Role of Geochemistry in Sustainable Geotechnics

Abstract

The world in the twenty-first century is posed with unprecedented challenges such as rapid increase in world population, global resource depletion, increased waste generation, and increased greenhouse gas emissions, the consequences of which are unnerving. This, in fact, has triggered the geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineers to develop sustainable geosystems for civil infrastructure and for the protection of the environment. However, the solutions to these challenges are interdisciplinary. For geotechnical considerations, engineering properties of the soil and rock are influenced by several geochemical parameters and geochemical processes, which are usually not addressed in-depth by geotechnical engineers. However, it is crucial to understand these geochemical aspects of the soil and its environment so that they can be engineered to create favorable conditions for developing resilient and sustainable geosystems. This paper first presents the most significant geochemical properties and processes of soils, rock, and groundwater, followed by a discussion of recent advances that demonstrate the significance of geochemical processes toward an understanding and development of effective and potentially sustainable geosystems. The paper emphasizes on the need for studying the geochemistry and the geochemical factors affecting the performance and behavior of a geosystem.