You are on page 1of 53

Novel Issues on Unsaturated Soil

Mechanics and Rock Engineering


Laureano R. Hoyos
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://textbookfull.com/product/novel-issues-on-unsaturated-soil-mechanics-and-rock
-engineering-laureano-r-hoyos/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Advancements in Unsaturated Soil Mechanics Proceedings


of the 3rd GeoMEast International Congress and
Exhibition Egypt 2019 on Sustainable Civil
Infrastructures Laureano Hoyos
https://textbookfull.com/product/advancements-in-unsaturated-
soil-mechanics-proceedings-of-the-3rd-geomeast-international-
congress-and-exhibition-egypt-2019-on-sustainable-civil-
infrastructures-laureano-hoyos/

Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, Volume 2:


Applications of Rock Mechanics - Rock Engineering 1st
Edition Ömer Aydan

https://textbookfull.com/product/rock-mechanics-and-rock-
engineering-volume-2-applications-of-rock-mechanics-rock-
engineering-1st-edition-omer-aydan/

Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, Volume 1:


Fundamentals of Rock Mechanics 1st Edition Ömer Aydan

https://textbookfull.com/product/rock-mechanics-and-rock-
engineering-volume-1-fundamentals-of-rock-mechanics-1st-edition-
omer-aydan/

Soil and rock description in engineering practice


Second Edition Norbury

https://textbookfull.com/product/soil-and-rock-description-in-
engineering-practice-second-edition-norbury/
Rock Mechanics and Engineering Volume 1 Principles 1st
Edition Feng

https://textbookfull.com/product/rock-mechanics-and-engineering-
volume-1-principles-1st-edition-feng/

Rock mechanics and engineering Volume 3, Analysis,


modeling & design 1st Edition Feng

https://textbookfull.com/product/rock-mechanics-and-engineering-
volume-3-analysis-modeling-design-1st-edition-feng/

Rock Mechanics for Natural Resources and Infrastructure


Development Invited Lectures Proceedings of the 14th
International Congress on Rock Mechanics and Rock
Engineering ISRM 2019 September 13 18 2019 Foz do
Iguassu Brazil 1st Edition Sérgio A. B. Da Fontoura
https://textbookfull.com/product/rock-mechanics-for-natural-
resources-and-infrastructure-development-invited-lectures-
(Editor)
proceedings-of-the-14th-international-congress-on-rock-mechanics-
and-rock-engineering-isrm-2019-september-13-18-201/

Deep Rock Mechanics From Research to Engineering


Proceedings of the International Conference on Geo
Mechanics Geo Energy and Geo Resources IC3G 2018
September 21 24 2018 Chengdu P R China 1st Edition
Heping Xie
https://textbookfull.com/product/deep-rock-mechanics-from-
research-to-engineering-proceedings-of-the-international-
conference-on-geo-mechanics-geo-energy-and-geo-resources-
ic3g-2018-september-21-24-2018-chengdu-p-r-china-1st-edition/

Rock Mechanics and Engineering, Volume 4: Excavation,


Support and Monitoring 1st Edition Xia-Ting Feng

https://textbookfull.com/product/rock-mechanics-and-engineering-
volume-4-excavation-support-and-monitoring-1st-edition-xia-ting-
feng/
Sustainable Civil Infrastructures

Laureano R. Hoyos
John S. McCartney Editors

Novel Issues on
Unsaturated Soil
Mechanics and Rock
Engineering
Proceedings of the 2nd GeoMEast
International Congress and Exhibition
on Sustainable Civil Infrastructures,
Egypt 2018 – The Official International
Congress of the Soil-Structure Interaction
Group in Egypt (SSIGE)
Sustainable Civil Infrastructures

Editor-in-chief
Hany Farouk Shehata, Cairo, Egypt

Advisory Board
Khalid M. ElZahaby, Giza, Egypt
Dar Hao Chen, Austin, USA
Sustainable Infrastructure impacts our well-being and day-to-day lives. The
infrastructures we are building today will shape our lives tomorrow. The complex
and diverse nature of the impacts due to weather extremes on transportation and
civil infrastructures can be seen in our roadways, bridges, and buildings. Extreme
summer temperatures, droughts, flash floods, and rising numbers of freeze-thaw
cycles pose challenges for civil infrastructure and can endanger public safety. We
constantly hear how civil infrastructures need constant attention, preservation, and
upgrading. Such improvements and developments would obviously benefit from
our desired book series that provide sustainable engineering materials and designs.
The economic impact is huge and much research has been conducted worldwide.
The future holds many opportunities, not only for researchers in a given country,
but also for the worldwide field engineers who apply and implement these
technologies. We believe that no approach can succeed if it does not unite the
efforts of various engineering disciplines from all over the world under one
umbrella to offer a beacon of modern solutions to the global infrastructure. Experts
from the various engineering disciplines around the globe will participate in this
series, including: Geotechnical, Geological, Geoscience, Petroleum, Structural,
Transportation, Bridge, Infrastructure, Energy, Architectural, Chemical and
Materials, and other related Engineering disciplines.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15140


Laureano R. Hoyos John S. McCartney

Editors

Novel Issues on Unsaturated


Soil Mechanics and Rock
Engineering
Proceedings of the 2nd GeoMEast
International Congress and Exhibition
on Sustainable Civil Infrastructures,
Egypt 2018 – The Official International Congress
of the Soil-Structure Interaction Group
in Egypt (SSIGE)

123
Editors
Laureano R. Hoyos John S. McCartney
Department of Civil Engineering Department of Structural Engineering
University of Texas at Arlington University of California, San Diego
Arlington, TX, USA La Jolla, CA, USA

ISSN 2366-3405 ISSN 2366-3413 (electronic)


Sustainable Civil Infrastructures
ISBN 978-3-030-01934-1 ISBN 978-3-030-01935-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01935-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018957479

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019


This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or
for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface

This volume of technical papers includes research on two important topics in


geotechnical engineering: the hydro-mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils and
the characterization and modeling of rock properties. The first eight papers on
unsaturated soil behavior cover a range of topics, including the effect of bentonite
and palm oil on water retention properties, the prediction of swell potential and
water retention properties based on basic geotechnical properties, the effect of
suction on resilient modulus, the modeling of collapse settlement and root water
uptake in shallow foundation soils, and the effect of rainfall pattern on slope sta-
bility. The last seven papers on rock properties also cover a range of topics,
including the experimental investigations on compressive strength, crack propa-
gation and effect of joint inclinations/spacings, the modeling of water discharge and
fractures in rockfill dams and rock slopes, and some construction issues in soft
rocks. The two themes in this collection are mostly representative of local chal-
lenges facing geotechnical engineers in the Middle East and Asia, but their con-
tributions can also be extended to other regions of the world. The efforts of all
authors and their peer reviewers, many of them from the Unsaturated Soils com-
mittee of the Geo-Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), are
gratefully acknowledged.

v
Contents

Investigation of Bentonite Qualities on Water Retention


Characteristic Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
D. Abhijit and S. Sreedeep
Water Retention Behavior of Palm Oil Mixed Kaolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Anirudh Subramanya Sriraam, Mavinakere Eshwaraiah Raghunandan,
Jayantha Kodikara, and Tey Beng Ti
Predicting Swelling Potential and Soil-Water Retention Curves
of Some Characterized Expansive Clays Based on Geotechnical
Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Hossein Assadollahi and Hossein Nowamooz
Characterization of Hydro-Mechanical Effects of Suction
and Clay Minerals on Resilient Modulus, Mr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Aneke Frank Ikechukwu, Mostafa M. Hassan, and A. Moubarak
Evaluation of Subgrade Resilient Modulus from Unsaturated
CBR Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Aneke Frank Ikechukwu, Mostafa M. Hassan, and A. Moubarak
A Proposed Approach for Calculating Collapse Settlement . . . . . . . . . . 82
Mohamed G. Marei, Tareq M. Abdelaziz, Ahmed M. Ragheb,
and Naema Ali
Modeling Root Water Uptake, Climate and Unsaturated Vegetated
Clays Interactions in the Context of Shallow Foundation Soils . . . . . . . 97
Hossein Assadollahi and Hossein Nowamooz

vii
viii Contents

Application of Fragility Curves to Investigate the Effect of Rainfall


Pattern in the Performance of an Idealized Slope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Sreejith Parippayi, Soon-Thiam Khu,
and Mavinakere Eshwaraiah Raghunandan
Prediction of Water Discharge Through the Foundation of a Rockfill
Dam in Brazil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
José Luis Carrasco Gutierrez and Celso Romanel
Experimental Investigation on the Crack Propagation
and Coalescence in Rock-Like Specimens with Pre-existing
Cracks Under Compressive Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Seyed Alireza Fatemi and Ahmad Fahimifar
Addressing Problems Related to Construction in the Middle East
of High Rise Buildings on Soft Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Peter Scott and David Simpson
A Modified Correlation Using Statistical Techniques in Estimating
the Uniaxial Compressive Strength of Sedimentary Rocks
Based on P-Wave Velocity- A Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Fereshteh Fatehi and Abbas Abbaszadeh Shahri
Effects of Rock Joint Inclinations and Spacings on the Static Behavior
of Dam Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Saurabh Kumar, Prasun Halder, Bappaditya Manna, and K. G. Sharma
Laboratory Characterization of Reservoir Rock and Fluids of Upper
Assam Basin, India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Joyshree Barman, Subrata Borgohain Gogoi, Jayakumar Viswanathan,
Debasish Konwar, and Kumaresan Jagatheesan
Modelling and Analyses of Rock Bridge Fracture and Step-Path
Failure in Open-Pit Mine Rock Slope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Maged Al Mandalawi, Greg You, Peter Dahlhaus, Kim Dowling,
and Mays Sabry
Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
About the Editors

Biographical Sketch for Laureano R. Hoyos, Ph.D.,


P.E., M.ASCE
Lead Campus Manager, Dwight D. Eisenhower
Transportation Fellowship Program, FHWA
Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas
76019
Tel: (817) 272-3879; Fax: (817) 272-2630; Email:
lhoyos@uta.edu

Professional Preparation:
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Louisiana State
University, 1999
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Georgia Institute of
Technology, 1999
Ph.D. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia
Institute of Technology, 1998
M.Sc. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia
Institute of Technology, 1996
M.Sc. Geotechnical Engineering, University of Puerto
Rico-RUM, Mayaguez, PR, 1993
M.Sc. Highway Engineering, Universidad del Cauca,
Popayán, Colombia, 1991
B.Sc. Civil Engineering, Universidad de la Costa,
Barranquilla, Colombia, 1988

ix
x About the Editors

Appointments:

• Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, UTA,


Texas, 2014–current
• Associate Professor, Department of Civil
Engineering, UTA, Texas, 2005–2014
• Assistant Professor, Department of Civil
Engineering, UTA, Texas, 2000–2005

Honors:
• Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Excellence in
Teaching Award, College of Engineering,
University of Texas at Arlington, 2014
• Research Excellence Award, Office of the Provost,
University of Texas at Arlington, 2006, 2007,
2008, and 2009
• Outstanding Civil Engineering Instructor Award,
Department of Civil Engineering, University of
Texas at Arlington, 2005
• Outstanding Early Career Faculty Award, College
of Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington,
2003

Postdoctoral/Student Supervision:

• Five sponsored visiting research scholars


• Nine Ph.Ds completed; four currently in progress
• 20 MS theses completed; six currently in progress

Sample Publications

• Patil, U.D., Hoyos, L.R., and Puppala, A.J. (2016).


