ORIGIN AND FORMATION OF SOIL

1.Describe the importance of geology in

geotechnical engineering.
2. Describe types and factors affecting
the weathering of soils.
Learning 3. Describe the rock cycle.
Outcomes: 4. Differentiate between igneous,
metamorphic and sedimentary rocks.
 ORIGIN AND FORMATION OF SOIL
Top soil-highly organic
Surficial soil-
mineralogy may
be altered. Also
Loose material over may formed
bedrock secondary
mineral

Formed from
bedrock weathered
in situ that retains
the structure and
fabric of the parent
rock
 ▪ Soils are from the weathering of rocks.

▪ What is weathering of rocks?

▪ Process of disintegration and

Origin of soil decomposition or rocks by mechanical
and chemical processes → breaking
down of rocks into smaller pieces
 ▪Physical
weathering
Weathering of
rocks
▪Chemical
weathering
 PhysicalTypes:
Weathering
exfoliation, abrasion, ice wedging,
plant and animal activity.

Physical Weathering
Physical agents:
Also known as mechanical Glacier ice, wind, running water of
weathering.
streams and rivers, ocean waves.
Mechanical weathering a
reduction in the size of the rock
and mineral particles through
expansion and contraction of
rocks from the continuous gain
and loss of heat BUT no alteration
of chemical composition of the
rocks.

Wind erosion at Yehliu, Wave erosion Hawaii

Taiwan Volcanoes National Park,
Exfoliation of rock Hawaii.
 Chemical Weathering
Orthoclase mineral

• Water and carbon dioxide from

atmosphere form carbonic acid,
reacting with the rock minerals to
Chemical Weathering
form new minerals and soluble
salts.
▪ Chemical weathering (or
• Soluble salts in the groundwater
decomposition) involves a
and organic acids formed from
change in the composition of the
decayed organic matter.
material weathered (usually
involves H2O, CO2, O2, and acidic
water)
Examples
▪ Original rocks → new minerals • Orthoclase – clay minerals, silica,
by chemical reaction ! and soluble potassium carbonate.
• Plagioclase feldspars – clay
minerals, silica and different soluble
salts.
• Ferromagnesian – decomposition
products of clay minerals, silica, and
Plagioclase mineral
soluble salts.
 ▪ Clay minerals → product of chemical
weathering from feldspars, ferromagnesians
and micas.
Chemical
▪ These mineral gives plastic property to the
Weathering clay soils.
▪ 3 important clay minerals namely kaolinite,
illite, montmorillonite
 ▪ Depending on the weathering activities,
soil sometimes stay at the same place or
can be transported to other places.
▪ Bear in mind THAT weathering and
erosion are 2 different things!

Transportation ▪ Weathering – breakdown

▪ Erosion – transportation
of Weathering
▪ Transportation agents are like ice(glacier),
Products wind, water, gravity or human activity

▪ Two categories of weathered soils:

▪ Residual soil
▪ Transported soil
 Residual soil
▪ -Insitu weathering
▪ -Rate of weathering is greater in
warm, humid regions
▪ Important characteristic :
-fine grained soil found at
surface.
-grain size increases with depth.

Weathering Profile, Little (1969)

 Transported soil

Transported Soils
▪ Can be classified into 6 groups :
▪ Glacial soils
Weathered soil that has ▪ Alluvial soils
been moved from its ▪ Lacustrine soils
original location to
▪ Marine soils
somewhere else.
▪ Aeolian soils
▪ Colluvial soils
 ▪ The transported soils can be classified as
below:
Transported Soils ▪ Glacial soils –formed by transportation
and deposition of glaciers
▪ Alluvial soils – transported by running
water and deposited along streams
▪ Lacustrine soils – formed by deposition in
quiet lakes
▪ Marine soils – formed by deposition in the
seas
▪ Aeolian soils – transported and deposited
by wind
▪ Colluvial soils – formed by movement of
soil from its original place by gravity, such
as during landslides
Glacial soils:

-Soils varying in size from fine

grained to huge boulders.
-Soils mixed with ice and
transported far from their original
position.
-Drift is a general term used for the
deposits made by glaciers.
Alluvial soils:

Loose, unconsolidated soils transported

by water (reshaped by water) and settle
down in a non-marine environment
setting.

