04 - Soils That Are Sediments

Source: GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
4 Soils That Are Sediments
4.1 SEDIMENTS IN ENGINEERING
4.1.1 Overview
Most soils used in engineering actually are sediments instead of residual soils that
have been developed in place by weathering. Their properties therefore relate to
sedimentation processes instead of weathering.
Sediments are geologically young compared with sedimentary rocks, and have
not undergone significant lithification or hardening. Sand is a sediment, sandstone
a rock. Sedimentary soils may subsequently be altered by weathering, which is
the topic of the next chapter.
Sand and gravel deposited in river bars are readily recognized as sediments,
as is sand that has been shaped by wind into dunes. However, other sediments that
are less obvious are much more plentiful and play a more significant role in
engineering. These include broad swaths of soils left plastered across the northern
parts of the continents by continental glaciers and blankets of dust that were
carried and deposited by winds.
An understanding of sedimentary processes helps to define and explain differences

that impact engineering uses. A sediment that has been crushed under the weight
of a continental glacier most likely will be an excellent foundation soil, whereas
the sand that is loosely deposited in a dune is not. Some soils make excellent fill
materials; others do not. Some soils expand and other soils collapse when wet
with water. Sediments are the most variable of all engineering materials, and
geotechnical engineers must be able to recognize, know, and appreciate their
properties—the good, the bad, the indifferent, and the impossible. In some cases
the best way to deal with a difficult soil is to replace it.
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Soils That Are Sediments
60 Geotechnical Engineering
4.1.2 Transportation and Sorting

There are five common transporting agents for sediments: wind, water, ice,
gravity, and animals including man.
Sorting refers to a tendency for sediments to be separated into uniform grain sizes,
which varies according to the transporting agent. Landslide and glacial till soils
exhibit little or no sorting action, particularly when compared with water- and
wind-deposited soils.
A stream or a river is capable of excellent sorting action, with gravel being

deposited by rapidly flowing current, sand by a moderate current, silt in a slow
current, and clay with practically no current at all. Common sediments and
their degrees of sorting are listed in Table 4.1.
4.2 SEDIMENTS AND GEOGRAPHY
4.2.1 Location, Location

The fact that many towns and cities were founded near rivers or seacoasts
emphasizes the relevance of sedimentary soils in engineering. The reason of course
is accessibility for transportation and trade. Sediments in alluvial and coastal
areas often are recently deposited and relatively soft, having settled to an equilib-
rium density under their own weight. This means that if an additional weight
such as a foundation is added, it will compress the soil and settle. The amount of
settlement that can be allowed is the most common criterion used in foundation
design. The soil density and stiffness tend to increase with depth, a factor that
is utilized when founding structures on piles.
4.2.2 Settlement
Sediments that are in equilibrium with their own weight are said to be normally
consolidated. Venice is an example of a city that is situated on a soil that still is
normally consolidating, which explains why Venice is sinking. Both the amount
and rate of settlement are important considerations for any design.
The position of a groundwater table also affects settlement because of the buoyant
reduction in soil weight—the lower the weight, the less a soil will tend to con-
solidate under its own weight. For example, consider the weight of a bucket
of sand both in and out of the water. According to a principle first put forth
by Archimedes, the weight of the submerged object is reduced by the weight of
the water that it displaces. This difference is readily calculated by knowing the
density of the soil and of the water.
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Mechanism Sediment name (sorting) Characteristics Table 4.1 Common

sedimentary soils
Gravity Talus or scree (poor) Rockfalls: steep cone-shaped deposits
and their transporting
of loose rock fragments at the base of
agents
cliffs or mountains
Landslides (poor) Downslope sliding of a mass of soil.
Usually caused by erosion and removal
of soil at the toe and triggered by
wet conditions
Water and Slope wash or Loose mix of soils collecting near the
gravity colluvium (moderate) base of gentle hillslopes
Water Alluvium (excellent) Wide variety of soil materials from
boulders to clay, deposited by streams
and rivers
Beach (excellent) Loose gravel or sand deposits reworked
by wave action
Offshore deposits Soft silts and clay deposited in relatively
(moderate) quiet water
Ice Glacial drift Wide variety of deposits from glacial
(variable) melting, including glacial till and
glacio-fluvial deposits
Till (poor) Heterogeneous mix of all sizes of soil
materials, sometimes firmly compacted
under the weight of the ice
Water and Glacio-fluvial deposit Sand and gravel deposited from glacial
ice (good) meltwater. Deposits extend down river
valleys far from the glacial source
Wind Dune sand (excellent) Loose fine-grained sand
Loess (good) Thick deposits of silt that may collapse
if wet, transitional to thinner deposits
of silty clay with increasing distance
from a source area
Water and Peat (poor) Fibrous plant material. Generally
plants considered the worst soil for
engineering purposes but good for
potting plants
Man Fill (poor) The most random and potentially
dangerous of all sediments. We know
who is to blame
Engineered fill Selected soils that have been
(selected) compacted under strict guidelines
for use as foundation soils, earth
embankments, and lagoon linings

Buoyancy therefore is an important consideration in geotechnical engineering,

and simply lowering the groundwater table, for example by pumping from wells,
will increase the weight of the emerging soil by approximately a factor of two.
The additional weight leads to additional compression of the underlying soil.
This is dramatically illustrated in Mexico City, where pumping from wells has
resulted in settlement that in some areas is measured in tens of meters.
Another option in areas of soft soils is to support structures on piles that extend
down to underlying hard strata or bedrock. In this case settlement of adjacent
unsupported areas can create the illusion that buildings are rising up out of the
ground. In places like Mexico City a common countermeasure is to support a
structure on hydraulic jacks that can be lowered to keep pace with the settlement.
4.2.3 Medieval Construction

Many medieval structures have survived not because the builders were better
engineers, but because manpower was many times slower than machines, and
centuries often were required to complete a castle or cathedral. Typically, the
foundation was simply large stones laid flat, and structures settled as they were
being built. Corrections then were made during building to compensate for
uneven settlement and tilting.
For example, courses of masonry in the famous Leaning Tower indicate that
as tilting occurred during construction and was compensated by increasing the
height on the low side. Tilting then pursued in a different direction because, as
soil under the low side was compressed, it became stronger and less compressible.
Had the corrections not been made, the increasingly eccentric loading would
have caused the tower to topple, and after each correction was made a new cycle
of tilting proceeded in a different direction. It was only after the tower was
completed that there was no further correction and an increasing danger of falling
over. The latest correction devised by English and Italian geotechnical engineers
involved adding a temporary surcharge load to the high side, which arrested
further tilting, and then augering soil out from under the high side to bring it back
to a safer position. What makes this tower so unique is because it survived;
most medieval towers collapsed.
4.2.4 Surcharging
Fourteenth century construction scheduling does not fit a modern mold, and
a simple procedure that can be used to reduce or control settlement is to preload
the soil with a weight and pressure that are equal to that of a proposed structure,
allow time for the soil to compress, and then remove the weight and build the
structure. Extra weight may be used to hurry things along, and normally does
no harm so long as it does not punch down into the soil sufficiently to cause
a shear failure. This method of construction is called surcharging.