“Characterization of compacted silty sand using a
double-walled triaxial cell with fully automated
Relative-Humidity control.” Geotechnical Testing
Journal, ASTM, 39(5), pp. 741–756.
• Patil, U.D., Hoyos, L.R., and Puppala, A.J. (2016).
“Modeling essential elasto-plastic features of
compacted silty sand via suction-controlled triaxial
testing.” International Journal of Geomechanics,
ASCE, DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)
GM.1943-5622.0000726, pp. 1–22.
About the Editors xi

• Hoyos, L.R., DeJong, J.T., McCartney, J.S.,


Puppala, A.J., Reddy, K.R., and Zekkos, D. (2015).
“Environmental geotechnics in the U.S. Region: A
brief overview.” Environmental Geotechnics, ICE
Publishing, 2(EG6), pp. 319–325.
• Hoyos, L.R., Suescún-Florez, E.A., and Puppala,
A.J. (2015). “Stiffness of intermediate unsaturated
soil from simultaneous suction-controlled resonant
column and bender element testing.” Engineering
Geology, Elsevier, 188(2015), pp. 10–28.
• Hoyos, L.R., Velosa, C.L., and Puppala, A.
J. (2014). “Residual shear strength of unsaturated
soils via suction-controlled ring shear testing.”
Engineering Geology, Elsevier, 172(2014),
pp. 1–11.
• Hoyos, L.R., Pérez-Ruiz, D.D., and Puppala, A.
J. (2012). “Modeling unsaturated soil response
under suction-controlled true triaxial stress paths.”
International Journal of Geomechanics, ASCE,
12(3), pp. 292–308.
• Hoyos, L.R., Pérez-Ruiz, D.D., and Puppala, A.
J. (2012). “Refined true triaxial apparatus for test-
ing unsaturated soils under suction-controlled stress
paths.” International Journal of Geomechanics,
ASCE, 12(3), pp. 281–291.
• Hoyos, L.R., Velosa, C.L., and Puppala, A.
J. (2011). “A servo/suction-controlled ring shear
apparatus for unsaturated soils: Development, per-
formance, and preliminary results.” Geotechnical
Testing Journal, ASTM, 34(5), pp. 413–423.
• Hoyos, L.R., Ordonez, C.A., and Puppala, A.
J. (2011). “Characterization of cement-fiber-treated
reclaimed asphalt pavement aggregates:
Preliminary investigation.” Journal of Materials in
Civil Engineering, ASCE, 23(7), pp. 977–989.
• Yuan, D., Nazarian, S., Hoyos, L.R., and Puppala,
A.J. (2011). “Evaluation and mix design of
cement-treated base materials with high content of
reclaimed asphalt pavement.” Journal of the
Transportation Research Board, TRR No. 2212,
pp. 110–119.
xii About the Editors

Other Synergistic Activities

Lead Campus Manager, Dwight D. Eisenhower


Transportation Fellowship Program, FHWA, 2016–
2017
Associate Dean, Honors College, University of Texas
at Arlington, 2008–2009
Member, Institutional Review Board, University of
Texas at Arlington, 2006–2009
Faculty Advisor, Student Chapter, Society of Hispanic
Professional Engineers (SHPE), University of Texas at
Arlington, 2001–2009
Faculty Advisor, Student Chapter, Texas Society of
Professional Engineers (TSPE), University of Texas at
Arlington, 2007–2010
Chair, Graduate Studies Committee, Department of
Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington,
2015–current
Area Coordinator, Geotechnical Engineering Program,
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Texas
at Arlington, 2012–2014
Conference Chair, PanAm-UNSAT 2017: Second
Pan-American Conference on Unsaturated Soils, The
Geo-Institute of the ASCE, November 12–15, 2017,
Dallas
Committee Chair, Unsaturated Soils, The Geo-Institute
of the ASCE, 20013–current
Committee Member, AFS90, Chemical and
Mechanical Stabilization of Soils, Transportation
Research Board (TRB), National Academy of
Sciences, 2002–2010
Committee Member, AFP60, Engineering Behavior of
Unsaturated Soils, Transportation Research Board
(TRB), National Academy of Sciences, 2001–2010
Associate Regional Editor Environmental Geotechnics,
Thomas Telford, Institution of Civil Engineers, London,
UK
Editorial Board Member, Geotechnical Testing
Journal, ASTM International, West Conshohocken,
PA
Guest Editor, International Journal of Geomechanics,
ASCE
About the Editors xiii

Guest Editor, Indian Geotechnical Journal, Springer


Guest Editor, Sustainable Civil Infrastructures,
Springer
Biographical Sketch for John S. McCartney, Ph.D.,
P.E
a. Professional Preparation
University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, Civil
Engineering, B.S. (high distinction), 2002
University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, Civil
Engineering, M.S., 2002
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, Civil
Engineering, Ph.D., 2007
b. Appointments
07/18 – present, Professor and Department Chair,
University of California San Diego (UCSD)
11/14 – 07/18, Associate Professor, University of
California San Diego (UCSD)
07/13 – 08/14, Lyall Faculty Fellow, University of
Colorado Boulder (CU)
05/13 – 10/14, Associate Professor, University of
Colorado Boulder (CU)
08/08 – 05/13, Assistant Professor, University of
Colorado Boulder (CU)
08/08 – 07/12, Barry Faculty Fellow, University of
Colorado Boulder (CU)
08/07 – 08/08, Assistant Professor, University of
Arkansas at Fayetteville (UA)
c. Publications
i. Five Works Most Related
1. Mun, W., Coccia, C.J.R. and McCartney, J.S.
(2017). “Application of hysteretic trends in the
preconsolidation stress of unsaturated soils.”
Geotechnical and Geological Engineering.
Accepted. DOI: 10.1007/s10706-017-0316-7.
2. Coccia, C.J.R. and McCartney, J.S. (2016).
“Thermal volume change of poorly draining soils I:
Critical assessment of volume change mecha-
nisms.” Computers and Geotechnics. 80
(December), 26–40.
xiv About the Editors

3. Coccia, C.J.R. and McCartney, J.S. (2016).


“Thermal volume change of poorly draining soils
II: Constitutive modelling.” Computers and
Geotechnics. 80(December), 16–25.
4. Alsherif, N.A. and McCartney, J.S. (2015).
“Nonisothermal behavior of compacted silt at low
degrees of saturation.” Géotechnique. 65(9), 703–
716.
5. Khosravi, A. and McCartney, J.S. (2012). “Impact
of hydraulic hysteresis on the small-strain shear
modulus of unsaturated soils.” ASCE Journal of
Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering.
138(11), 1326–1333.
ii. Five other Significant Works
1. Başer, T., Dong, Y., Moradi, A.M., Lu, N., Smits,
K., Ge, S., Tartakovsky, D., and McCartney, J.S.
(2018). “Role of water vapor diffusion and
nonequilibrium phase change in geothermal energy
storage systems in the vadose zone.” Journal of
Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering.
144(7), 04018038.
2. McCartney, J.S. and Murphy, K.D. (2017).
“Investigation of potential dragdown/uplift effects
on energy piles.” Geomechanics for Energy and the
Environment. 10(June), 21–28. DOI: 10.1016/j.
gete.2017.03.001.
3. Ghaaowd, I., Takai, A., Katsumi, T., and
McCartney, J.S. (2015). “Pore water pressure pre-
diction for undrained heating of soils.”
Environmental Geotechnics. 4(2), 70–78.
4. Murphy, K.D., McCartney, J.S., and Henry, K.S.
(2015). “Evaluation of thermo-mechanical and
thermal behavior of full-scale energy foundations.”
Acta Geotechnica. 10(2), 179–195.
5. Stewart, M.A. and McCartney, J.S. (2014).
“Centrifuge modeling of soil-structure interaction in
energy foundations.” ASCE Journal of
Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering.
140(4), 04013044-1-11.
About the Editors xv

d. Synergistic Activities
1. Selected Honors and Awards:
• IGS Award, International Geosynthetics Society,
2018
• Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award, ASCE San
Diego Chapter, 2017
• Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize,
ASCE, 2016
• Practical Journal Paper Award from TC106 on
Unsaturated Soils, ISSMGE, 2014
• Arthur Casagrande Award, ASCE, 2013
• ASTM President’s Leadership Award, ASTM,
2013
• Shamsher Prakash Found. Prize for Excellence in
Teaching of Geotechnical Eng., 2012
• Young Professor Paper Award, Deep Foundations
Institute, 2012
• J. James R. Croes Medal, ASCE, 2012
• NSF Faculty Early Development (CAREER)
Award, 2011
• Best Paper of 2010 in Geosynthetics International,
2011
• Richard S. Ladd D18 Standards Development
Award, ASTM, 2011
• International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) Young
Member Award, 2008
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2002–2005
2. Service to Geo-Institute of the American Society of
Civil Engineers (ASCE):
• Vice-Chair, Geo-Institute Unsaturated Soils
Committee, 2013–present
• Member, Geo-Institute Geoenvironmental
Committee, 2014–present
• Member, Geo-Institute Outreach and Engagement
Committee, 2015–present
• Conference Co-Chair, PanAm Unsat 2017, Dallas,
TX.
• Chair of sessions on thermal behavior of soils and
geostructures at GeoCongress 2012, GeoCongress
2014, IFCEE 2015, GeoChicago 2016, Geotech.
Front. 2017, IFCEE 2018
• Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental
Eng., Associate Editor of the Year 2012
xvi About the Editors

