Buenaventura, Dheylvin Roy P.

201110201
BSCE4-1
CENG75A Geotechnical Engineering
June 14, 2014

Because they solidified from a fluid state, igneous rocks tend

to have a uniform fabric without layers, and the mineral grains are
packed together tightly. Think of the texture of something you would
bake in the oven. However, in many igneous rocks large mineral

Assignment:

crystals "float" in a fine-grained groundmass. The large grains are

Types of Rocks

called phenocrysts, and a rock with phenocrysts is called a porphyry;

Igneous Rock

that is, it has a porphyritic texture. Phenocrysts are minerals that

solidified earlier than the rest of the rock, and they are important clues

The main thing about igneous rocks is that they were once
hot enough to melt. The following traits are all related to that.

Because their mineral grains grew together tightly as the

They're made of primary minerals that are mostly black,

when

lava

Their textures generally look like something that was baked

in an oven. The even texture of coarse-grained granite is familiar

has

a glassy

volcano's sides. It has a pyroclastic texture. And pillow lava is a lumpy

formation created by extruding lava underwater.
Sedimentary Rocks

look like black bread (including gas bubbles) or dark peanut brittle

The main thing about

sedimentary rocks is that
they were once sediment
mud and sand and gravel
and clayand were not
greatly changed as they
turned
into
rock.
The
following traits are all
related to that.

(including larger crystals).

The

word

"igneous" comes from the

for

igneous

fire, and what

rocks

common

is

have
that

in
they

Figure 3. Sandstone

formed by the cooling

and crystallization of a
melt.
Figure 1. Basalt

quickly,

gas bubbles giving them a vesicular texture. Tuff is a rock made

from building stones or kitchen counters. Fine-grained lava may

Latin

hardens

entirely of volcanic ash, fallen from the air or avalanched down a

white or gray. Any other colors they may have are pale.

Some extrusive rocks have distinctive textures. Obsidian,

formed

texture. Pumice and scoria are volcanic froth, puffed up by millions of

melt cooled, they are relatively strong rocks.

to the rock's history.

This

material

may

have been lava erupted at

the

Earth's

They're generally arranged in layers

of sandy or clayey material (strata) like those you'll see in

excavations or in a hole dug in a sand dune.

surface,

or magma (unerupted lava) at depths of up to a few kilometers, or

magma in deeper bodies (plutons). Those three different settings

They're usually the color of sediment, that is, light brown to

light gray.

They may preserve signs of life and surface activity, like

fossils, tracks, ripple marks and so on.

create three main types of igneous rocks. Rock formed of lava is

called extrusive, rock from shallow magma is called intrusive and rock

Clastic

from deep magma is called plutonic. The deeper the magma, the

Sedimentary

Rocks

slower it cools and the larger the mineral crystals that form in it.
Igneous Rock Textures

The

The three types

of igneous rocks differ in

rocks

their textures, starting with

the

size

of

the

mineral

grains. Extrusive rocks cool

quickly
seconds
have invisible or microscopic grains, or

(over
to

periods

months)

granular

Figure 2. Obsidian

an aphanitic texture. Intrusive rocks cool

more slowly (over thousands of years) and have visible grains of small
to medium size, or phaneritic texture. Plutonic rocks cool over millions
of years and can have grains as large as pebbleseven meters across.

consist

of

the

materials

that

occur in sediment. Sediment mostly consists of surface minerals

Figure 4. Limestone
quartz and claysthat are

of
and

most

common set of sedimentary

made

by

the physical

breakdown and chemical alteration of rocks. These are carried

away by water or wind and laid down in a different place. Sediment
may also include pieces of stones and shells and other objects, not
just grains of pure minerals. Geologists use the word clasts to denote
particles of all these kinds, and rocks made of clasts are called clastic
rocks.
Look around you at where the world's clastic sediment goes: sand and
mud is carried down rivers to the sea, mostly. Sand is made of quartz,

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and mud is made of clay minerals. As these sediments are steadily

Granular soil cannot be molded when moist and crumbles easily when

buried over geologic time, they get packed together under pressure

dry.

and low heat, not much more than 100C. In these conditions the
sediment is cemented into rock: sand becomes sandstone and clay

Granular soils are described as the type of soils where

becomes shale. If gravel or pebbles are part of the sediment, the rock

cohesion between particles of the soil is absent or minimal. Working

that forms is conglomerate. If the rock is broken and recemented

and compacting on granular soils such as sands and gravels is a really

together it is called breccia.

hard job to perform. Due to

their

composition,

water

Metamorphic Rocks

can enter or leave the voids

The main thing about metamorphic rocks is that they are shaped by

with relative ease. If voids

great heat and pressure. The following traits are all related to that.

in the sand are completely

Because their mineral grains grew together tightly during

metamorphism, they're generally strong rocks.