Soils That Are Sediments 63
Surcharge loads usually are piles of soil that can be moved to successive
building sites in a complex. Another option is to store all building materials
on a site footprint slab; then as the structure is built the weight stays the
same. Surcharging is common where a new highway must cross soft, compressible
terrain. Surcharging can save money but requires time, and owners see time as
money. It therefore is important to be able to predict the time that will be required
and monitor the progress of settlement. A method described later in this book
shows how to predict future settlement from measurements made over a period
of time.
4.3 GRAVITY DEPOSITS
4.3.1 Talus
Steeply sloping heaps of rock fragments at the bases of rock outcrops are called
talus or scree. The rubble deposits have fallen off and slid down to a marginally
stable, relatively steep slope angle, Fig. 4.1. The deposits tend to be cone-shaped
with the apex pointing to the source.
The stability of a talus slope is readily measured by simply walking on it, as the
weight of a foot can start things sliding. For obvious reasons such a slope is not
a satisfactory foundation but it sometimes cannot be avoided, particularly when
building roads in mountainous areas. In that case vibration or blasting may be
used to cause the deposit to settle into a more comfortable slope angle, while
recognizing that more scree will be on the way. As mountainous areas usually are
earthquake areas, a good shake may accomplish the same thing until the next
shake that may be bigger.
Figure 4.1
Road constructed
across a talus
slope where there
was not much
alternative,
Karakorum
Highway, Pakistan.

The marginally stable slope angle of gravity deposits is called the angle of repose.
It typically is around 358, but may be as high as 458 in coarse, angular rubble.
The angle of repose also may be observed where sand, gravel, rock, or grain are
dumped onto a pile from a conveyor belt, and occurs in nature on the back sides
of active sand dunes.
4.3.2 Rockfalls and Rock Avalanches

Rockfalls are as the name implies, and pose obvious dangers for anybody or
anything that lies in their path. Methods of protection include cutting benches to
catch the falls, covering steep slopes in loose rock with steel mesh, or building a roof
to support sliding rocks so that the end appearance is that of an open-faced tunnel.
A rock avalanche involves a mass movement of loose rock. A rock avalanche

is analogous to a snow avalanche but is potentially bigger and more devastating.
Velocities can attain 100 km/hr (60 mph). An advance warning can be obtained
by monitoring the creep rate of a potentially unstable rock mass.
4.3.3 Creep
Creep is an imperceptibly slow downhill movement. Creep occurring in advance
of a rock avalanche can be monitored by careful measurements of the ground
movement, or may be indicated by fences that gradually move out of line. Special
microphones may be used to detect and monitor subaudible ‘‘rock noises’’ that
come off as minute clicking noises associated with stick-slip. The more scientific
name is acoustic emissions, and an increase in the rate of occurrence is a precursor
to mass movement.
Curiously, rock noises apparently are audible to animals, which become

visibly agitated and may attempt move off of a slope before it fails.
Creep of soil instead of rock is common on hillslopes and is not necessarily

a precursor of a landslide. Creep is aided by wetting and drying cycles, and by
freezing and thawing of near-surface soil. Visible indications of soil creep are slow
tilting of retaining walls, fence posts, and grave markers. Another common
indication is curving tree trunks because a tree corrects for early tilting by growing
upright. Then as a tree becomes large enough to become firmly anchored,
soil flows around it, piling up on the uphill side and leaving a shallow cavity in
the tree shadow on the downhill side.
Creep is important to recognize because it increases lateral soil pressures

against retaining walls and foundations.
Colluvium is soil that has been moved to the toe of a slope by creep or by
a combination of creep and periodic alluvial activity.

4.3.4 Landslides
Landslides progress more slowly than rock avalanches and faster than creep.
It must be emphasized that landslides are not the same as erosion, but involve
mass downslope movements of soil or rock masses along discrete shear zones.
As in the case of faults, landslides tend to grind and stir soils along the slip
surfaces, creating thickened slip zones.
Landslides occur when acting forces from the weight of a soil mass equal the
maximum resistance to shearing. They usually occur after prolonged periods of
rain, as frictional restraint is reduced by buoyancy from a rising groundwater
table. The causative factors, analysis, prevention, and repair are major concerns of
the geotechnical engineer. Structures involved in landslides often are a total loss,
Fig. 4.2. Insurance companies put losses from ground movements in the same
category as those from nuclear war, in that they are not covered by ordinary
homeowner insurance policies.
4.3.5 Recognizing Landslides

Engineering geologists specialize in recognizing old landslides, which is important
because an old landslide readily can reactivate whenever conditions are right.
One obvious clue to a landslide that can be overlooked by the unwary is a scarp,
which is a bare, exposed part of the shear surface that defines the upper boundary
of the slide. The scarp usually is steeply inclined and may be nearly vertical,
and forms the riser of an arcuate or curved step. Landslide scarps become less
obvious when they are overgrown with vegetation. In this case an important clue
is a row of smaller trees, bush, or shrubs that follows a contour around a hillside.
These are the newcomers that have grown since the scarp was first exposed.
Figure 4.2
Split level in
Tarzana, Cal.:
the house was
level and then it
split. A landslide
not only can pull
down structures,
the sites are
destroyed.

Counting tree rings therefore can help date the first start of a landslide. Large
trees that move with a landslide usually die if their tap roots are broken.
Soil underneath a landslide is weakened by sliding so one scarp frequently leads to

another farther up on a hillside. Because the slip surface typically is concave, each
new sliding block tends to tilt back in the direction of the scarp and trap rainwater
in shallow ponds. Infiltrating water then further aggravates sliding. Pockets of
standing water therefore should be drained as a first step toward stabilizing
a landslide.
Soil in a shear zone is weakened because cohesive bonds are disrupted, and as soil
grains roll over one another they dilate and increase in volume, and suck in more
water. As this process continues, the basal soil in a landslide can turn into a
viscous mud that squeezes out in the toe area and can make access very difficult.
Test boring often requires the use of track-mounted drilling machines, and even
then the toe areas may be inaccessible.
Creeks or rivers running at the toe of a landslide often are pinched and may be
temporarily dammed by the moving mass of soil. Since the dam is loose, uncon-
solidated soil, as soon as it is overtopped by flowing water, it will be breached by
erosion, causing a flood downstream. Cutting a channel to prevent damming also
is risky because removal of restraint at the toe will allow more sliding.
4.3.6 Landslide Abuse and Retaliation

When a landslide occurs the reaction is automatic—all one has to do is hire
a bulldozer and put the soil back. This is about the worst thing that can happen
unless one makes a hobby of nurturing and aggravating landslides. If the soil was
not stable the first time it slid, it certainly will not be stable the next time around.
As previously mentioned, soil in the slip zone is remolded so cohesion is lost,
and it sucks in water to further reduce its strength. Pushing soil back up the
slope makes reactivation of the landslide a virtual certainty.
Another way to abuse a landslide is to remove soil from the toe, because it
is the weight and resistance from the toe area that stops sliding. This caper often is
accomplished when the landslide is old and covered with vegetation so that its
existence is not recognized or appreciated. Landslides also are triggered by natural
removal of soil from the toe by erosion, in particular by lateral cutting by a river.
4.3.7 Concealing a Landslide

A landslide decimates property values because stopping it and repairing
a structure often costs more than the structure is worth. Residential lots on land-
slides are virtually worthless, and laws require that such deficiencies be revealed to
a potential buyer. A few developers or real estate salespeople who are either

unscrupulous or blissfully ignorant will cover or smooth over a landslide scarp

with fill and patch or conceal cracks in houses or other structures in order to make
a sale. Any attempt to conceal a landslide is fraudulent and gives cause to nullify
a sale and require a full refund, and bring the agent’s license into critical review.
4.3.8 Precursors of Landslides

Landslides often begin with soil creep that relieves stress at the top of a slope
and results in a vertical tension crack. Surface runoff water then enters the crack
and helps to saturate the soil and promote more aggressive sliding. The deeper the
crack, the higher the hydraulic pressure acting to move the soil. The downhill
force is a product of both the water pressure and the crack area, and therefore
is the square of the crack depth. A first step toward preventing sliding therefore
is to seal open ground cracks to prevent entry of surface water.
Case History
Creep was observed but was a futile warning for a huge landslide that
occurred in 1964 in northern Italy. The slide completely filled the reservoir
above Vaiont Dam and created such a monstrous splash that the wind broke
windows over a mile (1.6 km) away. The wave overtopped the dam by about
100 m (300 ft) and washed down through the valley, taking the lives of over
2000 people. Creep was observed and monitored prior to the slide, and an
attempt was made to drain the reservoir, but drainage did not keep up with
the rate of soil creep so the lake level kept rising. As buoyancy reduced
friction at the toe, creep turned into a landslide encompassing an area of
about 1.6 2.4 km (1 1.5 miles). Some of the engineers at the dam were
convicted of negligence because of failure to initiate a timely evacuation.
4.3.9 Landslides and Earthquakes

Earthquakes trigger landslides by adding the effect of oscillating horizontal
movements, rather like shaking peas in a pan. As the ground moves back and
forth the corresponding accelerations cause horizontal forces in accordance with
Newton’s Law, f ¼ ma: force equals mass times acceleration. The design of soil
and rock slopes in earthquake-prone areas must take these forces into account.
4.4 DEPOSITS FROM ICE
4.4.1 An Outrageous Proposal

The suggestion made in 1840 by a Swiss naturalist, Louis Agassiz, that
large portions of the northern continents at one time were covered by

Figure 4.3
Boulders that
have been faceted
and striated are
evidence for
dragging by
moving ice. The
grinding action of
continental
glaciers was the
ultimate source for
most agricultural
soils, whether
deposited by ice
or by wind or
water.
glaciers, may have made some people question his sobriety. Aggasiz’s spe-
cialty at the time was the study of fossil fish. However, he was a competent and
critical observer, and he saw similarities between deposits in North America and
glacial deposits in the Alps. In particular he saw linear drag marks with a roughly
north-south orientation scored into bedrock, which reminded him of home.
Boulders within glacial deposits also show scrape marks and often are flat-
tened on one or more sides, Fig. 4.3. Agassiz became a professor at Harvard
and revolutionized the teaching of natural sciences by emphasizing field study,
an emphasis that also has a home in geotechnical engineering.
4.4.2 Extent
Prior to continental glaciation the Missouri River flowed north into what now
is Hudson Bay, which occupies a basin that was pushed down below sea level
by the weight of the glacial ice.
Approximately 30 percent of the continental land mass has been covered at

one time or another by continental glaciers. Nearly 10 percent still is covered,
including Greenland, Antarctica, and the northern islands of Canada. The top of
the Greenland icecap is at an elevation of over 3000 m (10,000 ft) and the bottom
is below present sea level, so the maximum thickness of continental glaciers would
be measured in kilometers or miles. Further glacial melting therefore is a major
concern because of the rise in sea level.

Figure 4.4
Glaciated areas in
the U.S. Vertical
shading indicates
younger
(Wisconsin age)
glacial advances
that are dominated
by glacial features.
Cross-hatching
shows earlier
glacial deposits
that are incised by
streams and
covered with
wind-blown silt or
loess.
Continental glaciers once covered broad northern areas of the continents.

In Europe, most of the British Isles, Scandinavia, and northern parts of Germany,
Poland, and Russia were glaciated. Glaciation in North America pushed the
Missouri and Ohio Rivers to their present locations and left broad areas of
glacially derived sediments shown in Fig. 4.4.
Glaciation was a temporary inconvenience for mankind, but after the development
of agriculture it has been a huge plus because it created a mantle of fertile soil.
Several soil deposits are associated with continental glaciation—soil deposited
from the ice itself, soil deposited by water from melting ice, and soil picked up by
winds crossing exposed river bars that deposited dust across broad areas of
uplands.
4.4.3 Glacial Erosion

Alpine glaciers are confined along the edges by mountains, and scoop out
characteristic U-shaped valleys. In contrast, continental glaciers are free to
spread, stripping soil from bedrock, leveling hills, plucking out lake basins, and
carrying the glacial sediment southward to be deposited wherever the ice runs out
and melts. It is no coincidence that the Great Lakes of the north-central U.S.
are elongated in the directions of former glacial movement. Farther north, large
seas such as Hudson Bay and the Baltic Sea owe their existence to depression
of the Earth’s crust under the weight of glacial ice, and even now, thousands of
years after the ice has melted, the crust still is rebounding upward.
4.4.4 Beaches and Strandlines

The extent of depression of the earth’s crust is indicated by the inclination of
uplifted beaches that originally were level. Such beaches are called strandlines.
Strandlines bordering Hudson Bay, the Great Lakes, and the Baltic Sea now are
tilted in directions consistent with a hypothesis of crustal rebound. The directions
of bedrock striations indicate that the Hudson Bay area was at the center of the
Laurentide ice sheet, and measurements and dating of strandlines show that the
Gulf of Bothnia in the northern part of the Baltic Sea is rising at a rate of about
1 cm (0.5 in.) per year.
Tilted strandlines also indicate rebound around Great Salt Lake as the lake level
lowered as a result of desiccation. The ancestral lake, known as Lake Bonneville,
was about 330 m (1000 ft) higher during the Pleistocene, and the land has risen
about 70 m (230 ft).
4.4.5 Mechanics of Glacial Sliding

Rock debris concentrated in basal ice is a kind of ‘‘glacial sandpaper.’’ The
drag marks, deep longitudinal gouges left in bedrock, are called striations.
Nevertheless the overall frictional resistance to sliding had to be low to carry
the ice for such long distances with a low slope angle, and must have been aided
by pressure-melting of ice at the bottom of the glacier. This would transfer
the weight to liquid water trapped between the ice and the soil, thereby creating
a positive pore-water pressure sufficient to support the ice. A similar decrease
in friction from positive pore-water pressures also plays an important role in
landslides.
4.4.6 Life in the Pleistocene

The time of glaciation is referred to as the Pleistocene epoch of the Cenozoic
(recent life) era, and extended from about 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago.
Subarctic cold and a generous food supply led to many experimental models of
cats, cave bears, sloths, mammoths, and mastodons. A few mammoths survived in
miniature on islands off the northern coast of Siberia almost into historical times,
5000 years ago. Mammoths found in permanently frozen ground, or permafrost,
yield frozen tissues that are being studied for their DNA.
The early Pleistocene saw the emergence of man, who now probably would be
referred to as intellectually challenged. The stocky and large-brained Neanderthal
man appeared about 100,000 years ago, and the taller and equally large-brained
Cro-Magnon man first appeared about 35,000 ybp (years before present) and
threw his weight around. Modern man is Cro-Magnon with shoes and a haircut.

4.4.7 River Valleys in the Pleistocene

An indirect consequence of continental glaciation was a lowering of sea level, as
much water was locked up in cold storage in the glaciers. The most telling
evidence that this occurred is thick deposits of sediments in modern river valleys,
particularly close to their outlets into the sea. These sediments only could have
been deposited if sea level were lower because of a basic requirement for water to
run downhill.
This influence of continental glaciation was world-wide because as sea level

lowered, rivers were free to cut downward and create deep, entrenched river
valleys; then as the glaciers melted and sea level rose, river valleys close to the
sea became drowned as estuaries or, if scoured out by glacial ice, fiords.
4.4.8 Sedimentation of River Valleys

Rivers draining glaciated areas carried large amounts of sediment, a process that
still can be observed in Alaska. During Pleistocene periods of glacial retreat the
availability of this glacio-fluvial sediment and the simultaneous rise in sea level
caused valleys to be filled with sediment, creating the base for broad floodplains
that now extend hundreds of miles upstream from the sea. The broad valley of the
Lower Mississippi River south of Cairo, Illinois, is an example. The thick sedi-
ment fill in river valleys directly influences foundation designs for bridges, etc.,
because of the large depth to bedrock.
Question: What volume of glacial ice would be required to lower sea level 100 m?
The total surface area of the Earth is approximately 509,600,000 km2, of which
oceans cover about 71 percent.
Answer: 36,200,000 km3 ¼ 8,700,000 cubic miles. This does not include displace-
ment as the weight of the ice pushed down the Earth’s crust.
4.4.9 Glacial Drift, the Deposit

Deposits from glaciers are collectively called glacial drift. The rock and mineral
composition of drift reflects the source area from which it came, which in the
case of continental glaciation may be only a few hundred kilometers to the north.
Where glacial erosion attacked mainly granite, the resulting glacial drift will
contain large quantities of sand, gravel, and boulders. Where the glacial ice
gouged into shale, the resulting drift has a high percentage of clay. Incorpora-
tion of ground-up limestone by glaciers causes much glacial drift to be calcareous,
meaning that it contains calcium carbonate. Copper and traces of silver and gold

have been found in glacial deposits, and back-tracking has led to the discovery of
valuable diamond-bearing kimberlite rocks in the Northwest Territories.
4.4.10 Glacial Outwash

Glacially derived water deposits that are carried beyond the limits of glacial
advances are called outwash. These are mainly sand and gravel and are important
sources of aggregate for use on roads and in concrete.
4.4.11 Glacial Till

The most abundant glacial deposit is glacial till, which is deposited by slow
melting of ice such that there is little sorting by running water. Till deposited by
modern glaciers is a mud that readily flows under its own weight, and gradually
settles into a solid mass as the the soil loses water and consolidates.
Subglacial till has been been run over and compressed into a hard mass by
the weight of the glacier. In engineering terms such a soil is said to be
overconsolidated, meaning that it has been consolidated under a pressure that is
in excess of that which exists today. The pressure involved in overconsolidation
is called the overconsolidation pressure, also called the preconsolidation pressure.
This is an important measure in foundation engineering because it represents
a pressure that can be replaced without causing appreciable settlement. It is
surcharge imposed by the weight of a glacier.
4.4.12 Overconsolidation Pressure and Ice Thickness

The overconsolidation pressure determined from laboratory tests may not
represent the maximum pressure imposed by the weight of glacial ice because of
restricted drainage as water is trapped between soil on the bottom and ice on the
top. This is another evidence for the existence of positive pore-water pressure that
aided glacial movement. The overconsolidation pressure determined from
laboratory testing may better reflect the maximum ice thickness where the glacier
has overridden a porous rock such as limestone.
4.4.13 Retreat of an Ice Front

Retreat of a glacier does not mean that the glacier backed up, but signifies retreat
of a glacial margin when the rate of melting exceeds the rate of ice advance.
During the transition from advance to retreat, the rate of advance temporarily
equals the rate of retreat, so the ice front is stationary even though the ice still is
moving. This causes a large pile-up of sediment called a terminal moraine. Periodic
surges during the final retreat result in hills called recessional moraines that have a
similar origin.

During the final retreat large blocks of ice may stagnate and be incorporated into
the moraines. Later when the blocks of ice melt they leave steep-sided depressions
called ‘‘kettle lakes.’’ Kettle lakes are common in the northern U.S. and in the
British Isles.
4.4.14 Two Kinds of Till

Terminal and recessional moraines are not overridden by a glacier so they are not
overconsolidated. Glacial till that is not overconsolidated sometimes is called
superglacial till, not because it is super but because it was deposited by melting
from the top. A close association with water draining from the melting ice causes
superglacial till to be more sandy than subglacial till, and to contain irregular
pockets and layers of sand.
Superglacial till, being less dense than subglacial till, more readily weathers, so
a distinction also may be made on the basis of soil color, brown on top of gray.
4.4.15 Ground Moraine

The uniform layer of glacial sediment left during a steady retreat of an ice
front is called a ground moraine. Ground moraines have a gently to moderately
rolling topography with internal drainage, meaning that streams collect into pools
and have no exit. The resulting wet conditions in the swale areas give a ground
moraine a mottled appearance on aerial photographs. Ground moraines also can
show fingerprint-like patterns caused by seasonal retreats of the ice front.
Erosion by surface runoff water gradually removes soil from the shallow hills
of a ground moraine and deposits it in adjacent swales, where the soil tends to
be wet, clayey, and highly compressible. Swale soils also can contain expansive
clay minerals, so drainage may dry them out and make them vulnerable to later
rewetting.
4.4.16 Peat in the Swales

Peat is vegetation that has grown and died in bogs, and is protected from decay by
being under water. Peat is common in ground moraine areas. As peat is mostly
water, it is a very difficult soil for the engineer. Piles or piers are used to support
structures such as bridges, and road embankments for roads may be built high
enough that they can sink and displace the peat until it reaches solid soil at the
bottom. The process is speeded up by drilling through the embankment and
placing dynamite charges in the peat layer.
Another approach is to float an embankment on foamed plastic. The least

expensive alternative may be to simply go around the bog. Most important is to
recognize areas of peat in time to influence location, design, and construction.

4.5 GLACIO-FLUVIAL DEPOSITS
4.5.1 A Mixed Breed

Glacio-fluvial deposits are sediments deposited by water from melting glaciers.
They extend beyond the margins of glaciers, but also are deposited within
moraine areas as the glacier retreats.
Although glacial melting normally proceeds from the glacier surface down-
ward, the water released by melting readily infiltrates downward through
cracks and flows as a river underneath the ice. After the ice has melted the
alluvial deposit remains as a ridge of sand and gravel, called an esker, as shown
in Fig. 4.5.
Kames are sand-gravel mounds that accumulated in pockets in the ice. They
often occur in association with kettle lakes. Kame terraces are deposited along
edges of glaciers confined in valleys, and show evidence of collapse after the ice
in the valley melted. Eskers and kames may be used as local sources for sand and
gravel, and appear as light areas on airphotos because of good drainage.
4.5.2 Outwash
Glacial sediment carried down river valleys is referred to as outwash and typi-
cally consists of a wide range of coarse particle sizes, from sand up to gravel
and even boulders. Outwash-carrying streams do not meander lazily down
their floodplains, but race downhill in a wild series of interconnecting, rapidly
shifting channels called a braided stream, as shown in Fig. 4.6. The rapid
current in a braided stream leaves deposits of sand and gravel that may be
covered with silt during waning stages of the river.
Figure 4.5
Subglacial stream
actively forming
an esker and
emerging at the
terminus of the
Matanuska
glacier, Alaska.
Note the heavy
concentration of
sediment in the
basal ice.

