients of correlation between 0.96 and 0.66 from multiple regression analyses, w_max24,72, methylene blue value, liquid limit, dry unit weight and smectite content are the most important index and mineralogical properties to predict the swelling parameters of Ankara clay with small deviations from the measured values.     

我国特殊岩土研究

本文分析，总结了我国特殊岩土理论与应用研究方面的新进展，内容涉及湿陷性黄土，软土膨胀岩土，红土，软岩和特殊土的结构性，指出需要进一步研究的问题，最后对特殊土的研究方法做了阐述。     

The combined effect of clay and moisture content on the behavior of remolded unsaturated soils

The behavior of unsaturated clayey soil is highly influenced by the coupled interaction between water and clay content. Various aspects of the behavior of artificial clay–sand mixtures with variable water content were experimentally studied. Laboratory tests were utilized for the determination of consistency limits, the stress–strain relationship, strength parameters, hydraulic conductivity, and volume change characteristics for various combinations of water and clay content in soil mixtures.

Results presented for various clay–sand mixtures include: new normalized consistency limits; the combined effect of clay content and water content on the stress–strain relationship and on the strength parameters (c and φ); and the effect of clay content on hydraulic conductivity and swelling potential. The cohesion of clayey sand is found to increase with increasing water content to a certain limit, above which it decreases. The angle of internal friction for clayey sand is found generally to decrease with increasing water content. The degree of saturation is found to be better than the water content in explaining the strength behavior. The hydraulic conductivity sharply decreases with increasing clay content up to 40% beyond which the reduction becomes less significant. Simple empirical equations are proposed for predicting the swelling potential of clayey soils as a function of either the clay content or plasticity index.     

A new versatile constitutive law for modelling the monotonic response of soft rocks and structured fine-grained soils

This paper deals with a new critical state–based constitutive model for soft rocks and fine-grained soils. The model, formulated in the single-surface plasticity framework, is characterised by the following main features: (i) a generalised three-invariant yield surface capable of reproducing a wide set of well-known criteria, (ii) the dependency of the elastic stiffness on the current stress state by means of a hyperelastic formulation, (iii) the ability of simulating the plastic strain–driven structure degradation processes by a set of appropriate isotropic hardening laws, and (iv) a nonassociate flow rule in the meridian plane. The adopted formulation is hierarchical, such that the various features of the model can be activated or excluded depending on the specific kind of geomaterial to be modelled and on the quality and quantity of the related available experimental results. The constitutive model was implemented in a commercial finite element code by means of an explicit modified Euler scheme with automatic substepping and error control. The procedure does not require any form of stress correction to prevent drift from the yield surface. The performance of the model is first analysed by means of a wide set of parametric analyses, in order to highlight the main features and to evaluate the sensitivity of the formulation with reference to the input parameters. The model is then adopted to simulate the experimental response observed on three different geomaterials, ranging from soft clays to soft rocks.     

Characteristics,differences and main controlling factors of source rocks in the central‐southern South China Sea Basins

The South China Sea is rich in oil and gas resources. With the increasing exploration of oil and gas resources in the northern South China Sea and the increasing demand for energy in the world, The central‐southern South China Sea have become important constituencies for oil and gas resources. The central‐southern basins of South China Sea can be divided into three types of basin groups, namely, the southern basin group (Zengmu Basin, Brunei‐Sabah Basin), the western basin group (Wan'an Basin, Zhong jiannan Basin) and the Central Basin Group (Liyue Basin, Beikang Basin, Nanweixi Basin and Palawan Basin). At present, the degree of exploration is relatively low, and the source rock has not yet formed a understanding of the system. The main source rock development time, source rock characteristics, hydrocarbon generation potential and control factors of each basin group are still unclear, which seriously restricts the exploration of oil and gas. Based on the sedimentary facies distribution and sedimentary filling evolution, combined with the geoche mical characteristics of the source rocks, the source age, organic matter type, hydrocarbon generation potential and main controlling factors of the basins in the central‐southern basins are discussed. By the detailed research on delta scale, provenance system, paleoclimate conditions, ancient vegetation development and hydroca rbon generation parent material, the main controlling factors of hydrocarbon generation potential of source rocks in each basin group are revealed.     

