土质学与土力学专业英语文献阅读Soil_Description_and_Classification.doc

Chapter 3 Soil Description and Classification It is essential that a standard language should exist for the description of soils. A comprehensive description should included the characteristics of both the soil material and the in situ soil mass. Material characteristics can be determined from disturbed samples of the soil, i.e. samples having the same particls size distribution as the in-situ soil but in which the in- situ structure has not been preserved. The principal material characteristics are particle size distribution (or grading) and plasticity, from which the soil name can be deduced. Particle size distribution and plasticity properties can be determined either by standard laboratory tests or by simple visual and manual procedures. Secondary. material characteristics are the colour of the soil antithe shape, texture and composition of the particles. Mass characteristics should ideally be determined in the field but in many cases they can be detected in undisturbed samples, i. e. samples in which the in- situ soil structure has been essentially preserved. A description of mass characteristics should include an assessment of in- situ firmness or strength, and details of any bedding, discontinuities and weathering. The arrangement of minor geological details, referred to as the soil macro-fabric, should be carefully described as this can influence the engineering behaviour of the in-situ soil to a considerable extent. Exampls of macro- fabric features are thin layers of fine sand; and silt in a clay; silt-filled fissures in clay; small lenses of clay in a sand; organic inclusions and root holes. The name of the geological formation, if definitely know, should be included in the description; in addition the type of deposit may be stated (e. g. till, alluvium, fiver terrace)as this can indicate, in a general way, the likely behaviour of the soil. It is important to distinguish between soil description and soil classification. Soil description includes details