3. Service to International Geosynthetics Society


(IGS):
• IGS North America President-Elect, 2017-present;
Treasurer, 2015–2017
• Young Member Committee Co-Chair,
GeoAmericas 2016, Miami, FL
• Technical Program Co-Chair, Geosynthetics 2015,
Portland OR.
4. Service to ASTM International:
• Chair, ASTM D18.04 Subcom. on Hydrologic
Properties and Hydraulic Barriers
• Past Chair, ASTM D18.09 Subcom. on Cyclic and
Dynamic Properties of Soils
• Technical lead for 8 standards on hydraulic, ther-
mal and dynamic properties of soil
5. Editorial Positions on International Journals:
• Editor (2015–Present), Journal of Geotechnical and
Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE.
• Editorial Board Member (2011–Present),
Geotechnical Testing Journal, ASTM.
• Editorial Board Member (2014–Present),
Geosynthetics International, ICE.
• Editorial Board Member (2014–Present),
Geomechanics for Energy and Env., Elsevier.
• Editorial Board Member (2014–Present),
Computers and Geotechnics, Elsevier.
• Editorial Board Member (2016–Present), Canadian
Geotechnical Journal, NRC.
• Editorial Panel (2016–2018), Géotechnique
Letters, ICE
• Editorial Board Member (2014–2018), Soils and
Foundations, Elsevier.
• Associate Editor (2016–2018), Geotechnical and
Geological Engineering
• Guest Editor (2014), DFI Journal: “State of the
Practice on Geothermal Foundations.”
• Guest Editor (2014), Journal of Geotechnical and
Geological Engineering: “Thermo-mechanical
Response of Soils, Rocks, and Energy
Geostructures.”
Investigation of Bentonite Qualities on Water
Retention Characteristic Curve

D. Abhijit1(&) and S. Sreedeep2


1
Department of Civil Engineering, Central Institute of Technology, Kokrajhar,
Assam, India
a.deka@cit.ac.in
2
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati,
Guwahati, Assam, India
srees@iitg.ernet.in

Abstract. Bentonites are known for its high volume change behavior when it
interacts with water. Bentonite and its mixes with specific geo-materials like
sand, fly ash etc. are the most widely used materials for the construction of
hydraulic barriers such as liners and covers due to its low hydraulic conductivity
(<10−9 m/s). Numerous studies have been conducted by researchers on this
geomaterial bentonite to understand its unsaturated mechanism. However, there
is still a lack in the database where the unsaturated condition of the geomaterial
has been properly addressed for different qualities of bentonite. The effect of
different qualities of bentonite on WRCC and its implication on WRCC
parameterization need to be investigated in detail. This study was particularly
carried out to measure and compare the water retention characteristics curve
(WRCC) of different types of commercially available bentonite and to get a
proper way of representing the WRCC to correctly do the interpretation of water
content and suction. Total suction was measured using WP4 dew point poten-
tiometer technique. It was found that volumetric water content (h) with total
suction (W) gives an accurate representation of WRCC for different bentonites.
Again, the WRCC for the different bentonites were found comparable. A study
of different WRCC parameters of the bentonites shows that Fredlund and Xing
(FX) WRCC parameters can be well compared for all the bentonites than the van
Genuchten (vG) WRCC parameters.

Keywords: Suction  Bentonite  Water retention characteristic curve (WRCC)


Dew point potentiometer  Air entry value (AEV)

1 Introduction

Bentonite has been the most popularly used soil in waste containment system such as
landfill liner due to its intrinsic property of low hydraulic conductivity (<10−9 m/s) for
water and many harmful contaminants (Gleason et al. 1997; Chalermyanont and
Arrykul 2005; Kapoor and Viraraghavan 1998; Loretta and Franky 2001). It is very
much useful in waste containment application for storing the high and low level waste
all over the world. In these applications, the material under goes different interaction
with water and other harmful contaminants present in the leachate. Due to this fact, the

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019


L. R. Hoyos and J. S. McCartney (Eds.): GeoMEast 2018, SUCI, pp. 1–9, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01935-8_1
2 D. Abhijit and S. Sreedeep

material remains in unsaturated state and hence its study is essential for getting a
systematic understanding of the unsaturated mechanism. The unsaturated state of the
soil is characterized by its water retention characteristic curve (WRCC), which is the
variation in negative pore water pressure (or suction) with water content (Barbour
1998; Fredlund 2002). Suction is divided in to two types namely matric suction and
osmotic suction which together can be expressed as total suction. Matric suction is due
to adsorptive and/or capillary forces existing in the soil matrix where as osmotic
suction is due to the presence of salts or contaminants presents in the pore water
(Fredlund and Rahardjo 1993). Water content can also be expressed as either gravi-
metric or volumetric based on the area of study.
This study was particularly carried out to measure and compare the water retention
characteristics curve (WRCC) of different types of commercially available bentonite
and to get a proper way of representing the WRCC to correctly do the interpretation of
water content and suction.

2 Measurement of Suction

The suction measurement was carried out using a dew point sensor called “WP4 dew
point potentiometer” (Decagon services, USA). The instrument works on the principle
of chilled-mirror dew point technique (Leong et al. 2003; Decagon Services Ltd. 2002).
WP4 measurements are considered to be inaccurate for suction less than 1 MPa (Shah
et al. 2006). It essentially consists of a sealed block chamber in which the soil sample
can be placed in a 15 cc Polyurethane sampling cup. The geomaterial with particular
water content induce a specific relative humidity in the head space of sealed block
chamber. Based on the relative humidity of air in the headspace of the block chamber w
can be estimated with the help of Kelvin’s equation (ASTM D 6836) and as given by
Eq. 1 below. The instrument has limitation in measuring low suction range <1 MPa
(Decagon Services Ltd. 2002).
 
R:T p
w¼ ln ð1Þ
v po

where, R is the universal gas constant (=8.31 J/mol.K), T is the temperature of the
sample in K, v is the molecular mass of water (=18.016 kg/kmol), p is the vapour
pressure of air and p0 is the saturation vapour pressure. The block chamber consists of a
mirror, dew point sensor, which is a photoelectric cell, a temperature sensor, which is a
thermocouple, an infrared thermometer (optical sensor) and a fan. The details of
working of the instrument has been shown in the literature (Shah et al. 2006; Decagon
Services Ltd. 2002).
Investigation of Bentonite Qualities on WRCC 3

3 Experimental Investigation

The materials used in this study consist of four types of commercially available ben-
tonite (B1 to B4) selected based on different ranges of liquid limit (L.L.). All the
bentonite has been characterized for its specific gravity (ASTM D 854 2006), grain size
distribution (ASTM D 422-63 2007), maximum dry density and optimum moisture
content (ASTM D 698 2007), Liquid limit (L.L.) (ASTM D 4318-05 2005). The
specific surface area has been obtained by EGME method (Cerato et al. 2002). This
method measures the total surface area of the soil mass, and hence it is suitable for high
swelling expansive soils like bentonite. The details of these characterizations are tab-
ulated in Table 1.

Table 1. Physical properties of bentonite


Property Bentonite
B1 B2 B3 B4
Specific gravity, G 2.71 2.8 2.71 2.76
Particle size characteristics (%)
Coarse sand (4.75–2 mm) 0 0 0 0
Medium sand (2–0.425 mm) 0 0 3 0
Fine sand (0.425–0.075 mm) 5 2.2 0.6 2.9
Silt size (0.075–0.002 mm) 31 42.8 48 40.6
Clay size (<0.002 mm) 64 55 51.4 56.5
Maximum dry density, (kN/m3)
Optimum moisture content (%)
Liquid limit (%) 300 310 433 244
Plastic limit (%) 53 48.1 54.61 61.86
Shrinkage limit (%) 26.4 29.53 21.26 35.26
USCS classification CH CH CH CH
Total SSA (m2/g)-EGME method 601 244 428 215

For suction measurement using WP4 dew point potentiometer technique, all the
bentonite samples were mixed with sufficient water to attain slurry state since it is
already reported in the literature that dry unit weight has negligible influence on WRCC
(Birle et al. 2008; Malaya and Sreedeep 2010). The sample cup with the specimen was
placed inside the block chamber of WP4 for w measurement. After each w measure-
ment the specimen was taken out of the WP4 chamber and the weight of the sample
cup along with specimen was recorded using a high precision balance having an
accuracy of 0.0001 gm. The volume changes of the specimen were also measured at
each stage of suction measurement by measuring diameter and thickness of the samples
using vernnier calipers. The cup with the sample was then left for air-drying till the
next measurement was taken. This process was repeated several times till a near dry
state of the sample was attained (w  300 MPa). At the end of the test, the sample cup
with the soil specimen was placed in an oven to determine its dry weight. Using the dry
4 D. Abhijit and S. Sreedeep

and wet weights of the specimen, the gravimetric water content, w, corresponding to
each w measurement was back calculated. The gravimetric water content (w) thus
obtained has been used to obtain the volumetric water content using the formula h
(= w.(cd/cw)) where cd and cw are dry unit weight of the specimen at different stages of
measurement and unit weight of water, respectively. Before using the WP4, its cali-
bration was ensured by measuring wo of the measuring standard (0.5 M KCl solution),
(Decagon Services Ltd. 2002). As the hysteresis behavior of WRCC of clayey soil is
not much significant when measured using WP4 device (Birang et al. 2007), and also
as it does not affect the interpretation of unsaturated soil property functions much when
used in landfill applications, so the wetting WRCC was not attempted in this study.
The WRCC of each bentonite has been mathematically quantified by fitting
Fredlund and Xing (1994) and van Genuchten (1980) WRCC equations to the
experimental data. Equations 2 and 3 represents Fredlund and Xing and van Genuchten
model equations, respectively.
2 h i3
ln 1 þ hwr    nf mf 1
w
hðwÞ ¼ hs 41  h i5  ln expð1Þ þ ð2Þ
ln 1 þ 10
6 af
hr

  n mvg 1
hðwÞ ¼ hr þ ðhs  hr Þ  1 þ avg w vg ð3Þ

where h(w) is the volumetric water content at any suction, w; hr is the residual volu-
metric water content; hs is the volumetric water content at saturation; avg and af are
fitting parameters primarily dependent on the air entry value (AEV); nvg and nf are
fitting parameters that are dependent on the rate of extraction of water from the soil; mvg
and mf are fitting parameters which depend on hr; hr is the suction (in kPa) corre-
sponding to residual state.

4 Result and Discussion

Figures 1 and 2 show the general trend of the drying behaviour of bentonite used in this
study. The plot presents the water retention characteristics curve in terms of gravimetric
water content (w) and volumetric water content (h). The measurement were carried out
from a slurried soil in order to cover a wide range of water content and suction change
in the soil specimen as mentioned above.
It is observed that the WRCC of all the bentonites shows similar trend for all the
representation of WRCC. The h-W representation (Fig. 2) gives the desaturation por-
tion clearly while the horizontal near saturation portion and the residual portion is
absent. The w-W representation of WRCC shows clearly the desaturation and residual
portion while the horizontal near saturation portion is absent in this case. It was
observed that the h-W plot of all the bentonites shows a flatter slope than the w-W plot.
The volumetric water content (h) decreases with the increase in suction. On the other
hand, the gravimetric water content (w) for all the bentonites shows a sharp fall up to a
suction of 104 kPa. This is shown by dotted line in the figures. Above the suction
Investigation of Bentonite Qualities on WRCC 5

B1 B2 B3 B4
500

400

300
w(%)

200

100

102 103 104 105 106


ψ(kPa)
Fig. 1. Comparison of WRCC of bentonites in terms of W-W representation.