Alluvial soils overlaying schist

Lacustrine soils:

-Soil that is uniform in texture but

variable in chemical composition and
that has been formed by deposits in
lakes(low level energy environment)
-Clay and silt mixture
Marine soils:

-Predominantly clay (may contain shells),

very well sorted.
-Marine clays are soft and high in plastic
(contain large amount of organic matter).
Low shear strength and high
compressible.
 Aeolian Soils:

- wind deposited materials that

consist primarily of sand or silt-
sized particles.
- These materials tend to be
extremely well sorted and free of
coarse fragments.

Loess Soils:

- An aeolian sediment formed by the

accumulation of wind-blown silt (in
the 20–50 micrometer size range),
20 %or less clay and the balance
equal parts of sand and silt are
loosely cemented by calcium
carbonate.
- It is usually homogeneous and
highly porous.
Loess in Vicksburg, Mississippi
 Colluvial soils:

• loose, unconsolidated sediments that

have been deposited at the base of
hillslopes by either rainwash,
sheetwash, slow continuous downslope
creep, or a variable combination of
these processes.
• unsorted heterogenous materials from
boulders to clay
• Very sharp and angular rock
fragments that is accumulated at the
base of the slope

Young colluvial soil overlaying

dark horizontal charcoal layer.

Colluvial fans in Wadi Sha’m, UAE

 ROCK CYCLE
The physical properties (size, shape,
chemical composition) of soil are
dictated primarily by the minerals
constituting the soil particles-where the
rock is derived.

On the basis or their mode of

origin, rocks have 3 basic
types:
▪ Igneous rocks – basalt, granite
▪ Sedimentary rocks – limestone,
▪ Metamorphic rock – marble

Note:
Plate tectonics, theory dealing with the dynamics of earth’s outer shell-
the lithosphere that revolutionized Earth Sciences by providing a uniform
context for understanding mountain-building processes, volcanoes, and
earthquakes as well as the evolution of Earth’s surface and reconstructing
its past continents and oceans.
 Plate Tectonics

Pangea (super continent)

ASTHENOSPHERE

Part of the upper mantle and located below the crust of the
Earth.
➢ Crust temperature is more than 1300 Celsius
➢ Liquid – convection current
Rock Cycle
Rock Cycle
 ▪ Formed by solidification of molten
magma ejected from deep within the
earth mantle.
▪ Extrusive: magma cools down on the
Igneous Rocks surface of the earth.
▪ Intrusive: magma cools down below the
earth’s surface. Can be exposed at the
surface.
▪ The types of igneous rock formed by
the cooling of magma depend on
factors such as the composition of the
▪ Molten rock?
magma and the rate of cooling
▪ → MAGMA – below the Earth’s surface
associated with it.
▪ → LAVA – above the Earth’s surface
▪ Bowen (1922) : Study the relation of the
rate of magma cooling to the formation
of different rock types. (Bowen’s
reaction principles)
▪ Generally hard, dense and durable.
 Bowen’s Reaction Principle

▪ Describes the sequence by which new

minerals are formed as magma cools.
▪ Some of the minerals crystal grow
larger and some just settle.
▪ Some of the crystals that remained
suspended in the liquid react with the Two groups of reaction:
remaining melt to form a new mineral
▪ The minerals formed are different in their
at a lower temperature. The process is
chemical composition and crystalline structure
continuous until all the body of melt is is known as discontinuous ferromagnesian
solidified. series.

