Definition
An unconsolidated natural set of solid mineral particles that result from physical disintegration and chemical decomposition of the rocks, which may contain organic matter and voids between the particles, isolated or linked, which may contain water and/or air.
Introduction
Classification of soils consists on the division of soils into classes based on their genetic, textural, chemical, mineralogical, physical, or geotechnical characteristics. The nature of the parent rock influences the composition of the resulting soil. The weathering processes and type and amount of transport before deposition, as in the case of sedimentary soils , affect the structure of the soils and their engineering properties.
Soil has several meanings according to the professional perspective of the person who defines it. The main purpose of the systems for soil classification is to group...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
AASHTO (2012) Classification of soils and soil-aggregate mixtures for highway construction purposes. M145-91. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Washington, DC
ASTM D2487 (2011) Standard practice for classification of soils for engineering purposes (Unified soil classification system). ASTM International, West Conshohocken
Bell FG (2000) Engineering properties of soils and rocks, 4th edn. Blackwell Science, Oxford
Casagrande A (1948) Classification and identification of soils. Trans ASCE 113:901–932
County Roads Board (1982) Test method CRB 373.01. Secondary mineral content using a petrological microscope. Manual of testing procedures, vol III. Victoria, pp 1–6
Cruz N, Gomes C, Rodrigues C, Viana da Fonseca A (2015) An approach for improving Wesley Engineering Classification. The case of Porto Granites. Geotechnical Engineering for Infrastructure and Development: XVI European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, ECSMGE, vol 6, p 490
Geological Society of London (1990) Engineering group working party report: tropical residual soils. Q J Eng Geol 23:1–101.
Hogentogler CA, Terzaghi K (1929) Interrelationship of load, road and subgrade. Public Roads 10:37–64
Irfan TY (1996) Mineralogy, fabric properties and classification of weathered granites in Hong Kong. Q. J. Eng. Geol. 29:5–35
ISO/CEN (2001) Geotechnical Engineering – identification and description of rock. International standard 14689–2
Lumb P (1962) The properties of decomposed granite. Géotechnique 12:226–243
Lumb P (1965) The residual soils of Hong-Kong. Géotechnique 15(2):180–194
Rocha Filho P, Antunes FS, Falcão MFG (1985) Qualitative influences of the weathering degree upon the mechanical properties of an young gneissic residual soil. Proceedings of the 1st internationalconference on geomechanics in tropical lateritic and saprolitic Soils, Brasilia, vol 1, pp 281–294
Vaughan PR, Maccarini M, Mokhtar SM (1988) Indexing the engineering properties of residual soils. Q J Eng Geol 21:69–84
Wesley LD (1988) Engineering classification of residual soils. Proceedings of the 2nd international conference on geomechanics in tropical soils, Singapore, pp 73–84
Wesley LD (2009) Behaviour and geotechnical properties of residual soils and allophane clays. Obras y Proyectos 6:5–10
Wesley LD (2010) Geotechnical engineering in residual soils. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, New York
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Duarte, I.M.R., Rodrigues, C.M.G., Pinho, A.B. (2017). Classification of Soils. In: Bobrowsky, P., Marker, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Engineering Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12127-7_52-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12127-7_52-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-12127-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-12127-7
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences