ORIGIN OF EXPANSIVE SOILS

The origin of expansive soils occurs from the

formation of clay minerals having a particular
chemical makeup which, when in contact in water
will expand.

The conditions or processes which determine the

clay mineralogy include composition of the parent
material and degree of physical and chemical
weathering to which the materials are subjected.
CLASSIFICATION OF PARENT MATERIALS

Parent materials that can be associated with expansive

soils are classified into two groups by G.W.
DONALDSON.

1. Igneous rocks

2. Sedimentary rocks (which contain montmorrillonite

as a constituent) .
 IGNEOUS ROCKS
These rocks have low silica of 45% to 52%.

Rocks which are rich in metallic bases such as the

pyroxenes, amphiboles, biotite and olivine fall
within this category:
1. Also includes the gabboros, basalts and volcanic
glass.
2. Basalts of the Deccan Plateau in India are the
examples for expansive soils.
 SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
These contains montmorillonite as a constituent
which also include shales and clay stones.
The conditions or processes which determine the
clay mineralogy include composition of the parent
material and degree of physical and chemical
weathering to which the materials are subjected.
1. Limestone and marls rich in magnesium can also
weather to clay.
2. Containing varying amount of volcanic ash and
glass which are weathered to montmorillonite.
 CLAY MINERALS
Most soil classification systems arbitrarily define
clay particles as having an effective diameter of
2μ(0.002mm) or less.
Particle size alone does not determine clay mineral.
Mineralogical composition is the most important grain
property of fine-grained soils.
For small size particles, the electrical forces acting
on the surface of the particles are much greater than
the gravitational forces. These particles are in the
colloidal state.
The colloidal particles consists primarily of clay
minerals that were derived from parent rock by
weathering .
The absorption of water by clays leads to expansion.
This magnitude of expansion depends upon
1. The kind and amount of clay minerals present
2. Their exchangeable ions
3. The electrolyte content of the aqueous phase and
4. Their internal structure.
 SOIL STRUCTURES

The geometrical arrangement of soil particles with respect to one

and another is known as soil structure.

The soil in the nature has different structures depending upon the
particle size and the mode of formation.

1. For coarse grained soils : Single-grained structure

Honey-comb structure
2. For clays : Flocculated structure
Dispersed structure
3. For mixed soils : Coarse grained skeleton
Clay-Matrix structure
 CATION EXCHANGE
 Clay minerals have the property of absorbing certain
anions and cations retaining them in an exchangeable
state.
 The exchangeable ions are held around the outside of
the silica alumina clay-mineral structural unit, and the
exchange reaction does not affect the structure of the
silica-alumina content.
 In clay minerals the most common exchangeable ions
are Ca++,Mg++,H+,K+,NH4+,Na+ .
 The existence of such charges is indicated by the ability
of clay to absorb ions from the solutions.
The existence of such charges is indicated by the ability of
clay to absorb ions from the solutions.

Cations are more readily adsorbed than anions. Hence

negative charges must be predominant on the clay surface.

A cation such as Na+ is readily attracted from a salt

solution which is attached to a clay surface and it can be
replaced by K+ ions if the clay is placed in a solution of
potassium chloride (KCl)

This process of replacement by excess cations is called

Cation Exchange.
 SOIL-WATER
The water is present in the pores of the soil is
classified as:
1. Free Water
2. Held Water

 Free water moves in the pores of soil under the

influence of gravity.
 The Held water is retained in the pores of the soil
and it cannot move under the influence of
gravitational force.
Free water flows from one point to the other
wherever there is a difference of total head.

The rate at which the head is lost along the flow

passage is equal to the hydraulic gradient.

The flow of free water in soils is just like laminar

flow in pipes.

Because of very small flow passages in the soil, the

velocity head is generally neglected, and the total head
is taken as the sum of elevation head and the pressure
head.
 HELD WATER
Held water is further divided into three types:
1. Structural Water
2. Adsorbed Water
3. Capillary Water

The structural water is chemically combined water

in the crystal structure of the mineral of the soil.

This water cannot be removed without breaking the

structure of the soil.
 CLAY MINERALS
 Clay minerals are basically silicates of
magnesium, aluminium or iron. They have complex
mineralogical structures.

 Clay minerals are made of two basic crystalline

units:

1. Tetrahedral Unit
2. Octahedral Unit
 TETRAHEDRAL UNIT
 It consists of a silicon atom surrounded by four
oxygen atoms.

 This basic unit has a configuration of a

tetrahedron with, three oxygen atoms forming the
base, while the fourth one is at the apex.

 A large tetrahedron combine to form a silica sheet

 OCTAHEDRAL UNIT

 This is formed by the six hydroxyl units

surrounding an aluminium or magnesium atom.

 The shape of the unit resembles a octahedron.

 The tetrahedral units join together to form a

GIBBSITE SHEET (Al2(OH)6).
 STRUCTURE OF CLAY PARTICLES
 The silica and gibbsite sheets are the basic building
blocks that form clay minerals.

 A number of silica and gibbsite sheets are stacked

over one another to form the crystalline structure of
the clay minerals.

 On the basis of the arrangement the of stacking, the

units forming clay mineral can be divided into:
1. 1:1 Structural Unit
2. 2:1 Structural Unit
 1:1 STRUCTURAL UNIT
 This stacking is formed by the stacking of one silica
sheet and one gibbsite sheet.
 The thickness of each structural unit is about 7.2Ᾰ
 A number of such units are stacked over one another to
form a clay particle.
 The units are held together by either hydrogen bonds or
secondary valence bonds.
 The most common clay mineral formed by the 1:1
structural units is kaolinite[Al2Si2O5(OH)4], which forms
kaolin, a soil characterized by its milk-white color.
 After processing, kaolin is available in the market in the
trade name CHINA CLAY.
This water cannot be removed without breaking the
structure of the soil.
 1:1 STRUCTURAL UNIT

 Halloysite [Al4Si4O10(OH)8] is another common

clay mineral that belongs to the same group.
 The structure of halloysite is identical to kaolinite
except that it contains additional water molecules
between the layers.
 Halloysite is often found in a dehydrated state as it
can lose the inter-layer water quite easily.
K Kaolinite particles have a platy structure , while
the structure of halloysite is more tubular.
 Present hallyosite is being widely used in
nanotechnology applications.
 2:1 STRUCTURAL UNIT

 This unit has a three layer structure where one

octahedral gibbsite sheet is sandwiched between two
tetrahedral silica sheets at the top and bottom.
 Each unit is about 10Ᾰ thick. A series of such
units are stacked to form a clay particle.
 The most common clay minerals of this type are
MONTMORILLONITE and ILLITE.

 MONTMORILLONITE
A montmorillonite crystal is formed by repeating
layers of 2:1 structural units.
 As the bonding between the successive layers is very
weak, water can easily enter into the layers.
 So soils formed by montmorillonite crystals can
absorb a substantial amount of water and have high
swelling and shrinkage potentials.
 Montmorillonite is the main constituent of the soil
called BENTONITE, which is obtained from volcanic
ash.
 Bentonite is widely used for stabilization of boreholes
during geo-technical investigations and oil drilling
operations.
 ILLITE

 The structure of illite is almost similar to that of

montmorillonite, but the 2:1 structural units are held
together by strong potassium ions(K+) .

 The positive charges of the K+ ions are balanced

by the negative charges produced by the
isomorphous substitution of some silicon atoms in
the silica sheets by aluminium atoms.