B1 B2 B3 B4
1.4

1.2

1.0

0.8

0.6
θ

0.4

0.2

0.0

101 102 103 104 105 106


ψ(kPa)

Fig. 2. Comparison of WRCC of bentonites in terms of h-W representation.


6 D. Abhijit and S. Sreedeep

104 kPa, the WRCC almost become a horizontal line with further increase in suction.
The sharp fall in the gravimetric water content at the initial stage of measurement as
seen in w-W plot is due to the evaporation of water from the pores of the bentonite
sample producing cracks on it.
This crack expands with time resulting further removal of water from the sample.
This decrease in water content results in an equal decrease in the volume of the sample.
The dry density of the sample also gets decreased and hence the decrease in h is not so
drastic as compared to w. It is now clear from this observation that h-W representation
of WRCC for bentonite gives an accurate picture of the suction water content rela-
tionship while studying its unsaturated properties. This result also proves that the
WRCC of high volume change soil like bentonite is not unique when expressed in h
and w form.
Figure 2 shows that the B1 bentonite measures the minimum suction of around
400 kPa while all other bentonite has a minimum suction of around 700 kPa. It is clear
from the figure that WRCC for B1 and B2 merges completely. The WRCC of B3
bentonite falls above all the plots. WRCC for B4 falls below B3 and above B1 and B2.
This shows that for a particular water content, B1 and B2 gives the same suction, while
the suction is higher for B4 and B3. However, above 104 kPa suction all the three plots
of B1, B2 and B4 merges together. All the plots merges to a common point at 105 kPa.
It is understood from this observation that higher the liquid limit of bentonite higher is
the total suction. The higher suction measured by B3 bentonite may be attributed due to
its high liquid limit (433%) as compared to other bentonites B1, B2 and B4. It is also
clear from this plots that for a variation of liquid limit from 244% to 310%, the
variation in the WRCC is very marginal.
The variations of measured WRCC has been mathematically quantified by com-
paring the Fredlund and Xing (1994) (FX) and van Genuchten (1980) (vG) equation
parameters. To determine the WRCC fitting parameters only the h-W plot of all the soil
has been considered. The fitting parameters were obtained by using the Soil Vision
2009. The WRCC equations fitted to the measured results of all the bentonites as
discussed above is depicted in Fig. 3. The fitting parameters obtained are listed in
Table 2. Figure 3 shows that Fredlund and Xing (1994) (FX) and van Genuchten
(1980) (vG) WRCC equation were fitted well with the measured data of all the ben-
tonites. Although, the initial near saturation portion is absent in all the WRCC’s, the
minimum h was fixed as the saturated hs for both the fitting function. As shown in the
Table 2, the regression coefficient (R2) is close to unity which indicates a good fit to the
measured data.
Investigation of Bentonite Qualities on WRCC 7

Measured data
FX fit vG fit
1.2 1.2
1.0 B1 1.0 B2

0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2
0.0 0.0
θ

10-2 10-1 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 10-2 10-1 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107
1.2 1.2
1.0 B3 1.0 B4

0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2
0.0 0.0

10-2 10-1 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 10-2 10-1 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107

ψ(kPa)
Fig. 3. Comparison of FX & vG fitting to the measured data of bentonites.

Table 2. WRCC fitting parameters of bentonite for Ѳ-w representation


Fitting function Parameter Material
B1 B2 B3 B4
Fredlund and Xing (1994) af (kPa) 2286.98 2499.96 2499.98 2499.97
nf 1.54 2.13 1.85 2.38
mf 0.76 0.57 0.58 0.55
AEV (kPa) 1017 1412 1354 1490
R2 0.9941 0.9934 0.9694 0.9782
van Genuchten (1980) avg (10−5 kPa−1) 11.92 18.6 2.71 14.16
nvg 1.11 1.46 1.00 1.52
mvg 1.10 0.628 2.2 0.78
AEV (kPa) 1284 1721 2561 2086
R2 0.9857 0.9898 0.9794 0.9833
8 D. Abhijit and S. Sreedeep

5 Conclusion

The water retention characteristics curve (WRCC) of different qualities bentonite has
been measured and compared in this study. The study established WRCC in terms of
gravimetric water content w and volumetric water content h. It was found that volu-
metric water content (h) with total suction (W) gives an accurate representation of
WRCC for different bentonites. Again, the WRCC for the different bentonites were
found comparable. A study of different WRCC parameters of the bentonites shows that
Fredlund and Xing (FX) WRCC parameters can be well compared for all the bentonites
than the van Genuchten (vG) WRCC parameters.

References
ASTM D 6836-02: Test Methods for Determination of the Soil Water Characteristics Curve for
Desorption Using a Hanging Column, Pressure Extractor, Chilled Mirror Hygrometer, and/or
Centrifuge. Vol. 04.08, Annual Book of ASTM Standards, ASTM International, West
Conshohocken, PA, USA (2003)
ASTM D854-06: Standard Test Method for Specific Gravity of Soil Solids by Water Pycnometer.
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA (2006)
ASTM D422-63: Standard Test Method for Particle-Size Analysis of Soils. Annual Book of
ASTM Standards, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA (2007)
ASTM D698-07: Standard Test Method for Laboratory Compaction Characteristic of Soil using
Standard Effort (12400 ft-lb/ft3 (600 kN-m/m3)). Annual Book of ASTM Standards, ASTM
International, West Conshohocken, PA (2007)
ASTM D 4318-05: Standard test methods for liquid limit, plastic limit, and plasticity index of
soils. Vol. 04.08, Annual Book of ASTM Standards, ASTM International, West Con-
shohocken, PA, USA (2005)
Barbour, S.L.: Nineteenth Canadian geotechnical colloquium: the soil-water characteristics
curve: a historical perspective. Can. J. Geotech. J. 35, 873–894 (1998)
Birang, N.E., Fredlund, D.G., Samarasekra, L.: Hystersis of the soil water characteristics curve in
the high suction range. In: The Diamond Jubilee Conference, OttawaGeo 2007, Ottawa, 20–
24 October, pp. 1061–1068 (2007)
Birle, E., Heyer, D., Vogt, N.: Influence of the initial water content and dry density on the soil-
water retention curve and the shrinkage behavior of a compacted clay. Acta Geotechnica 3(3),
191–200 (2008)
Cerato, A.B., Alan, J., Lutenegger, A.J.: Determination of surface area of fine-grained soils by the
Ethylene Glycol Monoethyl Ether (EGME) method. Geotech. Test. J. 25(3), 1–7 (2002)
Chalermyanont, T., Arrykul, S.: Compacted sand-bentonite mixtures for hydraulic containment
liners. Songklanakarin J. Sci. Technol 27(2), 313–323 (2005)
Decagon Services Ltd.: WP4 User’s Manual. Decagon services, U.S.A (2002)
Gleason, M.H., David, E.D., Gerald, R.E.: Calcium and sodium bentonite for hydraulic
containment applications. J. Geotech. Geoenvironmental Eng. 123(5), 438–445 (1997)
Fredlund, D.G.: Use of the soil-water characteristics curve in the implementation of unsaturated
soil mechanics. In: UNSAT 2002, Proceedings, Third International Conference on
Unsaturated Soils, Recife, Brazil, 10–13 March, p. 3 (2002)
Fredlund, D.G., Rahardjo, H.: Soil Mechanics for Unsaturated Soils. Wiley, New York (1993)
Investigation of Bentonite Qualities on WRCC 9

Fredlund, D.G., Xing, A.: Equations for the soil-water characteristics curve. Can. Geotech. J. 31
(3), 521–532 (1994)
Kapoor, A., Viraraghavan, T.: Use of immobilized bentonite in removal of heavy metals from
wastewater. J. Environ. Eng. 124(10), 1020–1024 (1998)
Leong, E.C., Tripathy, S., Rahardjo, H.: Total suction measurement of unsaturated soils with a
device using the chilled-mirror dew-point technique. Geotechnique 53(2), 173–182 (2003)
Loretta, Y.L., Franky, L.: Heavy metal sorption and hydraulic conductivity studies using three
types of bentonite admixes. J. Environ. Eng. 127(5), 420–429 (2001)
Malaya, C., Sreedeep, S.: A study on the influence of measuring procedures on suction-water
content relationship of a sandy soil. J. Test. Eval. ASTM 38(6), 1–9 (2010)
Shah, P.H., Sreedeep, S., Singh, D.N.: Evaluation of methodologies used for establishing soil-
water characteristics curve. J. ASTM Int. 3(6), 1–11 (2006)
Soil Vision 4.21.001: A Knowledge-based Database System for Saturated/Unsaturated Soil
Properties, SoilVision Systems Ltd., Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (2009)
van Genuchten, M.T.: A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of
unsaturated soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 44(5), 892–898 (1980)
Water Retention Behavior of Palm Oil Mixed
Kaolin

Anirudh Subramanya Sriraam1(&),


Mavinakere Eshwaraiah Raghunandan2, Jayantha Kodikara3,
and Tey Beng Ti1
1
School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan,
Bandar Sunway, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
anirudh.sriraam@outlook.com
2
Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia,
Jalan Lagoon Selatan, Bandar Sunway, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
3
Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University,
Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia

Abstract. This paper presents a laboratory study to evaluate the effect of


increasing palm-oil content on the water-retention properties of kaolin clay. The
amount of palm oil added to dry kaolin varied up to 40% by dry weight of
kaolin, at intervals of 10%. Two separate experimental techniques on thirty
independent samples were employed to capture the water-retention properties
over a range of soil suction (w) values; a stress-controlled volumetric pressure
plate extractor to capture measurements in the range of 101< w<103 kPa and
chilled-mirror dew-point potentiometer for w values up to 106 kPa. The measured
data on soil suction-water content (w−w) relationship for the palm oil mixed
kaolin samples (POMK) were analysed using van Genuchten model. The results
of this study show a reduction in the air-entry values and water holding capacity
with increasing palm oil content. The discussions draw attention to contact angle
and water repellency of the POMK samples as key factors dictating the water
retention behavior of kaolin.

