Weathering types

• Most of the soils that cover the

earth are formed by the weathering
of various rocks.

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• There are two general types of
weathering:
(1) mechanical weathering and
(2) chemical weathering.
 (1) mechanical weathering types

1. Abrasion

2. Frost holding

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3. Exfoliation or unloading

4. Thermal expansion

5. Plant Roots

6. Salt Crystal Growth

(2) chemical weathering types
Oxidation
Hydration
Hydrolysis

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Solution
carbonation
(2) chemical weathering types

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 Weathered soil types

1- transported soils.
2- residual soils
Soil produced by the weathering of rocks can be

19
transported by physical processes to other
places. The resulting soil deposits are called
transported soils.
In contrast, some soils stay where they were
formed and cover the rock surface from which
they derive. These soils are referred to as
residual soils.
 Transported soils categories
Transported soils can be subdivided
into five major categories based on
the transporting agent:

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1. Gravity transported soil
2. Lacustrine (lake) deposits
3. Alluvial or fluvial soil
deposited by running water
 Transported soils categories
4. Glacial deposited by glaciers
5. Aeolian deposited by the wind

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In addition to transported and
residual soils, there are peats
and organic soils.
 Residual Soil
Residual soils are found in areas where the rate
of weathering is more than the rate of
transporting .
The rate of weathering is higher in warm and

22
humid regions compared to cooler and drier
regions.
1-clayey or silty clay material
2- silty or sandy soil layers.
3- partially weathered rock
4- sound bedrock.
The depth of the sound bedrock may vary widely,
even within a distance of a few meters
 Residual Soil
Residual soils that derive from
chemical rocks.
The residual soils derived from

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the weathering of limestone rocks
are mostly red in color.
Large foundations with heavy
loads may be susceptible to large
consolidation settlements on
these soils.
 Gravity Transported Soil
Residual soils on a natural slope can move
downwards. Cruden and Varnes (1996)
When residual soils move down a natural slope
very slowly, the process is usually mentioned

24
to as creep.

When the downward movement of soil is sudden

and rapid, it is called a land-slide.
The deposits formed by down-slope creep and
landslides are colluvium.
Gravity Transported Soil

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 1- Gravity Transported Soil
Colluvium is a heterogeneous mixture
of soils and rock fragments ranging
from clay-sized particles to rocks

26
having diameters of one meter or more.
Mudflows are one type of gravity-
transported soil.
 2- Alluvial Deposits
Alluvial soil deposits derive
from the action of streams and
rivers and can be divided into

27
two major categories:
(1)braided-stream deposits and
(2) deposits caused by the
meandering belt of streams.
 Deposits from Braided Streams
Braided streams are high-gradient,
rapidly flowing streams that are
highly erosive and carry large

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amounts of sediment.

The deposits formed from braided

streams are highly irregular in
stratification and have a wide range
of grain sizes. Figure 2.3 shows a
cross section of such a deposit.
Deposits from Braided Streams

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 Meander Belt Deposits
In a meandering river, the soil from the bank is
continually eroded from the points where it is concave
in shape and is deposited at points where the bank is
convex in shape, as shown in Figure 2.4.

30
These deposits are called point bar deposits, and they
usually consist of sand and silt-size particles.
Sometimes, during the process of erosion and
deposition, the river abandons a meander and cuts a
shorter path.
 Meander Belt Deposits

• The abandoned meander, when filled with

water, is called an oxbow lake. (See Figure 2.4.)

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The sand and silt-size particles carried by the
river are deposited along the banks to form edges
known as natural levees (Figure 2.5).
Meander Belt Deposits

32
Meander Belt Deposits

33
Meander Belt Deposits

34
 Lacustrine Deposits
• Water from rivers and springs flows into lakes. In
arid regions, streams carry large amounts of
suspended solids.

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• Where the stream enters the lake, granular particles
are deposited into he area forming a delta.
• Some coarser particles and the finer particles (that
is, silt and clay) that are carried into the lake are
deposited into the lake bottom in alternate layers of
coarse-grained and fine-grained particle.
 Glacial Deposits

• the glaciers carried large amounts of sand,

silt, clay, gravel, and boulders.

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• The drifts can be broadly divided into two
major categories:
• (a) Unstratified drifts and (b) stratified
drifts.
 Unstratified Drifts

• Unstratified drifts laid down by melting glaciers

are referred to as till.

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• Till is called clay till because of the presence of the
large amount of clay-sized particles in it.
• In some areas, tills constitute large amounts of
boulders, and they are referred to as boulder till.
Unstratified Drifts

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 Stratified Drifts
• The sand, silt, and gravel that are carried by the
melting water from the front of a glacier are called
outwash.

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 Aeolian Soil Deposits
Wind is also a major transporting agent leading to the
formation of soil deposits
Deposits of windblown sand generally take the shape of dunes

40
(Figure 2.7).
The process tends to form a compact sand deposit on the
windward side, and a rather loose deposit on the leeward side,
of the dune.
Aeolian Soil Deposits

41
 Aeolian Soil Deposits
• Loess is an Aeolian deposit consisting of silt and silt-sized
particles. The grain-size distribution of loess is slightly
uniform.

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• The cohesion of loess is generally derived from a clay
coating over the silt-sized particles, which contributes to a
stable soil structure in an unsaturated state.
• Loess is a collapsing soil, because when the soil becomes
saturated, it loses its binding strength between particles.
 Organic soils
• Organic soils are usually found in low-
lying areas where the water table is
near or above the ground surface.

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• Organic soils show the following
characteristics:
• 1. Their natural moisture content may
range from 200 to 300%.
 Organic soils

• 2. They are highly compressible.

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• 3. Laboratory tests have shown that,
under loads, a large amount of
settlement
Second lecture of soil exploration

Purpose of Subsurface
Exploration