Figure 4.6
Aerial photograph
of a braided river
carrying glacial
outwash in Alaska.
Outwash plains are created where outwash streams spill out over their banks to
deposit a broad deposit of sand and gravel. Outwash plains tend to be fan-shaped
as they spread out from a glacial front. Long Island and Cape Cod contain a series
of such fans.
Outwash terraces are alluvial terraces that are elevated remnants of former
floodplains that were abandoned when the river entrenched or cut downward.
Outwash terraces are common along rivers that carried glacial outwash because,
as the nature of the sediment being carried by the river changed, its downslope
gradient changed. Generally the downhill gradient of a river carrying a full load of
coarse granular outwash is steeper than that of the modern floodplain, so outwash
terraces are high close to a glacial front and decrease in relative elevation with
distance downstream, eventually merging into and plunging below the modern
floodplain.
As a glacial front does its final retreat and the river starting point moves
northward, the river normally will entrench and leave a series of step-like terraces,
the oldest being the highest and the most extensively dissected by later stream
erosion.
Outwash terraces are prime sources for sand and gravel. Intelligent prospecting
for gravel in these areas requires an appreciation of the landforms and recognition
of stream terraces. These generally appear lighter on airphotos and are confirmed
with test borings.

As will be pointed out, braided streams are not limited to glacial rivers, but
also occur in arid and semiarid climates where sediment is abundant and
water limited.
4.5.3 Special Alluvial Features of Valley or Alpine Glaciers

Although continental glaciers did not invade high mountains, valley glaciers in
these areas advanced during the Pleistocene and left soil deposits in lower parts of
their valleys. Glacially sculpted valleys have a characteristic U-shape, compared
with a V from stream downcutting, and uneven gouging often leaves a series
of small lakes arranged like beads down a valley.
Another feature of glacial valleys that differentiates them from stream valleys is
that tributary glaciers have elevations that are even at the top of the ice, whereas
tributary streams cut down to elevations dictated by the bottom. Therefore after
the valley glaciers have melted, tributary valleys are ‘‘hanging valleys’’ marked
by waterfalls.
4.5.4 Glacial Damming

An interesting and significant byproduct of glaciation is temporary damming of
large river valleys by ice. The scale of damming created by continental glaciation
can be huge. The largest example in North America is Lake Agassiz, which was
created by damming of a Missouri River that originally flowed northward
through what is now the Red River valley into Hudson Bay. The Lake Agassiz
plain extends from Canada southward into eastern North Dakota and western
Minnesota. It is known for its flatness, its fertility for agriculture, and its deposits
of expansive clay. Glacial Lake Agassiz was larger than the combined areas of
all of the present Great Lakes.
4.5.5 Varved Clays

The rate of filling of glacial marginal lakes was seasonal, with more rapid melting
during summers contributing layers of relatively light-colored silt, followed by
a more gradual sedimentation of darker-colored and finer clay during winter
months. The seasonal cycling results in varved clays, and the number of years
during which sedimentation was active can be determined by simply counting
the layers or varves.
4.5.6 Causes of Continental Glaciation

Continental glaciation was cyclical, resulting in a series of glacial advances
separated by mild interglacial periods A mathematical theory developed by
a Serbian engineer, M. Milankovich, and published in 1920, related cold
periods to periodic changes in eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
In the 1950s radiocarbon dates of glacial sediments challenged the theory, but
detailed studies of cores of deep-sea sediments in the 1970s reveal better

agreement with the predicted dates. This is the ‘‘Milankovich’’ or ‘‘astronomic’’
hypothesis.
Many other explanations also have been suggested, including climatic oscilla-
tions caused by surges of glaciers in Antarctica, or changes in reflectance of the
Sun’s energy as snow cover accumulated during a series of harsh winters. The
Ewing-Donn hypothesis, first proposed in the 1950s and modified in the 1960s,
suggested that melting of the Arctic ice pack created a source for snow that then
accumulated sufficiently to depress global temperatures, which led to freezing
over of the source for snow, thereby setting up a cycle.
The discovery of lithified glacial till called ‘‘tillite’’ indicates that continental
glaciation also occurred during earlier geological eras. The causal factors affect-
ing such dramatic climatic changes are relevant to the interpretation of global
warming.
4.6 ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS
4.6.1 Down the River

Rain falling on a slope initially runs off as sheet wash, then concentrates into
parallel channels or ‘‘rills’’ that can be observed on bare roadcuts. Rills randomly
intersect and combine downslope into streams that in turn connect with one
another into rivers. The random branching resembles limbs in a tree, and is called
a dendritic drainage pattern.
Streams that are aggressively downcutting are considered ‘‘youthful.’’ Youthful

streams have relatively steep downhill gradients that enable them to flow rapidly,
and therefore erode and move large particles. The flow may only be intermittent
after periods of rain. During waning stages of each cycle, sand and gravel
accumulate in the stream bottom. Prospectors for gold or other heavy minerals
therefore pan their way upstream until traces of gold run out, and then up the
adjacent hillsides.
Alluvial deposits from youthful streams are confined to narrow valleys and
generally are thin and temporary, being washed away by the next major runoff
event. They often co-mingle with colluvial soil brought down by gravity and sheet
wash from adjacent slopes. The combined deposit can arbitrarily be called ‘‘local
alluvium.’’
Headward erosion by youthful streams slows down when the collection area
for rainfall diminishes, and essentially stops at the previously mentioned
‘‘critical distance.’’ This distance defines the width of intervening hilltops, or
‘‘interfluves.’’

4.6.2 Playfair’s Law and Horton’s Demonstration

This relationship between stream size and valley size was noted by John Playfair,
a Scottish mathematician and philosopher, in 1802, and he reasoned that streams
therefore must cut their valleys. A relationship to geomorphic landform was
formulated in 1945 by an engineer, R. E. Horton. Horton defined the smallest
headwater streams as first-order streams. Two or more first-order streams then
combine to make a second-order stream; two or more second-order streams
combine to make a third-order stream; and so on. The highest-order stream in
North America is the Mississippi River, which is tenth order. Through this simple
numbering system Horton showed that the higher the stream order, the larger the
drainage basin.
4.6.3 Base Level

The term ‘‘base level’’ was proposed in 1875 by an American geologist, John Wesley
Powell, a civil war veteran whose expedition was the first to traverse the Grand
Canyon in boats. Powell saw firsthand that the depth of cutting by a stream is
governed by thresholds of hard rock that create a base level. The ultimate base level
is sea level; the bottom of a river bed can erode below sea level, but this depth is
limited because the water must run downhill. Localized base levels can occur
anywhere along the length of a river or stream where it encounters harder rock,
or where an excess of sediment is carried in and deposited by a tributary stream.
Because of the existence of an ultimate base level, the gradient or slope of rivers
generally increases upstream, and in general the lower the stream order, the higher
the stream gradient.
4.6.4 Meandering Streams

As downward erosion is halted by a base level, excess energy becomes directed
toward meandering, or lateral erosion into a series of sinusoidal loops that
lengthen the river channel and therefore decrease its gradient, which in turn slows
the flow and decreases erosion. Meanders normally are spaced at an interval of
about five to seven river widths, so small rivers have small meanders and large
rivers have large meanders.
Meandering streams still erode, as the momentum of water flowing around

a meander loop carries it to the outside of the bend, where it erodes the channel
wider and deeper. The main thread of flow, called a ‘‘thalweg,’’ moves back and
forth across a meandering river in order to impinge on the outside of each
meander. The straight section between adjacent meanders is a relatively shallow,
sandy reach. The changing depths of a meandering river channel become obvious
to the boater as a boat drags bottom in the reaches. Prior to the use of bridges and
ferries, reaches were sought out for fording, but can be areas of quicksand, which
is discussed in Section 14.9.
Meandering presents a dynamic equilibrium between erosion and deposition.