1 Introduction

Knowledge on the water retention behavior of soils is essential for studying the
physical and hydrogeological processes such as water infiltration, aeration, water
distribution, groundwater recharge, and solute transport in variably saturated soils. To
date, extensive research has shown water retention to be a complex function of soil
matrix and soil-water interaction (Zhang et al. 2016; Takawira et al. 2014; Sawatsky
and Li 1997; Orozco and Caicedo 2017). The presence of hydrocarbons in soil due to
accidental oil spills, improper disposal of municipal wastes or mill effluents may alter
the soil matrix by residing within the pore spaces and limit the interaction between soil
and water due its non-polar property (Wasemiller and Hoddinott 1997; Silvestri et al.
1997; Sharma and Reddy 2004; Shackelford 1994; Peikert et al. 2017; Khan et al.
2016). The latter assumption is significant in clays, depending on the fluid that clays
first encounter (either oil or water) because formation of thin oil-films around the clay

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019


L. R. Hoyos and J. S. McCartney (Eds.): GeoMEast 2018, SUCI, pp. 10–20, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01935-8_2
Water Retention Behavior of Palm Oil Mixed Kaolin 11

particles may alter the affinity of water molecules towards clay. The oil lubricant would
be expected to alter the soil properties and creating weak surface adhesive van der
Waals forces (Lai et al. 2015).
Efforts to assess the role of oil on the water retention behavior of both natural and
reconstructed clay are gaining importance considering the severe environmental risk of
subsurface contamination, but are limited to crude oil, biodiesel and other fossil fuels.
For example, Burckhard et al. (2000) examined the effect of motor oil on the water
holding properties of Ottawa sand. The authors showed that the presence of oil on sand,
even in small quantities, inhibits the movement of water thereby changing its hydraulic
properties. Another study by Mohammed and Vipulanandan (2011) showed a decrease
in the clay soil suction values with increasing engine oil content. On the contrary, a
parametric assessment by Nouri et al. (2013) showed the presence of non-aqueous
phase liquids provides better water-retention on sandy loam. Similar results were also
observed for diesel-contaminated soil (Hyun et al. 2008). In summary, the authors
present discussions addressing the changes in the hydrological balance of oil con-
taminated soils caused primarily due to the hydrophobicity or water repellency the oil.
This is because compounds of petroleum origin such as long-chain hydrocarbons and
polycyclic aliphatic organic compounds are inherently water repellent (Roy and McGill
1998). Several studies have thus far have showed the presence of oil contamination to
cause severe geo-environmental problems even at low oil content (Khosravi et al. 2013;
Kermani and Ebadi 2012; Rahman et al. 2010; Pandey and Bind 2014; Jia et al. 2011).
However, very few works perhaps highlight the consequences of the vegetable oil
content on soils since vegetable oil spills do not draw major attention and criticism to
facilitate immediate remediation and may therefore result in increasing oil content in
soil. For example, palm oil has progressed to become one of the most commonly used
renewable biomass resource for liquid fuel and energy generation in recent years
(Sumathi et al. 2008). Countries in the South-East Asian region such as Malaysia and
Indonesia which prowess highest production of palm oil (MPOB 2013; MPOB 2017)
have reported cases showcasing chronic spills of palm oil from various sources (Ahmad
et al. 2005). Palm oil may well differ from other oil types in their origin, however, they
are indifferent in their adhesive nature and are susceptible to natural attenuation (Atlas
1981). Although not as acutely toxic as petroleum, palm oils and other edible oils can
cause harm to the environment if released in sufficient quantities (Wincele et al. 2004).
However, for the purpose of assessment, it can be stated that the fate, transport, and
environmental effects are similar when the oil is considered as a potential contaminant
(Crump-Wiesner and Jennings 1975).
This aim of the current work was to study and analyse the effect of palm oil on the
water retention behavior of a standard kaolin. In the current study, the influence of
palm oil on the variations of soil properties and the pore sizes that define the water-
retention property of kaolin samples were systematically evaluated through experi-
mental investigations. Palm oil mixed kaolin (POMK) samples were prepared in the
laboratory by adding palm oil contents limited to 40% by dry weight of kaolin, sup-
plemented at intervals of 10%. The water-retention properties of these samples were
tested using pressure plate extractor and chilled-mirror hygrometer. The paper con-
cludes with details on the key factors that dictate the water retention behavior of POMK
samples.
12 A. S. Sriraam et al.

2 Materials and Experimental Method

Commercially available kaolin clay and refined palm oil was used in this study. Refined
oil was used to limit the possible chemical and/or physical interactions of clay particles
with any impurities (due to the milling processes for example). The properties of
refined palm oil such as density (q), viscosity (v) and specific gravity (GS) are
890 kg/m3, 77.2 mPa.s and 0.924 respectively. Palm-oil mixed kaolin clay (POMK)
samples were prepared by uniformly hand-mixing clean kaolin (K00) with palm oil in
increments (measured as the percent by weight of kaolin) of 10% (K10), 20% (K20),
30% (K30) and 40% (K40). Uniformity and homogeneity of the POMK samples were
ensured during sample preparation. The oil content in the POMK samples were ensured
by periodically testing the samples using a hexane solvent oil extraction method.
Table 1 lists the some of the key basic properties of POMK samples. The pore sizes of
the dry POMK powdered samples were determined using the BET method (Brunauer
et al. 1938). The table also lists the contact angle measurements (ø) of water and water-
droplet penetration time (WDPT) on the surface of POMK samples bringing emphasis
to the water repellency.

Table 1. Summary of the basic properties of POMK samples


Properties K00 K10 K20 K30 K40
USCS Classification MH
Clay content (<0.005 mm) % 69.8 68.4 58.3 64.7 45.0
Pore size (4 V/Å) Å 256.6 383.6 465.5 536.4 492.0
Water droplet penetration time s 1 684 1148 2824 3652
Contact angle, ø ° <90 106.7 109.4 112.3 128.0
Specific gravity, GS 2.44 2.18 1.91 1.82 1.71
Liquid limit, wL % 64 71 67 55 31
Plastic limit, wP % 41 36 28 22 14
Shrinkage limit, wS % 6 17 20 18 13
Plasticity index 24 34 39 37 17
Activity 1.7 2.0 3.2 5.1 2.6

The experimental program was designed to examine the physico-chemical effect of


palm oil content on the water retention behavior of kaolin. Evaluating the water
retention behavior of soils require establishing a relationship between soil suction and
water content, popularly known as the soil water characteristic curve (SWCC). While
water content is relatively easy to measure, soil suction is rather a difficult variable to
measure and requires multiple and extensive laboratory testing equipment. In that
sense, to cover a broad range of soil suction values, a combination of different tech-
niques including pressure plate extractor and chilled-mirror hygrometer were employed
to establish a relation between the soil suction and water content. All tests were
performed according to the guidelines set by ASTM D6836-02. The following section
Water Retention Behavior of Palm Oil Mixed Kaolin 13