They're made of different minerals than other kinds of

rocks and have a wide range of color and luster.

They generally show signs of stretching or squeezing, giving

filled with water

Figure 5. Slate

or

are

completely dry there are no

forces

holding

the

sand

particles.

them a striped appearance.

Applying vibration to those particles will tend to create a
Types of Soil (Based on Origin)

dense configuration. However, the amount of water in the voids of the

Residual Soil

granular soils will affect the cohesion between the particles. Dumping

Residual soils are those that remain at the place of their

formation as a result of the weathering of the parent rocks. The depth
of the residual soils depends primarily on climatic conditions and the
time of exposure. In some areas, this depth might be considerable. In
temperate zones residual soils are commonly stiff and stable. An
important characteristic of residual soil is that the sizes of grains are
indefinite.
Transported Soil

sand or gravel from the bed of a truck or from a scraper places the
granular material in a relatively loose condition, particularly if the sand
contains only a small amount of surface moisture. This material must
be compacted so it can provide the required strength. If the material is
not compacted, then it can lead to settlements in the future.

Cohesive Soil

"Cohesive soil" means clay (fine grained soil), or soil with a

Transported soils are soils that are found at locations far

high clay content, which has cohesive strength. Cohesive soil does not

removed from their place of formation. The transporting agencies of

crumble, can be excavated with vertical sideslopes, and is plastic when

such soils are glaciers, wind and water. The soils are named according

moist. Cohesive soil is hard to break up when dry, and exhibits

to the mode of transportation. Alluvial soils are those that have been

significant cohesion when submerged. Cohesive soils include clayey

transported by running water. The soils that have been deposited in

silt, sandy clay, silty clay, clay and organic clay.

quiet lakes, are lacustrine soils. Marine soils are deposited in sea water.
The soils transported and deposited by wind are Aeolian soils. Those
deposited primarily through the action gravitational force, as in
landslides, are colluvial soils. Glacial soils are those deposited by
glaciers. Many of these transported soils are loose and soft to a depth
of several hundred feet. Therefore difficulties with foundations and
other types of construction are generally associated with transported
soils.

Organic Soil
Organic soil is gardening soil that contains only ingredients which have
been certified as organic. There are a number of types, including
organic potting soil, soil for backfill, and soil specifically designed for
vegetable or flower gardens. Many gardening stores carry organic soil
in a variety of formats, along with other organic gardening accessories,
like organic mulch.

Classification of Soil

Granular Soil

"Granular soil" means gravel, sand, or silt (coarse grained

soil) with little or no clay content. Granular soil has no cohesive
strength. Some moist granular soils exhibit apparent cohesion.

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Field Classification

References

http://books.google.com.ph/books?
id=Lhetuhms4t4C&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=residual+and+transported+
soil&source=bl&ots=lVO9_E26El&sig=r66DSPoO0l6T2BFIBphS8oUaMv
4&hl=fil&sa=X&ei=VQCdU7aAorboASg8YDIBw&ved=0CBgQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=residual
%20and%20transported%20soil&f=false
Geotechnical Engineering: Principles and Practices of Soil Mechanics
and Foundation Engineering
V.N.S. Murthy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SoilTextureTriangle.jpg

http://geology.about.com/cs/basics_roxmin/a/aa011804a.htm
http://geology.about.com/cs/basics_roxmin/a/aa011804b.htm
http://geology.about.com/cs/basics_roxmin/a/aa011804c.htm
Andrew Alden

http://geology.com/rocks/igneous-rocks.shtml
http://geology.com/rocks/obsidian.shtml
http://geology.com/rocks/basalt.shtml
http://geology.com/rocks/sedimentary-rocks.shtml
http://geology.com/rocks/sandstone.shtml
http://geology.com/rocks/limestone.shtml
http://geology.com/rocks/metamorphic-rocks.shtml
http://geology.com/rocks/marble.shtml
http://geology.com/rocks/slate.shtml
https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?
p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10931
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-organic-soil.htm

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