Geotechnical properties of evaporite soils of the Dead Sea area

The Dead Sea Basin is the lowest point on earth and is tectonically subsiding. During the Holocene Period the climate became much drier with increasing evaporation whereby initially lacustrine sediments were deposited from the non-marine brines, giving a multi-layered stratigraphy of lime carbonate and halite sediments. The lime carbonate sediments are comprised of laminated, clay to silt sized, clastic sediments (calcite) and authigenic aragonite and gypsum. The halite commonly appears as rock salt. Chemical industries, based on harvesting the salts from the Dead Sea, have developed on both the Israeli and the Jordanian sides of the basin. The lime carbonate soils are used for dike construction, and these soils, together with significant salt layers, are encountered in the foundations of structures, dikes, and tailings dams, requiring definition of their geotechnical properties. Use of standard soil mechanics definitions and testing approaches for the lime carbonates have been found inapplicable, particularly in view of their exceptionally high saline content, and it has been necessary to develop new concepts. The rock salt is encountered at shallow depths, with unit weights considerably lower than those usually discussed in the literature, and with correspondingly different mechanical properties. The geotechnical properties of these soils, and approaches used to define them, are discussed in the paper.     

The effect of naturally acidified irrigation water on agricultural volcanic soils. The case of Asembagus, Java, Indonesia

Acid water from the Banyuputih river (pH  3.5) is used for the irrigation of agricultural land in the Asembagus coastal area (East Java, Indonesia), with harmful consequences for rice yields. The river water has an unusual composition which is caused by seepage from the acidic Kawah Ijen crater lake into the river. This unique irrigation setting allows the study of soil acidification in situ. This paper assesses the effects of volcanogenically contaminated irrigation water on the chemical properties of the agricultural soils.The changes in soil properties were evaluated by comparing samples taken from the topsoil and sub-soil (1–3 m depth) from areas irrigated with acid water and areas irrigated with neutral water. The field survey thus resulted in four soil categories. Bulk soil composition, organic matter content, moisture content and particle size distribution were determined. Reactive phases were quantified with the selective extractions 1 M KCl, 0.1 M Na-pyrophosphate and 0.2 M acid ammonium oxalate (AAO).By comparing the four soil categories it is shown that the use of the naturally polluted irrigation water has had a large influence on the chemical composition of the topsoil. The composition of the soil solution has changed over the entire investigated soil profile. Furthermore the acid irrigation water has strongly modified the composition of the reactive phases, extracted as KCl, pyrophosphate, and AAO extractable elements, and also the bulk soil composition has been significantly modified. Overall this has resulted in the net dissolution of some elements and the net precipitation of others. The changes in the reactive phases and bulk soil composition are only apparent in the topsoil (0–20 cm) but not in the deeper soil.     

饱和软黏土动力学特性循环扭剪试验研究

以饱和软黏土的循环扭剪试验研究为基础,阐明不固结不排水条件下饱和软黏土的动力学特性。在循环扭剪和循环三轴两种不同试验应力状态下,通过研究不同围压和不同静、动应力组合下饱和软黏土的应力等效破坏关系和应变等效破坏关系,提出在循环荷载作用下饱和软黏土的循环破坏同样遵循Mises屈服准则,且在Mises屈服准则下,饱和软黏土的循环强度趋于不变量。循环破坏的过程可以等效为一种拟静力弹塑性循环蠕变,建立了饱和软黏土循环累积变形随静荷载、循环荷载以及循环破坏振次之间的关系式。上述结论分别从应力和变形两个方面阐述饱和软黏土的动力学特性,与试验应力状态和围压无关,可以推广到一般应力状态下。     

Mechanical Characteristics of Light-Weighted Soils Using Dredged Materials

This study investigates the mechanical characteristics of light-weighted soils (LWS) consisting of expanded polystyrene (EPS), dredged clays, and cement through both unconfined and triaxial compression tests. The mechanical characteristics of the compressive strength of LWS are analyzed with varying initial water contents of dredged clays, EPS ratio, cement ratio, and curing pressure. In the triaxial compression test, it is found that the compressive strength of LWS associated with EPS is independent on the effective confining pressure. When both EPS ratio is less than 2% and cement ratio is more than 2%, the compressive strength rapidly decreases after the ultimate value. This signifies that the compressive strength-strain behavior is quite similar to that of the cemented soil. The ground improved by LWS has the compressive strength of 200 kPa associated with the optimized EPS ratio of 3-4% and initial water content of 165-175%. The ultimate compressive strength under both triaxial and unconfined compression tests is almost constant for a cement ratio of up to 2%.     

A Note on Soil Structure Resistance of Natural Marine Deposits

It has been well documented that natural normally-consolidated marine soils are generally subjected to the effects of soil structure. The interpretation of the resistance of soil structure is an important issue in the theory study and engineering practice of ocean engineering and geotechnical engineering. It is traditionally considered that the resistance of soil structure gradually disappears with increasing stress level when the applied stress is beyond the consolidation yield stress. In this study, however, it is found that this traditional interpretation of the resistance of soil structure can not explain the strength behavior of natural marine deposits with a normally-consolidated stress history A new interpretation of the resistance of soil structure is proposed based on the strength behavior. In the preyield state, the undrained strength of natural marine deposits is composed of two components: one developed by the applied stress and the other developed by the resistance of soil structure. When the applied stress is beyond the consolidation yield stress, the strength behavior is independent of the resistance of soil structure.     