briefly presents the equipment, sample preparation and the experimental techniques
adopted for each series of testing in this study.
Pressure-plate test
A pressure plate extractor from SoilMoisture Equipment Corp. was used to
determine the water-retention behavior of POMK samples for matric suction up to
1500 kPa. A total of 50 specimens (10-each for K00, K10, K20, K30 and K40) were tested
using the pressure plate extractor. Firstly, saturated slurry specimen was prepared by
mixing POMK samples at a water content (w) of 1.3 times the liquid limit (wL). The
slurry was preserved in a sealed container for about 24 h to ensure ionic equilibrium
within the samples. The initial water content (wi) of the slurry sample was measured
using the oven drying method. Slurry samples were then lightly compacted into
specimen retaining rings of average inner diameter and height of 51.9 mm and
10.1 mm respectively which were placed on pre-wetted ceramic plates.
The ten specimens for each POMK sample (i.e. K00, K10, K20, K30 and K40) were
subjected to varying pressures of 25, 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 750, 1000 and
1250 kPa respectively. The air pressures applied were increased systematically to avoid
specimen cracking. In addition, the ceramic plates were also resaturated weekly with a
thin film of distilled water to improve burette readings. The change in volume of
distilled water in the burette was closely monitored periodically. For a given soil
suction value, the test was concluded when negligible change in the volume of water
expelled was observed for a period of 24 h. At this stage, air-pressure inside the
extractor is released and the burette valve is locked to prevent re-entry of water into the
sample. One specimen is carefully extruded from the retainer ring for determining its
w to report suction-water content data. Similar procedure was followed for all the
POMK samples, and the corresponding suction-water content data is reported.
Chilled-mirror hygrometer test
A WP4-T dew-point potentiometer by Decagon Devices Inc. equipment was used
to establish the water-retention behavior for POMK samples with low water content
where suction exceeds 1250 kPa. The WP4-T equipment uses a chilled-mirror
hygrometer to characterize high precision measurements at a comparatively short
response time. A total of 100 specimen (20-each for K00, K10, K20, K30 and K40) were
prepared in a sampling cup and tested. Each sampling cup was half-filled with pow-
dered POMK samples mixed to a known water content. The desired w was increased
systematically from zero to the corresponding plastic limit (wP) for each POMK
sample.
The suction measurements for each sample was performed by inserting the sam-
pling cup in an air-tight sealed chamber. The WP4-T dew-point potentiometer contains
a chilled mirror, an optical sensor, an infrared thermometer and a small fan and its
operation is based on the thermodynamic relationship between relative humidity,
temperature and total soil suction. Once the sample is locked inside the chamber, the
fan inside the chamber forces circulation of air to reach an equilibrium between the
pore water and the humidity in the surrounding air-tight chamber. Then an optical
sensor monitors condensation of moisture on the chilled mirror, and the relative
humidity at which condensation occurs is recorded. At the end of suction measurement,
the specimens were oven-dried, and the final w was determined. Similar procedure was
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
a sweet and clear voice, wherewith it daily sang the praises of God
in the highways of Eden.
This beautiful bird, thought Eblis, when he saw it, is surely vain, and
will listen to the voice of flattery.
Thereupon he addressed it as a stranger, beyond the hearing of
Ridhwan. “Most beautiful of all birds, do you belong to the denizens
of Paradise?”
“Certainly,” answered the peacock. “And who are you who look from
side to side in fear and trembling?”
“I belong to the Cherubim who praise God night and day, and I have
slipped out of their ranks without being observed, that I might take a
glimpse of the Paradise God has prepared for the saints. Will you
hide me under your feathers, and show me the garden?”
“How shall I do that which may draw down on me God’s disfavour?”
asked the peacock.
“Magnificent creature! take me with you. I will teach you three words
which will save you from sickness, old age, and death.”
“Must then the dwellers in Paradise die?”
“All, without exception, who know not these three words.”
“Is this the truth?”
“By God the Almighty it is so.”
The peacock believed the oath, for it could not suppose that a
creature would swear a false oath by its Creator. But, as it feared
that Ridhwan would search it on its return through the gates, it
hesitated to take Eblis with it, but promised to send the cunning
serpent out, who would certainly devise a means of introducing Eblis
into the garden.
The serpent was formerly queen of all creatures. She had a head
like rubies, and eyes like emeralds. Her height was that of a camel,
and the most beautiful colours adorned her skin, and her hair and
face were those of a beautiful maiden. She was fragrant as musk
and amber; her food was saffron; sweet hymns of praise were
uttered by her melodious tongues; she slept by the waters of the
heavenly river Kaulhar; she had been created a thousand years
before man, and was Eve’s favourite companion.
This beautiful and wise creature, thought the peacock, will desire
more even than myself to possess perpetual youth and health, and
will gladly admit the cherub for the sake of hearing the three words.
The bird was not mistaken; as soon as it had told the story, the
serpent exclaimed: “What! shall I grow old and die? Shall my
beautiful face become wrinkled, my eyes close, and my body
dissolve into dust? Never! rather will I brave Ridhwan’s anger and
introduce the cherub.”
The serpent accordingly glided out of the gates of Paradise, and
bade Eblis tell her what he had told the peacock.
“How shall I bring you unobserved into Paradise?” asked the
serpent.
“I will make myself so small that I can sit in the nick between your
front teeth,” answered the fallen angel.[69]
“But how then can I answer when Ridhwan addresses me?”
“Fear not. I will whisper holy names, at which Ridhwan will keep
silence.”
The serpent thereupon opened her mouth, Eblis flew in and seated
himself between her teeth, and by so doing poisoned them for all
eternity.
When she had passed Ridhwan in security, the serpent opened her
mouth and asked Eblis to take her with him to the highest heaven,
where she might behold the majesty of God.
Eblis answered that he was not ready to leave yet, but that he
desired to speak to Adam out of her mouth, and to this she
consented, fearing Ridhwan, and greatly desiring to hear and learn
the three salutary words. Having reached Eve’s tent, Eblis uttered a
deep sigh—it was the first that had been heard in Eden, and it was
caused by envy.
“Why are you so disquieted, gentle serpent?” asked Eve.
“I am troubled for Adam’s future,” answered the evil spirit, affecting
the voice of the serpent.
“What! have we not all that can be desired in this garden of God?”
“That is true; but the noblest fruit of the garden, the only one
securing to you perfect happiness, is denied to your lips.”
“Have we not abundance of fruit of every colour and flavour—only
one is forbidden?”
“And if you knew why that one is forbidden, you would find little
pleasure in tasting the others.”
“Do you know?”
“I do, and for that reason am I so cast down. This fruit alone gives
eternal youth and health, whereas all the others give weakness,
disease, old age and death, which is the cessation of life with all its
joys.”
“Why, dearest serpent, did you never tell me of this before? Whence
know you these things?”
“An angel told me this as I lay under the forbidden tree.”
“I must also see him,” said Eve, leaving her tent and going towards
the tree.
At this moment Eblis flew out of the serpent’s mouth, and stood in
human form beneath the tree.
“Who art thou, wondrous being, the like of whom I have not seen
before?” asked Eve.
“I am a man who have become an angel.”
“And how didst thou become an angel?”
“By eating of this fruit,” answered the tempter,—“this fruit which is
denied us through the envy of God. I dared to break His command
as I grew old and feeble, and my eyes waxed dim, my ears dull, and
my teeth fell out, so that I could neither speak plainly nor enjoy my
food; my hands shook, my feet tottered, my head was bent upon my
breast, my back was bowed, and I became so hideous that all the
beasts of the garden fled from me in fear. Then I sighed for death,
and hoping to find it in the fruit of this tree, I ate, and lo! instantly I
was young again; though a thousand years had elapsed since I was
made, they had fled with all their traces, and I enjoy perpetual health
and youth and beauty.”
“Do you speak the truth?” asked Eve.
“I swear by God who made me.”
Eve believed this oath, and broke a branch from the wheat-tree.
Before the Fall, wheat grew to a tree with leaves like emeralds. The
ears were red as rubies and the grains white as snow, sweet as
honey, and fragrant as musk. Eve ate one of the grains and found it
more delicious than anything she had hitherto tasted, so she gave a
second grain to Adam. Adam resisted at first, according to some
authorities for a whole hour, but an hour in Paradise was eighty
years of our earthly reckoning. But when he saw that Eve remained
well and cheerful, he yielded to her persuasions, and ate of the
second grain which Eve had offered him daily, three times a day,
during the hour of eighty years. Thereupon all Adam’s heaven-given
raiment fell from him, his crown slipped off his head, his rings
dropped from his fingers, his silken garment glided like water from
his shoulders, and he and Eve were naked and unadorned, and their
fallen garments reproached them with the words, “Great is your
misfortune; long will be your sorrows; we were created to adorn
those who serve God; farewell till the resurrection!”
The throne recoiled from them and exclaimed, “Depart from me, ye
disobedient ones!” The horse Meimun, which Adam sought to mount,
plunged and refused to allow him to touch it, saying, “How hast thou
kept God’s covenant?” All the inhabitants of Paradise turned their
backs on the pair, and prayed God to remove the man and the
woman from the midst of them.
God himself addressed Adam with a voice of thunder, saying, “Did
not I forbid thee to touch of this fruit, and caution thee against the
subtlety of thy foe, Eblis?” Adam and Eve tried to fly these
reproaches, but the branches of the tree Talh caught Adam, and Eve
entangled herself in her long hair.
“From the wrath of God there is no escape,” cried a voice from the
tree Talh; “obey the commandment of God.”
“Depart from Paradise,” then spake God, “thou Adam, thy wife, and
the animals which led you into sin. The earth shall be your abode; in
the sweat of thy brow shalt thou find food; the produce of earth shall
cause envy and contention; Eve (Hava) shall be afflicted with a
variety of strange affections, and shall bring forth offspring in pain.
The peacock shall lose its melodious voice, and the serpent its feet;
dark and noisome shall be the den in which the serpent shall dwell,
dust shall be its meat, and its destruction shall be a meritorious work.