A stream that has reached this balance is said to be mature. There is an important
implication in this, because straightening a meandering river makes it shorter,
and increases its gradient and potential for erosion. Straightening a river upstream
from a bridge therefore can be a bad idea unless the river banks are protected
from erosion. This normally is accomplished by driving steel sheet pile or placing
large rocks called ‘‘rip-rap.’’
4.6.5 River Meandering and Property Lines

Shifting river channels undercut soil along the outside of a meander so that it
slides off into the river, and simultaneously deposits sand bars on the inside of
the meander. Courts make a legal distinction between a rapid change caused
by channel abandonment, referred to in legal terms as an ‘‘avulsion,’’ and a slow,
gradual shift due to bank erosion, referred to as an ‘‘alluvion.’’ An avulsion
occurs when one meander loop catches up with another, and leaves legal
boundaries intact, whereas a slow channel migration takes property lines with it.
An avulsion in 1898 left the town of Carter Lake, Iowa, on the Nebraska side
of the Missouri River, so Omaha residents drive through Iowa to get to their
airport, which would seem an ideal place to require a toll.
4.6.6 Floodplains of Meandering Rivers

Lateral meandering creates relatively level floodplains that, as the name implies,
are subjected to flooding. Floodplains nevertheless are favored industrial
sites because they are close to river transportation.
River meandering and associated sorting activities create a host of different

sedimentary floodplain soils that vary from relatively clean gravel and sand to
heavy, soft clay. Most deposits are readily identifiable from their landforms
and their appearance on airphotos, as shown in Fig. 4.7. The most important
deposits are as follows:
Point Bars
Probably the most conspicuous deposit of a meandering river is sand that
occupies the inner area of each meander loop. The term ‘‘point bar,’’ like many
other terms used to describe rivers, comes from river navigation. As meander
loops migrate downstream the point bars are like footprints forming a line
down the river. Because the point bar inside one meander loop is directly
across the river from the next one, they form a continuous band of sand that
is criss-crossed by the river channel. Bridges across meandering rivers there-
fore, at least in part, are supported on point bars. After they are deposited,
point bars soon are covered by vegetation, but their identity still can be deter-
mined from their position relative to existing or former channels of a meandering
river.
Figure 4.7
Filled former river channels (clay plugs) occur at curved outer margins of the extensive point bar
sand deposits. A newer channel has remnants of an oxbow lake. The downstream progress of this
meander was halted by the older clay plug, which caused the cutoff. The smaller oxbow probably
involves a tributary river. At the lower right, patterns on older parts of the floodplain are obscured by
trees and surficial backswamp clay deposits. The lighter area rimming the larger clay plug has a
road and is a natural levee silt deposit. (USDA photo.)
Meander migration is not smooth owing to periodic bank caving and flood surges,
so point bars typically contain arcuate ridges that represent former river margins.
During high river stages the shallow channels across a point bar may be reoccu-
pied and can even develop their own scaled-down meander patterns. Riverboat
pilots called these channels ‘‘chutes,’’ and used them as shortcuts during high
water. The risk was in getting stuck when the river level went down.
Oxbow Lakes and Clay Plugs

If for any reason the downstream progress of a meander is impeded, the next one
upstream may catch up, causing a neck cutoff. This leads to a sequence of events
that is very important in geotechnical engineering. First, the abandoned river
channel rapidly becomes plugged at the ends to create an oxbow lake. Because
the oxbow is isolated from the river, fine sediment carried into the lake during
high river stages is trapped and slowly settles out to form a clay deposit called
a clay plug. Clay plugs are poor foundation materials and are readily identified
from airphotos. Where clay plugs cannot be avoided, special measures such
as temporary surcharging will be required to reduce or control settlement.
Particularly devastating is if a clay plug is not recognized so that only part of

a structure settles.
The thickness of a clay plug depends on the depth of the river channel at the time
of the cutoff, which, as it occurred during a period of high water, will tend to be
deeper than the existing channel. Clay plugs are thicker in the central area of
the meander where the river channel was deeper.
4.6.7 Clay Plugs and Cutoffs

Even though clay plugs are relatively soft clay, they are slow to erode and
therefore can hold back the downstream progress of a meander loop, which allows
the next loop to catch up and create a cutoff, which in turn initiates another cycle
of oxbow lake, clay plug, and cutoff. A clay plug that is not otherwise visible from
the ground or from the air may be revealed by its effect on a river channel.
4.6.8 Meander Belt

The part of a mature river floodplain that is subjected to active meandering often
is confined by lines of clay plugs that have the appearance of uneven parentheses
running down the floodplain. This is a meander belt, Fig. 4.8. Outside of the
meander belt, periodic flooding and deposition of clay gradually obscures the older
meander patterns and oxbows so that they can only be detected with borings.
Occasionally a river will escape from its meander belt and start a new series
of cutoffs and clay plugs that will define a new meander belt. This has occurred
Figure 4.8
Diagram showing
deposits on a
floodplain and
associated terrace
of a meandering
river. Most of the
area within the
meander belt is
point bar.

repeatedly in the Mississippi River above New Orleans, each time forming
a new delta. As the delta extends outward, the river level must rise in order to
preserve a downhill gradient, so the system becomes unstable and the river will
seek to escape the confines of its meander belt and levees. This is the situation at
New Orleans.
4.6.9 Overbank Deposits

Water spilling out over the banks of a river slows down and deposits sediment.
Fine sand and silt are deposited close to the river channel in low ridges called
natural levees, which are preferred building sites. Exploration borings must extend
through the natural levee because it normally will be on top of softer floodplain
clay and may conceal a buried clay plug.
Some floodplain areas will have a lighter color on airphotos and appear to have a
braided pattern indicating a sand deposit, but this is misleading because the sand
may only be a meter or so thick. This is a sand splay, which occurs where a levee
has been breached at some time in the past.
Clay carried overbank or through a breach is slow to settle out, and forms
a continuous blanket on top of older deposits. This clay is called a ‘‘backswamp’’
or ‘‘slackwater’’ deposit, and can be meters thick. It frequently is expansive clay
and therefore can be of critical importance in engineering. Desiccation at the
surface creates a harder crust that can be utilized for supporting lightly loaded
foundations.
4.6.10 Natural and Artificial Levees

