Various Types of Soil

One is well aware of the fact that there are different types of soil found. In this article, we are going to discuss different types of soil.

Bentonite –
1. Contains very high percentage of Clay mineral montmorillonite
2. Highly plastic clay resulted from the decomposition of volcanic ash.
3. Highly water absorbent and high shrinkage and swelling characteristics.
Black Cotton Soil –
1. Residual Soil
2. Contain high percentage of clay mineral montmorillonite.
3. Low bearing capacity and high shrinkage and swelling properties.
Boulders –
1. Rock fragments of large size (more than 300 mm)
Calcareous Soils –
1. Contain large quantity of calcium carbonate.
2. Effervesce when tested with diluted HCl.
Cliche –
1. It is a mixture of gravel, silt, and sand.
2. The mixture is usually cemented by the presence of calcium carbonate.
Clay –
1. Fine grained cohesive soil.
2. Clay can be made by adjusting the water content.
3. Strength of clay is higher in dry state.
4. particle size in clay is less than 0.002 mm.
5. Organic clay is highly compressible and its strength is very high when dry.
Cobbles –
1. Large size particles range from 80 mm to 300 mm.
Diatomaceous Earth –
1. Diatoms are the marine unicellular organism and this soil is formed by the deposits of silicious remains of skeletons of diatoms.
2. Diatomaceous earth is fine, light grey and sedimentary deposit.
Dispersive Clay –
1. This clay deflocculates in water and erodes if exposed to high-velocity water.
Dune Sands –
1. Wind transported soil.
2. Composed of uniform particles of fine to medium sand.
Expansive Clays –
1. Volume change is large when water content is changed.
2. contain mineral montmorillonite.
Fills –
1. Man-made deposits of waste material.
2. Used in the soil embankments raised above the ground.
Gravel –
1. Coarse-grained soil
2. Particle size ranges from 4.75 mm to 80 mm.
Hardpans –
1. Offers great resistance to the penetration of drilling tools.
2. Well-graded, dense and cohesive aggregates of mineral particles.
3. Do not disintegrate when submerged into water.
Humus –
1. Dark brown organic amorphous topsoil.
2. contains partially decomposed organic matter.
Laterites –
1. Residual soils of tropical regions.
2. contains iron oxide or aluminium oxide.
3. Cementing action of oxides is found in this soils.
Loam –
1. Mixture of sand, silt, and clay.
Loess –
1. Silt deposited by wind.
2. Uniformly graded with particle size ranging from 0.01 to 0.05 mm.
3. Consist quartz and feldspar particles usually cemented with calcium carbonate or iron oxide.
Marl –
1. Stiff, marine, calcareous clay
2. Greenish in colour.
Moorum –
1. Consist small pieces of disintegrated rock or shale.
Muck –
1. Mixture of fine soil particles and highly decomposed organic matter.
2. Black colour and soft consistency.
Peat –
1. Highly compressible and not suitable for foundation.
2. Organic soil having fiberous aggregates of macroscopic and microscopic particles.
3. Formed from vegetal matter under condition of excess moisture.
Sand –
1. Coarse-grained soil with the particle size between 4.75 mm to 0.075 mm.
2. Cohesionless and pervious.
Silt –
1. Fine-grained soil with particle size between 0.002 mm to 0.075 mm.
2. Particles are not visible to naked eyes.
3. Inorganic silt consist grains of quartz.
4. No platisity and cohesionless.
5. Organic silt consist of admixture of organic matter.
6. Organic silt is platic as well as cohesive.
Till –
1. Unstratified deposit made by melting of a glacier.
2. Well-graded soil.
3. Also known as boulder-clay.
Tuff –
1. Fine-grained soil.
2. Composed of very small particles ejected from volcanoes.
Tundra –
1. Mat of peat and shrubby vegetation that covers clayly subsoil in arctic region.
Varved Clays –
1. Sedimentary deposit consist thin layes of silt and clay.
2. Result of decomposition in lakes during period of high and low waters.