1.

SOIL FORMATION & COMPOSITION

Soils (for Civil Engineering):

 All naturally occuring relatively unconsolidated earth material (organic or
inorganic) that lies above bedrock.
 They can be broken down into constituent particles relatively easily (distinct
from rocks, hard soil at the boundary).
Soil mechanics:
 Concerns the application of principles of mechanics, hydraulics & chemistry to
engineering problems related to soils & to under stand soil behavior.

BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

 1. SOIL FORMATION & COMPOSITION

Soil Formation & Soil Type (Geologic Origin):

1. Physical & chemical weathering of parent rock
2. Organic origin (Compressible & unfit as foundation material)

1. Physical & chemical weathering of parent rock:

Physical (mechanical disintegration):
 Retains minerals present in parent rock.
 Results in coarse grained soil (gravel & sand)
 Due to grinding action of flowing water, ice & wind
 Due to splitting action of ice, plants & animals
Chemical (rock decomposition):
 Due to oxidation, hydration, carbonation & leaching by organic acids & water
(clays & silts)

BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

 1. SOIL FORMATION & COMPOSITION

 If product of rock weathering is located at the place of origin, then it is called

residual soil.
 If it is transported by wind, water, ice etc. & redeposited, then it is called
transported soil.

Transported Soil:
Alluvial: Deposited from suspension in running water.
Lacustrine: Deposited from suspension in still & freshwater lakes.
Marine: Deposited from suspension in sea water.
Aeolin: Transported by wind.
Glacial: Transported by ice.

BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

 Effects of transportation on sediments (Table 1.1)
Water Air Ice Gravity Organisms

Size Reduction Considerable Considerable Considerable Minor abrasion

through reduction grinding & impact effects from
solution, little impact direct organic
abrasion in transportation
suspended load,
some abrasion &
impact in
traction load

Shape & Rounding of High degree Angular, Angular,

roughness sand & of rounding soled non-
gravel particles spherical
Surface Sand: Impact Striated Striated
texture smooth, produces surfaces surfaces
polished, frosted
shiny surfaces

Sorting Considerable Very Very little No sorting Limited

sorting considerable sorting sorting
sorting

BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

Some soils formed due to these methods of transportation & deposition:
Loess: loose deposit of wind blown deposit, weakly cemented with calcium carbonate &
montmorillonite. (in arid and semi-arid regions).
Tuff: small grained, slightly cemented volcanic ash (wind or water transportation)
Bentonite: chemically weathered volcanic ash.
Glacial till: mixture of boulder, gravel, sand, silt & clay (glacier deposit)
Varved clay: thin layer of silt (in warm weather during heavy run off) & clay (in cold weather
during small run off) deposited in fresh water glacial lake due to outwash from glaciers.
Marl: very fine grained calcium carbonate soil of marine origin.
Gumbo: sticky, plastic, dark coloured clay.
Peat: highly organic soil, containing almost entirely vegetative matter in varying state of
decomposition, brown to black in colour, fibrous & highly compressible.
Muck: mixture of fine particled, inorganic soil & black, decomposed organic matter (in swamps
or due to overflowing river deposit).
Humus: dark brown, organic, amorphous top soil, consisting of partly decomposed vegetative
matter.
Hard pan: layer of extremely hard cohesive soil (difficult drilling with ordinary earth boring
tools).
Colluvial soil: rock debris accumulation at the base of stiff cliff.
Mine tailings: silt sized materials resulting as waste after mineral extraction from natural rock
(hydraulic fill deposit).

BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

 1. SOIL FORMATION & COMPOSITION

Major Soil deposits in India:

(i)Marine deposits:
 Very soft to soft clay (thickness from 5 to 20 meters).
 Medium sensitive & inorganic.
 Need pretreatment before load application.
 Controlled loading to prevent failure.
(ii)Black cotton Soils:
 Expansive due to presence of Illite & Montmorillonite clays.
 Thickness upto max. 20m.
 Crack depth & pattern varies.
 Surface is hard in summer & slushy in rainy season.
 Seasonal w/c change causes volume change upto max. 1.5m depth.
 Due to swelling & shrinkage characteristics, soil should be pretreated.

BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

 1. SOIL FORMATION & COMPOSITION

(iii)Laterites & lateritic soils:

 Thickness more than 30m.
 Laterisation is the process of rock removal, silica removal, base removal,
aluminum & iron accumulation at the top of soil profile.
 If approximately 90% coarse grained: laterite.
 Mostly fine grained: lateritic.
 Has high strength when cut & dried in heat (due to iron oxide dehydration &
halloysite presence).
 Strength of hardened soil not affected due to water presence.
(iv)Alluvial Soils:
 Exhibits alternate layers of sand, silt & clay.
 In some locations organic layers are also found.
 Depth upto 100m.
 Alluvial sand: Used as fine aggregate.
 Alluvial clay: For brick manufacturing.

BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

 1. SOIL FORMATION & COMPOSITION

(V)Desert Soils:
 Wind blown deposits in the form of sand dunes.
 Formed under arid conditions.
 Mostly fine or silty sand.
 Water scarcity is a serious problem.

(VI)Boulder Deposits:
 Boulder deposits due to rivers flowing in hilly terrains.
 Their properties depend on relative proportion of boulder and soil matrix.
 Boulder-to-boulder contact results in large friction and angle of shearing
resistance.
 Due to large size, laboratory sample is not representative of natural deposit,
hence field investigations are carried out to find properties needed in design.

BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956

1. SOIL FORMATION & COMPOSITION

BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956