The geochemistry of mantle chromitites from the northern part of the Oman ophiolite: inferred parental melt compositions

Chromitites from a single section through the mantle in the Oman ophiolite are of two different types. Low-cr# chromitites, of MORB affinity are found in the upper part of the section, close to the Moho. High-cr# chromitites, with arc affinities are found deeper in the mantle. Experimental data are used to recover the compositions of the melts parental to the chromitites and show that the low-cr# chromitites were derived from melts with 14.5–15.4 wt% Al₂O₃, with 0.4 to 0.9 wt% TiO₂ and with a maximum possible mg# of 0.76. In contrast the high-cr# chromitites were derived from melts with 11.8–12.9 wt% Al₂O₃, 0.2–0.35 wt% TiO₂ and a maximum melt mg# of 0.785. Comparison with the published compositions of lavas from the Oman ophiolite shows that the low-cr# chromitites may be genetically related to the upper (Lasail, and Alley) pillow lava units and the high-cr# chromitites the boninites of the upper pillow lava Alley Unit. The calculated TiO₂–Al₂O₃ compositions of the parental chromitite magmas indicate that the high-cr# chromitites were derived from high-Ca boninitic melts, produced by melting of depleted mantle peridotite. The low-cr# chromitites were derived from melts which were a mixture of two end-members—one represented by a depleted mantle melt and the other represented by MORB. This mixing probably took place as a result of melt–rock reaction. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

阿曼山西侧前陆区构造演化特征及地质意义

阿曼山北部西侧前陆区勘探程度很低,目前的构造单元划分弱化了其重要性,深化区域构造地质特征及演化过程具有重要科学意义。依据区域最新的重力及井震资料,以构造地质建模理论为指导并结合生长地层分析及平衡剖面方法,开展对区域的构造演化分析。研究认为阿曼山北部西侧前陆区以收缩构造为主,具有完整的前陆盆地结构。生长地层特征显示区域发育两期快速隆升时期,晚白垩世区域开始进入前陆演化阶段,构造结构定型于中新世。Fiqa组泥岩作为区域重要的滑脱层,对区域的变形起到了重要作用。通过剖面复原技术可以将区域演化划分为3大时期4个阶段,中、新生代区域长时间处于被动陆缘演化阶段,发育多旋回大套的碳酸盐岩,生储盖空间配置良好,具有较大勘探潜力。     

Characteristics and formation of rain forest soils derived from late Quaternary basaltic rocks in Leyte,Philippines

This study was conducted to evaluate the physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics of rain forest soils derived from late Quaternary basaltic rocks in Leyte, Philippines. Four sites along a catena were selected at an elevation of 75–112 m above sea level with an average annual rainfall of 3,000 mm and an average temperature of 28°C. Results indicate that the soils are deep, clayey, and reddish in color, which is indicative of the advanced stage of soil development. They also posses excellent physical condition (friable and highly porous) although they are plastic and sticky when wet as is usual for clayey soils. In terms of chemical characteristics, the soils are acidic with low CEC values and generally low in organic matter and nutrient contents. The clay mineralogy of the soils is dominated by halloysite and kaolinite with minor amounts of goethite and hematite, and they also have generally high dithionite-extractable Fe contents confirming the advanced stage of their development. The soils in the more stable slope positions (PL-1, PL-2, and PL-4) have generally similar characteristics and appeared more developed than the one in the less stable position (PL-3). The most important pedogenic processes that formed the soils appear to be weathering, loss of bases and acidification, desilification, ferrugination, clay formation and translocation, and structure formation. The nature of the parent rock and climatic conditions prevailing in the area as well as slope position appear to have dominant effects on the development of the soils.     

准噶尔盆地陆东—五彩湾地区石炭系火山岩储集性能及影响因素

准噶尔盆地陆东-五彩湾地区石炭系火山岩油气藏勘探近年来取得了重要进展.该区火山岩主要由中-基性火山熔岩和中-酸性火山碎屑岩组成.火山岩的储集空间可以分为原生孔隙和次生孔隙两类.火山岩储集性能主要受岩性与岩相、风化和次生溶蚀作用、构造作用和形成环境等多种因素的共同影响.最有利的储集岩为火山角砾岩和流纹岩,其次为安山岩,而最有利的储集部位为石炭系顶面较厚的风化壳.此外,研究区火山岩岩石类型、火山岩的储集性能及储集空间组合类型等都具有区域性的差异.其中,陆东地区火山岩的储集性能最理想,五彩湾地区火山岩的储集性能略差,三个泉地区火山岩的储集性能最差.     