Sample Disturbance in Soft and Sensitive Clays: Analysis and Assessment

Despite the sophisticated methods employed to obtain high quality samples, they are prone to disturbance, due to stress release, let apart, due to sampling tools and techniques adopted. Critical reappraisal of different methods suggest that any method of sample quality assessment involving strength and deformation parameters would enable easier implementation and correct other engineering parameters for estimated sample disturbance. In this technical paper, sample disturbance index, using merely the slopes of compression paths, (representing mechanical response), in the pre- and post-yield stress regimes under odeometric loading conditions is proposed. This method is based on single oedometer test results on samples of unknown degrees of disturbance during sampling and handling. The unique feature of this approach is that the ideal rigid plastic material behavior is taken as reference. This eliminates the need for any additional experimental data or any calculations from the relationships formulated with any set of assumptions.     

Environmental records of carbonaceous fly-ash particles from fossil-fuel combustion

Analysis of fly-ash particles in lake sediments has become increasingly important in studies of environmental pollution and lake acidification history. Most fly-ash studies have concerned black spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCP)(>5 m) produced from oil and coal combustion. This review paper provides a summary of this technique and its application, and focusses on our investigations in Sweden between 1979 and 1993. It consists of five parts: i) preparation and analysis methods, ii) historical trends in atmospheric deposition, iii) geographical surveys of atmospheric deposition, iv) sediment dating, and v) studies of sedimentation processes in lakes. Methods for preparation and analyses of SCP have been developed and applied to investigations using sediment, soil and snow samples. Stratigraphic trends of SCP concentrations in lake-sediment cores reflect the consumption history of fossil fuels. A characteristic temporal SCP pattern, with a marked concentration increase beginning after the 1940's and a peak in the early 1970's, has been recognized in most Swedish lakes and elsewhere in Europe. A survey of SCP concentrations in surface sediments of >100 lakes covering Sweden demonstrated that polluted areas in southern Sweden had >100 times higher SCP concentrations than clean areas in the north. The spatial distribution of SCP over Sweden is similar to the deposition pattern of long-range transported airborne pollutants, such as excess sulphate monitored by network stations. SCP also accumulate in soils, and soil analyses can be used for determining the integrated historical deposition of SCP at the local or regional scale. Finally, SCP have been used for indirect dating of sediment cores and as a marker to assess sediment distribution patterns within lake basins.     

A highlight of environmental and engineering geology in Fargo, North Dakota, USA

Several unfavorable environmental and engineering geologic conditions exist in Fargo, North Dakota. Dominantly, the behavior of smectitic clays within the proglacial Lake Agassiz sediments of the Sherack and Brenna Formations creates subsoil instability beneath engineered structures in the Fargo area and slope instability within cutbank meanders of the Red River of the North. Unfavorable engineering geologic conditions encountered include: the elastic deformation of clayey glaciolacustrine soils, shrink-swell properties, inadequate bearing capacities, and mass movements. These conditions are responsible for structural failures including the Fargo Grain Elevator in 1955 and the Northern Pacific railroad grade. Bank failures along the Red River are common due to the inherent instability of Brenna Formation smectitic clays which are subject to plastic deformation in the subsurface, with resultant block failure of overlying Sherack Formation. Recent alluvial sediments due to typical fluvial action and the continued seasonal saturation of cutbank meanders within the floodplain also add to soil instability.     

Influence of Cyclic Wetting Drying on Collapse Behaviour of Compacted Residual Soil

The climatic zones where residual soils occur are often characterized by alternate wet and dry seasons. Laboratory studies of earlier workers have established that the alternate wetting and drying process affects the swell-shrink potentials, water content, void ratio and particle cementation of expansive soils. The influence of cyclic wetting and drying on the collapse behaviour of residual soils has not been examined. This paper examines the influence of alternate wetting and drying on the collapse behaviour of compacted residual soil specimens from Bangalore District. Results of such a study are useful in anticipating changes in collapse behaviour of compacted residual soil fills. Experimental results indicated that the cyclic wetting and drying process increased the degree of expansiveness of the residual soils and reduced their collapse tendency. Changes in the swell/collapse behaviour of compacted residual soil specimens from wetting drying effects are attributed to reduction in water content, void ratio and possible growth of cementation bonds.     

Compressibility and shear strength of a residual soil

A detailed study was performed to investigate the compressibility and the shear strength of a residual soil in Omdurman, Sudan. The soil resulted from weathering of sandstone and mudstone. The soil is classified as sandy clayey silt (MH-CH) and is generally partially saturated. Consolidation tests were performed to study the compressibility of the soil and UU, CIU and insitu tests (CPT and SPT) were performed to study the shear strength characteristics of the soil. The characteristics of this residual soil can generally be predicted using correlations proposed in the literature for transported soils. The soil is of low to medium compressibility and exhibits slight apparent overconsolidation behavior. The soil dilates during shear and shows no long term effective cohesion. Problems associated with open cuts in this soil are attributed to loss of strength upon saturation.