Use of Soil Texture Analysis to Predict Subsurface Fracturing in Glacial Tills and Other Unconsolidated Materials
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Date
2006-04
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Abstract
Predicting the occurrence and development of fractures is difficult because fracturing in glacial tills and other unconsolidated materials has been observed across many geographic areas, climates, land uses, soil types, and till units. This difficulty led to a statistical investigation of historic geologic and soil
data. Soil textures and fracture depths from 9 field sites and 45 soil pedons (140 sample points) were analyzed using statistical and graphical methods. When plotted on the USDA soil texture ternary diagram, the data indicate that tills having less than 10% clay or greater than 52% sand are unlikely to support fracturing; conversely tills having greater than 10% clay or less than 52% sand are more likely to do so. Based on the 95% hexagonal confidence region for soil texture data, tills with less than 55% sand, 20-65% silt, and 5-53% clay would be more likely to form fractures. The texture classes of tills predicted to sustain
fracturing were mainly clay, loam, clay loam, silty clay loam, and silty clay. The depth of glacial tills having observed fractures ranged from 0.5 to 215 ft. These results are useful to explain and document how fractures are created in glacial tills and may be a useful tool for field engineers and geologists allowing them to anticipate fractures in glacial tills in Ohio and beyond.
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Author Institution: Dept. of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Author Institution: Dept. of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Author Institution: Dept. of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
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The Ohio Journal of Science, v106, n2 (April, 2006), 22-26.