Eblis shall be cast into the torments of hell.”
Our parents were then driven out of Paradise, and one leaf alone
was given to each, wherewith to hide their nakedness. Adam was
expelled through the gate of Repentance, that he might know that
through it alone could Paradise be regained; Eve was banished
through the gate of Grace; the peacock and the serpent through that
of Wrath, and Eblis through the gate of Damnation. Adam fell into the
island Serendib (Ceylon), Eve at Jedda, the Serpent into the desert
of Sahara, the Peacock into Persia, and Eblis into the river Eila.[70]
Tabari says that when the forbidden wheat had entered the belly of
Adam and Eve, all the skin came off, except from the ends of the
fingers. Now this skin had been pink and horny, so that they had
been invulnerable in Paradise, and they were left naked and with a
tender skin which could easily be lacerated; but, as often as Adam
and Eve looked on their fingernails, they remembered what skin they
had worn in Eden.[71]
Tabari also says that four trees pitying the shame of Adam and Eve,
the Peacock, and the Serpent, in being driven naked out of Paradise,
bowed their branches and gave each a leaf.
Certain Rabbis say that Adam ate only on compulsion, that he
refused, but Eve “took of the tree,”—that is, broke a branch and
“gave it him,” with the stick.
According to the Talmudic book, Emek Hammelech (f. 23, col. 3),
Eve, on eating the fruit, felt in herself the poison of Jezer hara, or
Original sin, and resolved that Adam should not be without it also;
she made him eat and then forced the fruit on the animals, that they
might all, without exception, fall under the same condemnation, and
become subject to death. But the bird Chol—that is, the Phœnix—
would not be deceived, but flew away and would not eat. And now
the Phœnix, says the Rabbi Joden after the Rabbi Simeon, lives a
thousand years, then shrivels up till it is the size of an egg, and then
from himself he emerges young and beautiful again.
We have seen what are the Asiatic myths relating to Adam and Eve;
let us now turn to Africa. In Egypt it was related that Osiris lived with
Isis his sister and wife in Nysa, or Paradise, which was situated in
Arabia. This Paradise was an island, surrounded by the stream
Triton, but it was also a steep mountain that could only be reached
on one side. It was adorned with beautiful flowers and trees laden
with pleasant fruits, watered by sweet streams, and in it dwelt the
deathless ones.
There Osiris found the vine, and Isis the wheat, to become the food
and drink of men. There they built a golden temple, and lived in
supreme happiness till the desire came on Osiris to discover the
water of Immortality, in seeking which he left Nysa, and was in the
end slain by Typhon.[72]
The following is a very curious negro tradition, taken down by Dr.
Tutschek from a native in Tumale, near the centre of Africa.
Til (God) made men and bade them live together in peace and
happiness, labour five days, and keep the sixth as a festival. They
were forbidden to hurt the beasts or reptiles. They themselves were
deathless, but the animals suffered death. The frog was accursed by
God, because when He was making the animals it hopped over His
foot. Then God ordered the men to build mountains: they did so, but
they soon forgot God’s commands, killed the beasts and quarrelled
with one another. Wherefore Til (God) sent fire and destroyed them,
but saved one of the race, named Musikdegen, alive. Then Til began
to re-create beings. He stood before a wood and called, Ombo
Abnatum Dgu! and there came out a gazelle and licked His feet. So
He said, Stand up, Gazelle! and when it stood up, its beast-form
disappeared, and it was a beautiful maiden, and He called her
Mariam. He blessed her, and she bore four children, a white pair and
a black pair. When they were grown up, God ordered them to marry,
the white together, and the black together. In Dai, the story goes that
Til cut out both Mariam’s knee-caps, and of each He made a pair of
children. Those which were white He sent north; those which were
black He gave possession of the land where they were born.
God then made the animals subject to death, but the men He made
were immortal. But the new created men became disobedient, as
had the first creatures; and the frog complained to Him of His
injustice in having made the harmless animals subject to death, but
guilty man deathless. “Thou art right,” answered Til, and He cast on
the men He had made, old age, sickness, and death.[73]
The Fantis relate that they are not in the same condition as that in
which they were made, for their first parents had been placed in a
lofty and more suitable country, but God drave them into an inferior
habitation, that they might learn humility. On the Gold Coast the
reason of the Fall is said to have been that the first men were offered
the choice of gold or of wisdom, and they chose the former.[74]
In Ashantee the story is thus told. In the beginning, God created
three white and three black men and women, and gave them the
choice between good and evil. A great calabash was placed on the
earth, as also a sealed paper, and God gave the black men the first
choice. They took the calabash, thinking it contained everything, and
in it were only a lump of gold, a bar of iron, and some other metals.
The white men took the sealed paper, in which they learned
everything. So God left the black men in the bush and took the white
men to the sea, and He taught them how to build ships and go into
another land. This fall from God caused the black men to worship the
subsidiary Fetishes instead of Him.[75]
In Greenland “the first man is said to have been Kallak. He came out
of the earth, but his wife issued from his thumb, and from them all
generations of men have sprung. To him many attribute the origin of
all things. The woman brought death into the world, in that she said,
Let us die to make room for our successors.”[76]
The tradition of the Dog-rib Indians near the Polar Sea, as related by
Sir J. Franklin in his account of his expedition of 1825-27, is that the
first man was called Tschäpiwih. He found the earth filled with
abundance of all good things. He begat children and he gave to
them two sorts of fruit, one white and the other black, and he bade
them eat the white, but eschew the black. And having given them
this command, he left them and went a long journey to fetch the sun
to enlighten the world. During his absence they ate only of the white
fruit, and then the father made a second journey to fetch the moon,
leaving them well provided with fruit. But after a while they forgot his
command, and consumed the black fruit. On his return he was angry,
and cursed the ground that it should thenceforth produce only the
black fruit, and that with it should come in sickness and death.
Dr. Hunter, in his “Memoirs of Captivity amongst the Indians,” says
that the Delawares believe that in the beginning the Red men had
short tails, but they blasphemed the Great Spirit, and in punishment
for their sin their tails were cut off and transformed into women, to be
their perpetual worry. The same story is told by Mr. Atherne Jones,
as heard by him among the Kikapoos.
The ancient Mexicans had a myth of Xolotl, making out of a man’s
bone the primeval mother in the heavenly Paradise; and he called
the woman he had made Cihuacouhatl, which means “The woman
with the serpent,” or Quilatzli, which means “The woman of our
flesh.” She was the mother of twins, and is represented in a Mexican
hieroglyph as speaking with the serpent, whilst behind her stand the
twins, whose different characters are represented by different
colours, one of whom is represented slaying the other.[77] Xolotl, who
made her out of a bone, was cast out of heaven and became the first
man. That the Mexicans had other traditions, now lost, touching this
matter is probable, for they had a form of baptism for children in
which they prayed that those baptized might be washed from “the
original sin committed before the founding of the world.” And this had
to do, in all probability, with a legend akin to that of the Iroquois, who
told of the primeval mother falling, and then of the earth being built
up to receive her, when precipitated out of heaven.
The Caribs of South America relate that Luoguo, the first man and
god, created the earth and the sea, and made the earth as fair as the
beautiful garden in the heaven where dwell the gods. Luoguo dwelt
among the men he had made for some while. He drew the men out
of his navel and out of his thigh which he cut open. One of the first
men was Racumon, who was transformed into a great serpent with a
human head, and he lived twined round a great Cabatas tree and ate
of its fruit, and gave to those who passed by. Then the Caribs lived
to a great age, and never waxed old or died. Afterwards they found a
garden planted with manioc, and on that they fed. But they became
wicked, and a flood came and swept them away.[78]
In the South Sea Islands we find other traditions of the Fall. In Alea,
one of the Caroline Islands, the tale runs thus:—
“The sister of Eliulap the first man, who was also a god, felt herself in
labour, so she descended to earth and there brought forth three
children. To her astonishment she found the earth barren; therefore,
by her mighty word, she clothed it with herbage and peopled it with
beasts and birds. And the world became very beautiful, and her sons
were happy and did not feel sickness or death, but at the close of
every month fell into a slumber from which they awoke renewed in
strength and beauty. But Erigeres, the bad spirit, envied this
happiness, so he came to the world and introduced into it pain, age,
and death.”[79]
With the Jewish additions to the story given in Genesis, we shall
conclude.
The godless Sammael had made an alliance with all the chiefs of his
host against the Lord, because that the holy and ever blessed Lord
had said to Adam and Eve, “Have dominion over the fish of the sea,”
&c.; and he said, “How can I make man to sin and drive him out?”
Then he went down to earth with all his host, and he sought for a
companion like to himself; he chose the serpent, which was in size
like a camel, and he seated himself on its back and rode up to the
woman, and said to her, “Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every
tree of the garden?” And he thought, “I will ask more presently.” Then
she answered, “He has only forbidden me the fruit of the Tree of
Knowledge which is in the midst of the garden. And He said, ‘In the
day thou touchest it thou shalt die.’” She added two words; God did
not say anything to her about touching it, and she spoke of the fruit,
whereas God said the Tree.
Then the godless one, Sammael, went up to the tree and touched it.
But the tree cried out, “Let not the foot of pride come against me,
and let not the hand of the ungodly cast me down! Touch me not,
thou godless one!” Then Sammael called to the woman, and said,
“See, I have touched the tree and am not dead. Do you also touch it
and try.” But when Eve drew near to the tree she saw the Angel of
Death waiting sword in hand, and she said in her heart, “Perhaps I
am to die, and then God will create another wife for Adam; that shall
not be, he must die too.” So she gave him of the fruit. And when he
took it and bit, his teeth were blunted, and thus it is that the back
teeth of men are no longer sharp.[80]
V.
ADAM AND EVE AFTER THE FALL.