▪ The minerals formed are different in their

chemical composition with similar crystalline
structure is known as continuous plagioclase
feldspar reaction series.
 Composition of Some Igneous Rocks

Igneous Rocks

▪ Extrusive: magma cools down

on the surface of the earth.
▪ Intrusive: magma cools down Granite
below the earth’s surface. Can
be exposed at the surface.
 Igneous Rocks
Intrusive: Larger crystals
Extrusive: Smaller crystals

Basalt

Peridotite Rhyolite
Gabbro
 Sedimentary Rock
Sedimentary Rocks
• Detrital sedimentary rock – all
rocks have clastic texture.
• Chemical sedimentary rock –
can have clastic and nonclastic
texture
Clastic: rocks composed of
broken pieces of older rocks
▪ Constitute about 75% of all rocks exposed at
the surface of earth.
▪ Sediments (gravel, sand, silt ad clay) being
washed away – settle down on top of each
other whether on the earth’s surface or at the
bottom of sea, river, lake, may undergo
compaction by overburden pressure and
cemented agents like oxide, calcite, dolomite,
and quartz. (Note: cementing agents are carried out by
groundwater and fill the spaces between particles)
▪ The process is continuous and through time
became harder and forms sedimentary rock.
▪ Detrital sedimentary rocks-spaces filled with
deposits – eg. Sandstone, siltstone, mudstone,
shale, conglomerate
▪ Chemical sedimentary rock – chemical
process eg: chalk, limestone, rock salt,
dolomite, gypsum
 Sedimentary Rock Sandstone

Sedimentary structures
include features like bedding,
ripple marks, fossil tracks
and trails, and mud cracks.
Fossil tracks and trails

Ripple marks Shale bedding Mudcracks

 ▪ During metamorphism, new minerals are
formed, and mineral grains are sheared –
Foliated metamorphic rocks.
Metamorphic Rocks ▪ Foliation may be expressed as alternating
layers of differing mineral composition or
parallel alignments of platy minerals. Foliation
Metamorphism is the is formed by directed stresses; either in the
compressional mode (perpendicular) or as
process of changing the shear(parallel).
composition and texture
▪ Foliated Metamorphic rocks:
of rocks (without melting)
by heat and pressure ▪ Eg: Granite, diorite, gabbro -> granite gneiss.
▪ Eg: Shales -> slate ->phyllite ->schist ->gneiss
Non-foliated Metamorphic Rocks:
▪ Calcite, dolomite -> marble

▪ Can be hard & strong if un-weathered

▪ Good construction materials
Metamorphic Rocks

Gneiss
 Geotechnical engineers need
to understand the type and
nature of rocks and the soil
produced from weathering
processes.
The above understanding is
viable for engineers to
Types of Rocks prescribe the correct design
and construction method to a
particular project.
For example Sri Iskandar
area is predominantly
comprised of sedimentary
rocks such as sandstone and
siltstone and the weathering
products are mainly silt and
sand.
Geotechnical Problems Associated with Geology
Geotechnical Problems Associated with Geology
St. Francis Dam Failure, California.
•March 12,1928
•500 lives lost
•$10 million damage
•Causes of failure:
i. metamorphic rock with foliation planes parallel to
wall at east wall
ii. Sedimentary rocks disintegrate when wet at west
wall
iii. Fault at contact point between the two rocks

Note:
Fault is a planar
fracture or
discontinuity in a
volume of rock
across which there
has been
significant
displacement as a
result of rock-mass
movement
 ▪ Which type of rock is preferred for piling
or foundation base; granite or limestone?

Geotechnical ▪ Which would probably provide better

support for a large, heavy building, diorite
Problems or shale? Why?
Associated with ▪ What type of rock is most prone to
Geology sinkholes?
 ▪ Why is gypsum in limestone that lies
parallel to a proposed tunnel is not a
Geotechnical favourable condition?

Problems ▪ Why does slopes near shale formation

provide a warning that slope stability might
Associated with be a problem?
Geology ▪ Why is a site containing peat soil is an
unsuitable soil for construction?
 Geotechnical
Problems
Associated with
Geology
Geotechnical
Problems
Associated
with Geology
Conventional
Site
Investigation
Geophysical investigation
Electrical resistivity
Geophysical investigation
Electrical resistivity
Geophysical investigation
Shallow seismic survey
Geophysical investigation
Shallow seismic survey