胶北地块变质基底超镁铁岩的矿物岩石地球化学特征

胶北地块变质基底的蛇纹岩、蛇纹岩化尖晶石方辉橄榄岩、尖晶石橄榄斜方辉石岩、角闪石岩自形成以后,经历了早期的高角闪岩相和晚期绿片岩相的变质作用,因而记录了三个阶段的矿物组合:早期的Opx1+Ol1+Spl1;中期的Opx2+Ol2+Spl2+Amp2和晚期的Amp3+Srp3+Mag3+Cal组合。超镁铁岩中普遍存在的角闪石,具有粒状变晶结构特征,形成于角闪岩相和绿片岩相的变质作用过程。蛇纹石没有受到应力作用的迹象,显示其形成于晚期非挤压环境的交代变质作用过程。尖晶石橄榄岩中斜方辉石的矿物化学以及尖晶石橄榄岩的高Mg O含量都表现出克拉通橄榄岩的性质。角闪石岩的稀土元素配分图解的(La/Sm)N的比值1.11~1.41,(La/Yb)N的比值0.91~1.61,超镁铁岩多元素图解显示无高场强元素异常,都表明胶北地块变质基底的超镁铁岩形成的构造背景或是裂谷环境。尖晶石矿物的Mg#0.72~0.79、Cr#0.06~0.12表明交代变质成因。方辉橄榄岩橄榄石的Fo值88.42~90.50、超镁铁质岩石全岩主元素的分散性、较大的∑REE含量变化以及Si/Al-(Mg+Fe)/Al和Mg/Ti-Fe/Ti主元素的比值图解所表现出的超镁铁岩与角闪石岩具有成因联系等,都表明胶北变质基底的超镁铁岩可能是具有堆晶成因的一套幔源岩浆系列。高MgO含量(16%~42%)表现出前寒武纪变质基底的橄榄岩地幔性质;高水含量反映出漫长地质历史时期变质作用过程。     

东天山阿奇山-雅满苏成矿带富钠火山岩年代学和矿物学特征

本文通过对东天山阿奇山-雅满苏成矿带内石炭系火山岩研究,认为其为富钠火山岩系(细碧角斑岩系)。下石炭统雅满苏组(C1y)富钠火山岩中斜长石主要为钠长石,少量更长石,并识别出两种类型钠长石(早期的Ab1和晚期的Ab2)的存在。Ab2不仅在形态和结构上与Ab1相异,而且在元素含量变化上也相异:从Ab1到Ab2,表现出Al_2O_3和CaO降低、Na_2O升高、An值降低和Ab值升高的趋势。上石炭统土古土布拉克组(C2tgt)富钠火山岩中斜长石亦为钠长石和少量更长石,但总体上土古土布拉克组火山岩中斜长石较雅满苏组火山岩中斜长石具更低的Na_2O含量和更高的An值。原位LA-ICP-MS微量元素特征显示,Ab2相对于Ab1具有较大微量元素变化范围、较高的Al、Sr、Ca、Ba、Y、Rb和较低的LREE/HREE、δEu,而且Ab2含有更高的有利成矿元素(Fe、Co、Ni、Cu、V、Zn),表明在Ab2形成过程中,更多富钠流体、更多成矿元素参与其中,这和Ab2常与磁铁矿等金属矿物共生的显微特征相一致,揭示了Ab2可能和带内的蚀变交代及矿化有关。SHRIMP锆石U-Pb年代学研究获得康古尔南地区土古土布拉克组富钠安山岩年龄为313. 9±5. 8Ma,表明阿奇山-雅满苏成矿带在晚石炭世亦发育富钠火山岩。阿奇山-雅满苏成矿带内海相富钠火山岩与矿床在空间上和时间上具有耦合关系,指示找矿勘查中应重视富钠火山岩,开阔了找矿思路。     

影响渤南洼陷深部储层次生孔隙形成的因素及其作用

许多因素、作用对于沉积盆地这个巨大的化学反应器而言,可能是同时发生、协同作用,或某一参数占主导。本文系统地分析了影响渤南洼陷深部储层的因素和作用:岩石的组构、地温场、异常高压和沉积作用、成岩作用、构造作用及地震作用等。     

Geochemistry and petrology of Tertiary volcanic rocks and related ultramafic xenoliths from the central and eastern Oman Mountains

The Tertiary volcanic rocks of the central and the eastern parts of the Oman Mountains consist mainly of basanites with abundant upper mantle ultramafic xenoliths. The lavas are alkaline (42–43 wt.% SiO₂; 3.5–5.5 wt.% Na₂O + K₂O). They include primitive (11–14 wt.% MgO) features with strong OIB-like geochemical signatures. Trace element and Sr–Nd isotope data for the basanites suggest mixing of melts derived from variable degrees of melting of both garnet- and spinel lherzolite-facies mantle source. The associated xenolith suite consists mainly of spinel and Cr-bearing diopside wehrlite, lherzolite and dunite with predominantly granuloblastic textures. No significant difference in chemistry was found between the basanites and xenoliths from the central and eastern Oman Mountains, which indicate a similar mantle source. Calculated oxygen fugacity indicates equilibration of the xenoliths at − 0.43 to − 2.2 log units above the fayalite–magnetite–quartz (FMQ) buffer. Mantle xenolith equilibration temperatures range from 910–1045 + 50 °C at weakly constrained pressures between 13 and 21 kbar. Xenolith data and geophysical studies indicate that the Moho is located at a depth of  40 km. A geotherm substantially hotter (90 mW m^− 2) than the crust–mantle boundary (45 mW m^− 2) is indicated and probably relates to tectonothermal events associated with the local and regional Tertiary magmatism. The petrogenesis of the Omani Tertiary basanites is explained by partial melting of an asthenospheric mantle protolith during an extension phase predating opening of the Gulf of Aden and plume-related alkaline volcanic rocks.