Lecture #04

Formation of Soils

© Geotechnical Engineering, by L. Prieto-Portar, August 2004

The products of weathered rocks may stay in the same place, in which case they are called
residual soils, or, may be moved to other locations by rivers, ice, wind and gravity, in which
case they are called transported soils.

Residual Soils.
Residual soils are those that have weathered at their original rock and remained at their
origin. If the soil retains the characteristics of the structure of the parent rock, it is called a
sapprolite.

Soil profile in Hong Kong, shows the

parent granite at the bottom and
increasing degrees of weathered soil
towards the top of the photo. The top
layer is called a sapprolite.
Transported Soils.

Transported soils are classified according to the mode of transport and deposition into one of
these groups:

-Glacial soils, are the products of erosion and deposit by glaciers;

-Alluvial soils, are transported and deposited by steams and rivers;

-Lacustrine soils, are the deposits in lakes;

-Marine soils, are the various deposits from wave action, or currents in oceans and seas;

-Aeolian soils, are deposits from wind transportation;

- Colluvial soils are soils deposited by gravity in the form of mudslides or landslides.
Glacial Soils.

The general term drift is applied to all deposits that are laid down directly by glaciers. Drift is
called till when un-stratified: composed of boulders weighing several tonnes to gravels, sands,
silts, clays and colloidal particles all mixed up.

The deposits of till produce topographical features

called moraines and drumlins.

A terminal (or end) moraine is a ridge of till that

marks the limit of the glacier’s advance, whereas a
great amount of till spread out across a valley
floor to form a gentle rolling plain is called a
ground moraine.

Drumlins are smooth, elongated hills composed of

till, pointing in the direction from which the
glacier advanced. They are typically 8 to 60 m in
height, and up to 1 km in length. The show up in
aerial maps as drumlin fields.
The famous Perito
Moreno glacier in
Argentina, is
currently retreating
back to its source.
Drumlin near Elbridge, New York. The blunt end at the right is oriented towards the North, from which the
the glacier advanced.
Alluvial Soils.

Rivers carry deposits in direct proportion to their velocities. High velocities common to
mountain streams permit the transport of huge boulders, whereas the same river reaching the
ocean has such low velocities that it mostly carries silts and c lays.
Streams will occasionally flatten their course in mountainous areas. This flattening will
decrease the flow velocity and hence, force the river to unload the largest soils. These flats are
called terraces, and are excellent sources of gravels and cobbles for engineering contractors.
As the river emerges from the mountains and enters a plain, the velocity is greatly reduced and
the consequent pile up of soil called an alluvial fan. A line of alluvial fans may occur along the
sides and base of a mountain chain, which is clearly visible fro m a satellite. This chain of
alluvial fans is called piedmont (French: pied = foot, mont = mountain).
In the plain, the river meanders back and forth from an imaginary line towards the ocean. The
meanders occurs due to the differential between the flow velocit y at the river’s center and the
turbulent velocities at the bottom and sides. Higher velocities are attained on the outside of the
turns, which further erodes the river banks. Eventually the meander is so curved that a large
flow (for example, from a spring thaw) will cause the river to cut through the curves in order to
straighten the course. The large bends now become lakes (ox-bow lakes) cut off from further
flows. The lakes slowly fill up with deposits to become back-swamps. These swamps dry up an
leave little trace of their soft soils. Unwary engineers may attempt to place structures on these
weak soils and experience high settlements and possibly, structural damage.
The Hydrological cycle.
 Velocity variations in two planes in a stream

Aude River in SW France cuts limestone gorge. Zones of maximum turbulence in a stream.
Alluvian fan at Aachen See in the Austrian Alps.
Piedmont along Rockies at Salt Lake City.
The ocean is considered the ultimate base level for a stream; all others such as lakes, dams, etc. are intermediate.
Mississippi delta. Note heavy concentration of silts and clays close to the river’s mouth.
Lacustrine Soils.
Lake (lacustrine) deposition takes place as the river enters the large body of quiet water, which
forces a drop of the river’s flow velocity to practically zero. Shortly before arriving to the river-
lake interface, the velocity drop is sufficient to drop gravels in the river bed. Engineering
contractors exploit this characteristic to mine rivers. After gravels, coarse sands are deposited at
the interface. The finer deposits into the lake typically have shallow slopes of about 30°, with
medium and fine sands descending along the slope. In the depths of the lake are found the silts
and clays; colloids will flocculate when there is little turbule nce. As lake fill up, they turn into a
marsh or bog. In cold climates they choke with un-decayed vegetable matter that will ultimately
produce peat. Eventually, the surface dries out and the lake disappears.
Marine Soils.
There are two distinct marine deposits: offshore and shore.
a) Offshore deposits are very similar to lacustrine deposits, except that they are much larger,
in size and flocculation is intensive, due to the high concentra tions of salt in the oceans. Silts
flocculated in marine environments are called marls. In South Florida, there are extensive
areas of calcareous marls that tend to settle considerably under loads.
b) Shore deposits are the product of waves that break while arriving towards a shore, and
drop suspended sands and silts to form an offshore bar or spit. Heavy seas keep the inland
area behind the beach flooded, typically as tidal lagoons. This is commonly seen in Pacific
islands, and also at Miami-Dade, where Miami Beach originated as a spit, with Biscayne
Bay as its lagoon. Most lagoons slowly fill up, helped along wit h mangroves (which are trees
that can drink salt water with spider-like roots that trap sands and silts). The drying up
lagoons turn into marshes or mangrove swamps. Beaches are replenished from littoral
drift parallel to the shore.
Aeolian Soils.
Material blown by winds (dust storms and sandstorms) fall into two groups based on size:
a) sand (with grains varying from 0.15 to 0.30 mm) and
b) dust (which in reality are silts and clays) .

Wind is more effective in deserts than anywhere else. Dust size particles are carried high into
the atmosphere in suspension. Red sunsets over South Florida during Summer and early Fall
are commonly dust brought over from African deserts. Sand, on the other hand, moves in
continuous contact with the ground or moves a few centimeters above the ground in saltation.

Erosion is carried out by abrasion and deflation. Abrasion of rock by wind blown sand
produce ventifacts. Examples are seen in tombstones in our western towns. Deflatio n is the
erosive process by the wind that carry away unconsolidated soils. Areas as large as several
kilometers in diameter are carved out as blowouts, and leave behind a desert pavement.

Deposition of dust produces a loess, which is a loose, buff colored un-stratified deposit of
small angular mineral fragments. In the US, areas around the Mississippi have large deposits
of loess which are a product of the Dust Bowl of the thirties.

Deposition of sand is associated with dunes. The dune itself acts as a barrier to the wind and
may cause further deposition of sand. The dune profile shows a shallow slope towards the
wind and a steep slope to the leeward.
Colluvial Soils.
Colluvial soils are produced by the movement of soil from its original place by gravity, such as
mudflows and landslides. Usually, the movement of the soil is slow, and is called creep. A bit faster is
the process of erosion common in mountains, where rocks fall and accumulate at the bottom forming
a talus. But on occasions, very large and sudden movements can take place, that change entire
mountains in a few seconds, such as a lahar which is a catastrophic mudflow. Mudflows and landslides
are very common in tropical areas due to high rainfall. In the USA, Mount Rainer is expected to
generate a lahar in the near future.

Mudslide at Whitehorse, Yukon

in 1996.
Landslide at Sonsonate, El Salvador.

Minor earthquake triggered this slide

In February 2000, killing 200 residents
While they slept.