The first response to a flood is to build or increase the height of a levee. This
confines the river from a breakout and increases its water level and gradient.
Breaching a levee on one side of the river can save the other side, which is why
levees are patrolled during flood stages to prevent the use of dynamite.
As a delta builds out into a sea, the river is extended and natural levees are
built up higher during flood. A river level that is higher than the adjacent
floodplain is a recipe for disaster. The most famous example of delta extension
is the heavily loess-laden Yellow River (Huang Ho) in China, considered to be
the muddiest major river in the world. In some locations the delta has extended
as much as 8 km (5 miles) in one year, and natural levees have been built up to
the extent that the river as much as 21 m (70 ft) above the adjacent floodplain.
Sudden breakouts are almost impossible to contain, and have killed hundreds
of thousands of people, giving the river its name ‘‘River of Sorrow.’’ Dams are
being constructed to control flooding, but a river carrying such a heavy load of
sediment will quickly silt up the reservoirs and reduce their effectiveness. One plan
is to allow the river to flow on through during periods when it is most heavily
laden with silt.
4.6.11 Alluvial Terraces

Terraces are formed when a mature river is rejuvenated, that is, when it again
becomes youthful as a result of lowering of its base level. This can occur when the
base level of harder rock is cut through or a dam breaks. Then instead of cutting
laterally, the river cuts downward, or entrenches. Meanders upstream then cut
deep scrolls in the former floodplain.
River entrenchment was world-wide during the Pleistocene glaciation as sea level
was lowered over 100 m as water was held as ice. Then as glaciers melted and sea
level rose, the deeply entrenched river valleys were drowned to become estuaries.
Rivers carrying glacial outwash filled their valleys with alluvial gravel and sand.
Glacial sand and gravel outwash deposits extend over 100 m (300 ft) below the
modern floodplain, indicating the extent to which sea level was lowered.
Deposits in alluvial terraces reflect their origin: for example, terraces of rivers that
did not carry glacial outwash may have approximately the same composition
as the modern floodplain, whereas those associated with glacial outwash mainly
contain sand and gravel. Older terraces that were formed prior to loess deposition
may be covered by wind-blown loess, discussed in a later section.
The youngest terraces may be so low that they are best seen from the ground by
observing slight differences in ground elevation. Low terraces also may be subject
to flooding, then being referred to as ‘‘second bottoms.’’
4.6.12 Meandering and Tributary Entrenchment

The position of river meanders on a floodplain also affects the base level of
tributary streams crossing the floodplain to enter the river. As meanders swing
from one side to the other, tributary base levels are alternately raised and lowered,
causing erosion and problems with bridges.
4.6.13 Braided Streams

Some streams are so loaded with sediment that there is no energy left over
for pattern meandering. They nevertheless can aggressively and randomly erode
their banks as channels are plugged and diverted by sediment. The channels
of a braided stream divide and recombine to enclose almond-shaped sand bars.
The channels are ever-changing because of local encounters with tree stumps
or boulders. There usually is one dominant channel that can shift during periods
of high water.
Two common occurrences of braided streams are: (1) in arid/semiarid areas where
there is a shortage of water, and (2) as previously indicated, as glacial outwash in
which case there is an excess of sediment, Fig. 4.9. In arid areas streams are
intermittent and may flow only briefly after a rain, but the rare heavy rain can
Figure 4.9
A braided
stream carrying
glacial outwash
and a source for
loess. A dust
cloud is
silhouetted against
the mountain.
Matanuska River,
Alaska.
create a ‘‘flash flood’’ and channel instability that washes out roads and bridges.
Heavy rains therefore can create extremely hazardous driving conditions in the
desert, particularly at night when vision is obscured.
4.6.14 Deposits from Braided Streams

Braided stream gradients and flow rates generally are considerably higher than
those for meandering streams of a comparable size, which is consistent with their
higher load-carrying capability. The high gradient and flow rate keeps small
particles in suspension, so deposits are mainly coarse-grained, sand and gravel.
The erratic shifting of channels creates uneven lenses and beds that are
cross-bedded as one channel cuts across another that has been filled with
sediment, as illustrated in Fig. 4.10.
Each cycle of deposition following a decline of high water involves a gradually

decreasing flow rate, so large particles are deposited first, followed by progres-
sively finer particles. A single bed therefore may contain gravel at the bottom,
grading upward into finer gravel, sand, and finally silt, clay being washed out. The
bottom-to-top, coarse-to-fine transition is called graded bedding. Gravel layers can
indicate how deep the river has scoured during past periods of high water, which is
important for the design of bridge pier foundations, as scour can extend even
deeper because of diversion of current and a concentrated flow.
4.6.15 Silt and Wind Erosion

During waning river stages the water velocity may slow down sufficiently to
deposit silt on top of sand bars of both braided and meandering streams. In
braided streams the lack of protective vegetation and large exposed areas are

Figure 4.10
Illustration of
graded bedding
and cross-bedding.
Figure 4.11
The large alluvial
fan at the center
has been cut off at
the toe by the
river. A large,
steep talus slope is
at the right of the
fan, and a road
may be seen
running across the
fan. Indus River,
Karakorum Range,
Pakistan.
susceptible to wind erosion, and silt may be observed billowing upward from
exposed sand bars in Alaska. The silt then is deposed as loess.
Terraces left by braided streams are important sources for aggregate, and may
be recognized on airphotos from darker, branching channels enclosing lighter
almond-shaped sand bars.
4.6.16 Alluvial Fans

A sediment-laden stream can become braided if there is a sudden decrease in
gradient, the most common example being when a tributary stream flows out
onto a floodplain. Sediment is deposited and clogs the stream channel so it finds
another route, which then becomes clogged. This process is repeated and develops
a radial pattern that builds up a fan-shaped deposit appropriately called an
alluvial fan (Fig. 4.11). As alluvial fans are relatively coarse, open-graded material,
in arid areas they are important reservoirs for groundwater.
Coalescing fans from adjacent streams constitute an alluvial plain or ‘‘bahada.’’

This can be a preferred site for a road or other construction, as it is not subject
to flooding by the river. However, it still is subject to flash flooding and erosion by
the tributary.
In desert areas where there is no outlet, fans can build up until they submerge
bases of mountains. Some formidable examples in the U.S. are the Basin and
Range Province of Nevada, Utah, and southern California, and Death Valley in
California. Alluvial fan deposits reflect their localized sources but also exhibit
some sorting action because as a fan builds outward, coarser particles are depos-
ited first and fines are carried farther out. In closed desert basins the fine particles
that are not deposited in fans are carried into an intermittent lake or playa,
to build up a clay deposit that may be alkaline and highly expansive.
Braided streams and alluvial fans may be seen in miniature in roadside ditches
after rain.
4.7 SEA AND LAKE DEPOSITS
4.7.1 Deltas
Deltas were named by Herodotus in the fifth century B.C.E., from the shape of the
Nile delta, like a Greek with the apex pointing upstream. However, most deltas
extend outward so a delta shape is not necessarily an identifying feature. A delta
is deposited as a river or stream flowing into a lake or ocean loses velocity and
deposits its sediment.
As in the case of alluvial fans, coarser particles carried into a delta are deposited
first and finer materials are carried farther out to constitute ‘‘bottomset beds.’’
As the delta builds outward, the bottomset beds are covered with ‘‘foreset beds’’
that are deposited on a steeper slope, as illustrated in Fig. 4.12. The last materials
to be deposited are the ‘‘topset beds.’’
4.7.2 Freshwater vs. Saltwater Deltas