When Adam reached the earth, the Eagle said to the Whale, with
whom it had hitherto lived in the closest intimacy, “Now we must part,
for there is no safety for us animals since man has come amongst
us. The deepest abysses of ocean must be thy refuge, and thou
must protect thyself with cunning from the great foe who has entered
the earth. I must soar high above the clouds, and there find a place
of escape from him who is destined to be my pursuer till death.”[81]
According to certain cabbalistic Rabbis, Adam, when cast out of
Eden, was precipitated into Gehenna, but he escaped therefrom to
earth, by repeating and pronouncing properly the mystic word
Laverererareri.[82] In the Talmud it is related that when Adam heard
the words of God, “Thou shalt eat the herb of the field” (Gen. iii. 18),
he trembled in all his limbs, and exclaimed, “O Lord of all the world! I
and my beast, the Ass, shall have to eat out of the same manger!”
But God said to him, because he trembled, “Thou shalt eat bread in
the sweat of thy brow.”[83]
Learned Rabbis assert that the angel Raphael had instructed Adam
in all kinds of knowledge out of a book, and this book contained
mighty mysteries which the highest angels could not fathom, and
knew not; and before the Fall the angels used to assemble in
crowds, and listen to Adam instructing them in hidden wisdom. In
that book were seventy-two parts and six hundred and seventy
writings, and all this was known; but from the middle of the book to
the end were the one thousand five hundred hidden secrets of
Wisdom, and these Adam began to reveal to the angels till he was
arrested by the angel Haddarniel. This book Adam preserved and
read in daily; but when he had sinned, it fled out of his hands and
flew away, and he went into the river Gihon up to his neck, and the
water washed the glory wherewith he had shone in Paradise from off
his body. But God was merciful, and He restored to him the book by
the hands of Raphael, and he left it to his son Seth, and Enoch and
Abraham read in this book.[84]
Along with the book Adam retained the rod which God had created
at the close of the Sabbath, between sun and sun; i.e. between
nightfall and daybreak, so says the Rabbi Levi. Adam left it to Enoch,
and Enoch gave it to Noah, and Noah gave it to Shem, and Shem to
Abraham, and Abraham delivered it to Isaac, and Isaac gave it to
Jacob; Jacob brought the staff with him to Egypt, and gave it to his
son Joseph. Now when Joseph died, his house was plundered by
the Egyptians, and all his effects were taken into Pharaoh’s house.
Jethro was a mighty magician, and when he saw the staff of Adam
and read the writing thereon, he went forth into Edom and planted it
in his garden. And Jethro would allow none to touch it; but when he
saw Moses he said, “This is he who will deliver Israel out of Egypt.”
Wherefore he gave him his daughter Zipporah and the staff. But the
book Midrash Vajoscha relates this rather differently, in the words of
Moses himself: “After I had become great I went out, and seeing an
Egyptian illtreat a Hebrew man of my brethren, I slew him and buried
him in the sand. But when Pharaoh heard this he sought to slay me,
and brought a sharp sword the like of which was not in the world;
and therewith I was ten times smitten on my neck. But the Holy God
wrought a miracle, for my neck became as hard as a marble pillar, so
that the sword had no power over me. And I was forty years old
when I fled out of Egypt; and I came to Jethro’s house and stood by
the well and found Zipporah his daughter; and when I saw her, I was
pleased with her, and asked her to marry me. Then she related to
me her father’s custom, and it was this. ‘My father proves every
suitor for my hand by a tree which is in his garden; and when he
comes to the tree, the tree clasps him in its branches.’ Then I asked
her where such a tree was, and she answered me, ‘This is the staff
which God created on the eve of the Sabbath, which was handed
down from Adam to Joseph; but Jethro saw the staff at the
plundering of Joseph’s house, and he took it away with him from
Pharaoh’s palace and brought it here. This is the staff on which is cut
the Schem hammphorasch and the ten plagues that are in store for
Egypt, and these are indicated by ten letters on the staff, and they
stand thus: dam, blood; zephardeim, frogs; kinnim, lice; arof, various
insects; defer, murrain; schechim, blain; barad, hail; arbeh, locusts;
choschech, darkness; and bechor, first born:—these will be the
plagues of Egypt. This staff was for many days and years in my
father’s house, till he one day took it in his hand and stuck it into the
earth in the garden; and then it sprouted and bloomed and brought
forth almonds, and when he saw that, he proved every one who
sought one of his daughters by that tree.’” These are the words of
the Book Midrash Vajoscha, and thereby may be seen that the staff
of Adam was of almond wood; but Yalkut Chadasch, under the title
“Adam,” says that the staff was of the wood of the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil.[85]
When Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden, says the
Talmud, they wandered disconsolate over the face of the earth. And
the sun began to decline, and they looked with fear at the diminution
of the light, and felt a horror like death steal over their hearts.
And the light of heaven grew paler, and the wretched ones clasped
one another in an agony of despair.
Then all grew dark.
And the luckless ones fell on the earth, silent, and thought that God
had withdrawn from them the light for ever; and they spent the night
in tears.
But a beam of light began to rise over the eastern hills, after many
hours of darkness, and the clouds blushed crimson, and the golden
sun came back, and dried the tears of Adam and Eve; and then they
greeted it with cries of gladness, and said, “Heaviness may endure
for a night, but joy cometh in the morning; this is a law that God has
laid upon nature.”[86]
Among the Manichean myths prevalent among the Albigenses, was
one preserved to us by the troubadour Pierre de Saint-Cloud. When
Adam was driven out of Paradise, God in mercy gave him a
miraculous rod, which possessed creative powers, so that he had
only to strike the sea with it and it would forthwith produce the beast
he might require.
Adam struck the sea, and there rose from it the sheep; then Eve took
the staff and smote the water, and from it sprang the wolf, which fell
on the sheep and carried it off into the wood. Then Adam took back
the staff, and with it called forth the dog to hunt the wolf and recover
the sheep.
According to the Mussulman tradition, Adam’s beard grew after he
had fallen, and it was the result of his excessive grief and penitence:
how this affected his chin is not explained, the fact only is thus boldly
stated. He was sorely abashed at his beard, but a voice from heaven
called to him, saying, “The beard is man’s ornament on earth; it
distinguishes him from the feeble woman.” Adam shed so many
tears that all birds and beasts drank of them, and flowing into the
earth they produced the fragrant plants and gum-bearing trees, for
they were still endued with the strength and virtue of the food of
Paradise.
But the tears of Eve were transformed into pearls where they
dribbled into the sea, and into beautiful flowers where they sank into
the soil.
Both wailed so loud that Eve’s cry reached Adam on the West wind,
and Adam’s cry was borne to Eve on the wings of the East wind. And
when Eve heard the well-known voice she clasped her hands above
her head, and women to this day thus testify their sorrow; and Adam,
when the voice of the weeping of Eve sounded in his ears, put his
right hand beneath his beard,—thus do men to this day give
evidence of their mourning. And the tears pouring out of Adam’s
eyes formed the two rivers Tigris and Euphrates. All nature wept with
him; every bird and beast hastened to him to mingle their tears with
his, but the locust was the first to arrive, for it was made of the
superfluous earth which had been gathered for the creation of Adam.
There are seven thousand kinds of locusts or grasshoppers, of all
colours and sizes, up to the dimensions of an eagle; and they have a
king to whom God addresses His commands when He would punish
a rebellious nation such as that of Egypt. The black character
imprinted on the locust’s wing is Hebrew, and it signifies, “God is
One; He overcometh the mighty; the locusts are a portion of His
army which He sends against the wicked.” As all nature thus wailed
and lamented, from the invisible insect to the angel who upholds the
world, God sent Gabriel with the words which were in after-time to
save Jonah in the whale’s belly, “There is no God but Thou; pardon
me for Mohammed’s sake, that great and last prophet, whose name
is engraved on Thy throne.”
When Adam had uttered these words with penitent heart, the gates
of heaven opened, and Gabriel cried out, “God has accepted thy
penitence, Adam! pray to Him alone, He will give thee what thou
desirest, even the return to Paradise, after a certain time.”
Adam prayed, “Lord, protect me from the further malice of my enemy
Eblis.”
“Speak the word, There is no God but God; that wounds him like a
poisoned arrow.”
“Lord, will not the meat and drink provided by this earth lead me into
sin?”
“Drink water, and eat only clean beasts which have been slain in the
name of Allah, and build mosques where you dwell, so will Eblis
have no power over you.”
“But if he torment me at night with evil thoughts and dreams?”
“Then rise from thy couch and pray.”
“Lord, how shall I be able to distinguish between good and evil?”
“My guidance will be with thee; and two angels will dwell in thy heart,
who shall warn thee against evil and encourage thee to good.”
“Lord, assure me Thy grace against sin.”
“That can only be obtained by good works. But this I promise thee,
evil shall be punished one-fold, good shall be rewarded tenfold.”
In the meanwhile the angel Michael had been sent to Eve to
announce to her God’s mercy. When Eve saw him, she exclaimed,
“O great and almighty Archangel of God, with what weapon shall I,
poor frail creature, fight against sin?”
“God,” answered the Angel, “has given me for thee, the most potent
weapon of modesty; that, as man is armed with faith, so mayest thou
be armed with shamefacedness, therewith to conquer thy passions.”
“And what will protect me against the strength of man, so much more
robust and vigorous than I, in mind and in body?”
“Love and compassion,” answered Michael. “I have placed these in
the deepest recesses of his heart, as mighty advocates within him to
plead for thee.”
“And will God give me no further gift?”
“For the pangs of maternity thou shalt feel, this shall be thine, death
in child-bearing shall be reckoned in heaven as a death of
martyrdom.”[87]
Eblis, seeing the mercy shown to Adam and Eve, ventured to entreat
God’s grace for himself, and obtained that he should not be
enchained in the place of torment till the day of the general
Resurrection, and that he should exercise sovereignty over the
wicked and all those who should reject God’s Word in this life.
“And where shall I dwell till the consummation of all things?” he
asked of Allah.
“In ruined buildings, and in tombs, and in dens and caves of the
mountains.”
“And what shall be my nourishment?”
“All beasts slain in the name of false gods and idols.”
“And how shall I slake my thirst?”
“In wine and other spirituous liquors.”
“And how shall I occupy myself in hours of idleness?”
“In music, dancing, and song.”
“What is the word of my sentence?”
“The curse of God till the Judgment-day.”
“And how shall I fight against those men who have received Thy
revelation, and are protected by the two angels?”
“Thy offspring shall be more numerous than theirs: to every man
born into this world, there will be born seven evil spirits, who,
however, will be powerless to injure true Believers.”
God then made a covenant with Adam’s successors; He rubbed
Adam’s back, and lo! from out of his back crawled all generations of
men that were to be born, about the size of ants, and they ranged
themselves on the left and on the right. At the head of those on the
right stood Mohammed, then the other prophets and the faithful,
distinguished from those on the left by their white and dazzling
splendour. Those on the left were headed by Kabil (Cain).
God then acquainted Adam with the names and fate of all his
posterity; and when the recital arrived at David, to whom God had
allotted only thirty years, Adam asked God, “How many years are
accorded to me?”
Allah replied, “One thousand.”
Then said Adam, “I make a present to David of seventy years out of
my life.” God consented; and knowing the shortness of Adam’s
memory, at all events in matters concerning himself inconveniently,
He made the angels bring a formal document of resignation
engrossed on parchment, and required Adam to subscribe thereto
his name, and Michael and Gabriel to countersign it as witnesses.
A very similar tradition was held by the Jews, for in Midrash Jalkut
(fol. 12) it is said: God showed Adam all future generations of men,
with their captains, learned and literary men. Then he saw that David
was provided with only three hours of life, and he said, “Lord and
Creator of the world, is this unalterable?” “Such was my first
intention,” was the reply.
“How many years have I to live?”
“A thousand.”
“And is there such a thing known in heaven as making presents?”
“Most certainly.”
“Then I present seventy years of my life to David.”
And what did Adam next perform? He drew up a legal document of
transfer, and sealed it with his own seal, and God and Metatron did
likewise.
To return to the Mussulman legend.
When all the posterity of Adam were assembled, God exclaimed to
them, “Acknowledge that I am the only God, and that Mohammed is
my prophet.” The company on the right eagerly made this
acknowledgment; those, however, on the left long hesitated,—some
said only the former portion of the sentence, and others did not open
their mouths.
“The disobedient,” said Allah to Adam, “shall, if they remain
obstinate, be cast into hell, but the true believers shall be received
into Paradise.”
“So be it,” replied Adam. And thus shall it be at the end of the world.
After the covenant, Allah rubbed Adam’s back once more, and all his
little posterity retreated into it again.
When now God withdrew His presence from Adam’s sight for the
remainder of our first parents’ life, Adam uttered such a loud and
bitter cry that the whole earth quaked.
The All-merciful was filled with compassion, and bade him follow a
cloud which would conduct him to a spot where he would be directly
opposite His throne, and there he was to build a temple.
“Go about this temple,” said Allah, “and I am as near to you as to the
angels who surround my throne.” Adam, who was still the size that
God had created him, easily strode from Ceylon to Mecca after the
cloud, which stood over the place where he was to build. On Mount
Arafa, near Mecca, to his great delight, he found Eve again, and
from this circumstance the mountain takes its name (from Arafa, to
recognize, to know again). They both began to build, and erected a
temple having four doors—one was called Adam’s door, another
Abraham’s door, the third Ishmael’s door, and the fourth
Mohammed’s door. The plan of the temple was furnished by Gabriel,
who also contributed a precious stone, but this stone afterwards,
through the sin of men, turned black. This black stone is the most
sacred Kaaba, and it was originally an angel, whose duty it had been
to guard the Wheat-Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and to
warn off Adam should he approach it. But through his inattention the
design of God was frustrated, and in punishment he was
transformed into a stone, and he will not be released from his
transformation till the Last Day.
Gabriel taught Adam also all the ceremonies of the great pilgrimage.
Adam now returned with his wife to India, and lived there till he died,
but every year he made a pilgrimage to Mecca, till he lost his
primitive size, and retained only the height of sixty ells.
The cause of his diminution in height was his horror and dismay at
the murder of Abel, which made him shrink into himself, and he was
never afterwards able to stretch himself out again to his pristine
dimensions.[88]
The Book of the Penitence of Adam is a curious apocryphal work of
Syriac origin; I give an outline of its contents.
God planted, on the third day, the Terrestrial Paradise; it is bounded
on the east by the ocean in which, at the Last Day, the elect will
wash away all those sins which have not as yet been purged away
by repentance.
On leaving this garden of delights, Adam turned to take of it one last
look. He saw that the Tree which had caused his fall was cursed and
had withered away.
He was much surprised when night overtook him, for in Paradise he
had not known darkness. As he went along his way, shedding tears,
he overtook the serpent gliding over the ground, and licking the dust.
That serpent he had last seen on four feet, very beautiful, with the
hair of a young maiden, enamelled with brilliant colours. Now it was
vile, hideous, and grovelling. The beasts which, before the Fall, had
coveted its society, fled from it now with loathing.
Filled with rage at the sight of Adam and Eve, to whom it attributed
its present degradation, the serpent flew at them and prostrated
them. Thereupon God removed from it its sole remaining possession
—the gift of speech, and it was left only its hiss of rage and shame.
Adam soon felt exhaustion, heat, fear and pain;—afflictions he had
not known in Eden. As the shadows of night fell, an intense horror
overwhelmed the guilty pair; they trembled in every limb and cried to
God. The Almighty, in compassion, consoled them by announcing to
them that day would return after twelve hours of night. They were
relieved by this promise, and they spent the first night in prayer.
But Satan, who never lost sight of them, fearing lest their prayers
should wholly appease the divine justice, assembled his host of evil
angels, surrounded himself with a brilliant light, and stood at the
entrance of the cave where the banished ones prayed. He hoped
that Adam would mistake him for God, and prostrate himself before
him.
But Adam said to Eve: “Observe this great light and this multitude of
spirits. If it were God who sent them, they would enter and tell us
their message.” Adam did not know then that Satan cannot approach
those who pray. Then Adam addressed himself to God and said, “O
my God! is there another God but Thou, who can create angels and
send them to us? Lord, deign to instruct us!”
Then a heavenly angel entered the cavern and said, “Adam, fear not
those whom you see; it is Satan and his host. He sought to seduce
you again to your fall.”
Having thus spoken, the angel fell upon Satan and tore from off him
his disguise, and exposed him in his hideous nakedness to Adam
and Eve. And to console them for this trial, God sent Adam gold
rings, incense and myrrh, and said to him, “Preserve these things,
and they will give you at night light and fragrance; and when I shall
come down on earth to save you, clothed in human flesh, kings shall
bring me these three tokens.”
It is because of this present that the cavern into which Adam and
Eve retreated has been called the Treasure-cave.

You might also like