Soil Mechanics

CE-222
Origin of Soil and Grain Size

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 Earth’s Core 2

The Crust has a thickness of

about 10 to 40 km. It is mostly
made up of light silicates with an
average g = 3 g/cm3.

The upper and lower mantle is

about 3000 km thick and is made
up of metallic silicates and
sulfides with g = 3.5 to 6 g/cm3.

The liquid core is about 2100 km

thick and is made up primarily of
liquid Fe and Ni, with a g = 10
g/cm3.

The solid inner core has a

diameter of 1300 km and a g = 13
g/cm3.
 Igneous Rocks 3

• Igneous rocks are created when

molten material such as magma
(within the Earth) or lava (on the
surface) cools and hardens. The hot
materials crystallize into different
minerals.

• The properties and sizes of various

crystals depend on the magma’s
composition and its rate of cooling.

• Examples: Granite, Obsidian,

Basalat, Pumice, Andesite, Diorite,
Rhyolite.
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Igneous Rocks 5
Igneous Rocks 6

An example of a dike
crossing through a
limestone formation.
Igneous Rocks 7
Igneous Rocks 8

This rock is an intrusive

igneous rock, that was
formed by a pool of lava
that hardens under the
surface and then becomes
visible when the
surroundings get eroded.
 Sedimentary Rocks 9

• Sedimentary rocks are made up of

sediments eroded from igneous,
metamorphic, other sedimentary
rocks, and even the remains of
dead plants and animals.
• These materials are deposited in
layers, or strata, and then squeezed
and compressed into rock.
• Most fossils are found in
sedimentary rocks.
• Examples: sandstone, shale,
conglomerate, limestone, chert,
coal, gypsum.
Sedimentary Rocks 10
 Sedimentary Rocks 11

A conglomerate is a sedimentary rock that has pieces of other rocks glued.

 Sedimentary Rocks 12

Layered limestone at Trenton Falls, New York

 Sedimentary Rocks 13

A sandstone formation shows the bedding planes.

 Sedimentary Rocks 14

This pink colored sandstone was formed when sand was buried and
compressed, usually offshore of river deltas, but can occur in deserts
also.
 Metamorphic Rocks 15

• Metamorphic rocks are much less common at the

earth’s surface than are sedimentary rocks.
• They are produced when sedimentary or igneous
rocks literally change their texture and structure as
well as mineral and chemical composition, as a result
of heat, pressure, and shear.
• Examples: Marble, slate, quartzite, schist, gneiss
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 Metamorphic Rocks 17

Gneiss is formed from granite, gabbros and diorite that minerals in

distinct bands
 Metamorphic Rocks 18

Marble is the melting and cooling of a limestone. The color is a

function of the impurities of the parent limestone (pink for iron, etc.)
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Different Rock Types Found on Earth’s Surface
 Rock Cycle 20

• Basic types of rock :

– Igneous
– Sedimentary
– Metamorphic

• ROCK CYCLE : is the formation cycle of

different types of rock and the processes
associated with them
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 Weathering 24

• Weathering converts exposed rock to soil in place

• Erosion transports dissolved or fragmented material from
the source area where weathering is occurring to a
depositional environment.
• Most of the earth’s surface is covered by exposure of
sediment or sedimentary rock, by area.
• But the sediment layer is thin in most places, with
respect to overall crustal thickness, so sedimentary rock
is a minor volume fraction of the crust (in part by
definition: once buried to the mid-crust, sediments get
cooked to meta-sediments).
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 Origin of Soil 26

• Soil is a product of weathering.

• Weathering: process of breaking down of rocks by
mechanical and chemical processes into smaller
pieces.
• Mechanical weathering : expansion and contraction
of rocks from the continuous gain and loss of heat.
• Chemical weathering: the original rock materials are
transformed into new minerals by chemical reaction.
– Involve water and carbon dioxide from atmosphere that
reacts with the existing rock minerals to form new
minerals and soluble salts
 Weathering 27

• Mechanical Weathering
– Making little pieces out of big ones.
– Composition of original rocks does not change.
– Result: lithic fragments

• Chemical Weathering
– Original minerals chemically break down.
– Result: formation of new minerals stable at Earth-surface
conditions.
Mechanical Weathering 28
 Soil Deposits 29

• Soils can be categorized according to where they are

ultimately deposited relative to the location of the
parent rock.
• Residual soils: The products of weathered rocks may
stay in the same place; in which case they are called
residual rocks.
• Transported soils: If the soils are moved to other
locations by rivers, ice, wind, and gravity, in which
case they are called transported soils.
Soil Deposits 30

• Heterogeneous and anisotropic material

• Layered
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Transportation of Weathering Products 32

ICE

TRANSPORTATION
GRAVITY AGENTS WATER

WIND
 Transported Soils 33

Transported soils; depends on their mode of transportation

• Glacial soils are transported and deposited by glaciers
• Alluvial soils are transported and deposited by streams
and rivers
• Lacustrine soils are the deposits in quiet lakes
• Marine soils are deposited under seas
• Aeolian soils are transported and deposited by wind
• Colluvial soils are rapidly deposited soils via gravity in
the form of mudslides or landslides.
 Soil-Particle Size 34

• Soils are generally called gravel, sand, silt or clay.

• Gravels are pieces of rocks.
• Sand particles are made of mostly quartz and feldspar.
• Silts are microscopic soil fractions that contain very fine
quartz grains and some flake-shaped particles.
• Clays are mostly flake-shaped microscopic /sub-microscopic
particles of mica, clay minerals etc.

No. 200 No. 4 3-in.

fines sand gravel cobbles

.075 mm 4.75 mm 75 mm
 Clays 35

What makes clays such

interesting and dangerous
soils for foundations?

This simple experiment

shows the range of
strength for a single clay
sample
 Clays 36

• The term clay refers to a number of earthy materials that are

composed of minerals rich in alumina, silica and water. Clay is
not a single mineral, but a number of minerals.

• When most clays are wet, they become “plastic” meaning that
can be formed and molded into shapes.

• When clay is “fired”, the water is driven off and they become as
hard as stone.

• Clay is easily found all over the world. As a result, nearly all
civilizations have used some form of clay for everything from
bricks to pottery to tablets for recording business transactions.
 Clays 37

• Physical characteristics of clays are:

– They can absorb water or lose water from simple humidity
changes.
– When water is absorbed, clays will often expand as the
water fills the spaces between the stacked silicate layers.
– Due to the absorption of water, the specific gravity of clays
is highly variable and is lowered with increased water
content.
– Clays tend to form from weathering and sedimentary
processes with only a few examples of clays forming in
primary igneous or metamorphic environments.