Freshwater deltas differ markedly from those deposited in salt water because
of the flocculating effect of salt on suspended clay. As clay enters salt water the
Figure 4.12
Schematic
cross-section of a
delta.

electrical charge that normally keeps particles repellent to one another changes
so they attract one another; the clay becomes flocculated into silt-size particles
that settle out and make up most of the foreset beds. In fresh water, clays remain
suspended and slowly settle out into the lakebed and as bottomset beds in a delta.
Foreset beds in a freshwater delta are mainly sand and silt.
Topset beds in both types of deltas are similar to river floodplain deposits, being
extensions of the channel sands, natural levees, and backswamp clays. A ‘‘bird’s
foot’’ delta, such as that of the Mississippi, is defined by natural levees that
continue and channelize the river for a distance out into the sea.
4.7.3 Estuarine Deltas

An estuary is a river valley that has been drowned by the postglacial rise of sea
level and where tides are present. Sedimentation that is confined within an estuary
constitutes ‘‘estuarine delta,’’ which is mainly tidal mud flats.
4.7.4 Deltas in Artificial Lakes

The several benefits from dams, namely flood control, irrigation, power genera-
tion, recreation, and navigation, are not without environmental consequences.
Some are predictable from the river dynamics: a dam is the base level for the
portion of the river that is upstream, causing the stream to pond as a reservoir.
Delta building then initiates where the river enters the lake, and people who are in
the market for a lakeside lot are advised to avoid the upper reaches of the reservoir.
As the delta grows and the reservoir becomes silted in, uses of the lake gradually
will be compromised. A clue is growing mud flats that eventually will become
floodplain. In the U.S., a minimum reservoir design life of 100 years has been
considered acceptable, but sedimentation rates often show that estimates that
were used as a basis for dam building were overly optimistic. Reducing soil
erosion in the drainage area has obvious benefits, and where feasible smaller check
dams can be built upstream from a main reservoir to catch sediment in areas
that can more easily be cleaned out. Adding height to a dam is far more difficult,
and dredging is expensive and may cost more than the dam while posing
a problem of where to put the spoil.
The seriousness of the coming problem is shown by reservoirs that already have
become silted in 15 years after construction. By the time a dam was completed on
the Yellow River in China in the 1970s, the capacity of the reservoir for power
generation had been reduced by three-fourths. If sedimentation continues at the
present rate, the reservoir will be completely filled with loess-derived silt by 2050,
80 years after completion of the dam
The most promising solution to the sedimentation problem may be to bypass

sediment-laden water, particularly during floods that carry the bulk of
the sediment. After completion of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in
China in 2009, the plan is to draw the reservoir down during the flood season, which
will allow 90 percent of the annual sediment load to pass through with 60 percent
of the annual inflow of water. The procedure undoubtedly will be rife with
controversy, because managing a dam to prevent sedimentation also means
managing it to allow flooding. Even though it should extend the reservoir life by
a factor of 10, the anticipated life still is only 100 years. Thus, while hydroelectric
power is widely regarded as a renewable resource, the reservoirs created by
damming are not readily renewable.
4.7.5 Downstream from a Dam

Removal of sediment makes a river more erosive, so the channel immediately
downstream from a dam generally deepens and works with increased energy
against its banks, increasing the need for bank protection to prevent landslides.
Sediment depletion by a reservoir also impacts the delta downstream that holds
a tenuous balance against wave erosion. The delta of the Colorado River guards
the Imperial Valley of California, one of the richest agricultural areas in the world,
against invasion by the sea, but the sea has been advancing since completion of the
Hoover Dam in 1934.
Wave erosion of deltas is the primary source for beach sand that is distributed
by longshore currents. Thus as a delta becomes depleted, beaches may require
protection from wave erosion. Current policy in many areas is to prohibit building
closer to the sea than the anticipated beach position after 50 or 100 years.
In summary, changes that are worked on a river, whether by shortening, confin-

ing it with levees, damming, or other measures, all affect the natural balance of the
river system, its delta, and the associated beaches. This does not mean that there
is no net gain, but only that engineers and planners should be fully aware of the
eventual consequences and incorporate them into their feasibility studies.
4.7.6 Beach Deposits

After they are derived from deltas or other sources such as erosion of headlands,
beaches are subjected to continuous, unending wave action that grinds away soft
minerals and concentrates hard minerals, in particular quartz. Beach sediments also
are well sorted (all one size), well rounded, and can vary in size from gravel to sand.
Longshore currents that carry sands along the lengths of beaches are products of
winds blowing toward the beach at an angle. With certain wind directions two
opposing longshore currents can come together in a bay and create a dangerous
rip tide that flows offshore. Swimmers or boaters caught in a rip tide should move
parallel with the shore instead of trying to fight against it, which is a losing battle.

4.7.7 Breakers and Barrier Beaches

The drag of wind on the water causes a near-circular motion where the diameter
of the circle represents the height of the waves. As a wave progresses into shallow
water, frictional drag at the bottom distorts the circular orbit and reduces the
wavelength so that water piles up. The wave breaks over at the top when the depth
is about l.5 times the wave height.
Breaking dissipates energy, so sand deposition occurs to the landward side of the
break zone and builds a submerged offshore bar. The bar can be built above sea
level during storms, in which case it becomes a barrier beach that is separated from
the shore by a lagoon. The lagoon then tends to trap fine-grained sediments
brought in by streams and rivers.
Barrier beaches are common along many coastlines, including the eastern and
southern coasts of the United States, and are shown on maps. They tend to erode
on the seaward side and build up on the landward side, so a beach slowly migrates
landward and covers the associated clayey lagoon sediments. The clay helps to
prevent intermingling of fresh and salt water in the groundwater supply, but also
forms a soft zone for foundations.
4.7.8 Fossil Beaches

In the long term most land masses are not stable relative to a sea level that also
is not stable. An emerging coastline may preserve beaches as part of the upland.
Such beaches often are marked by sand dunes. A submergent coast is more likely
to be marked by narrow beaches, rugged cliffs, and estuaries.
4.8 EOLIAN SANDS
4.8.1 Dunes
Sand dunes are among the most easily recognized sedimentary deposits because of
their sweeping curves and frequently blowing sand. Less obvious are sand dunes
that no longer are active and are referred to as stable dunes. Stable dunes support
protective vegetation but nevertheless often are pock-marked with wind-eroded
blowouts.
Active dunes require a continuous source of sand, and therefore occur adjacent
to beaches or alluvial sand, particularly along braided rivers. Desert dunes derive
from the extensive alluvial fans in deserts. Contrary to popular conceptions, sand
dunes cover only about one-fourth to one-third of desert areas, the rest being
mainly exposed rock and alluvium.

4.8.2 Movement of Sand

Whereas silt is fine enough to be carried suspended in air as dust, sand grains
quickly settle out and bounce along on the ground, sand-blasting exposed rocks
and ankles, and clipping off old fence posts close to the ground. The transport
mechanism is called saltation, and requires that sand dunes be connected to
a source. The connection can either be more dunes or a barren ‘‘desert pavement’’
that is covered with wind-polished stones. Desert pavements may show thin,
straight sand strips or streaks after a single storm.
4.8.3 Cliff-Head Dunes

Eddies created by winds crossing a river floodplain can carry sand to the top of
the adjacent river bank where it is deposited as ‘‘cliff-head dunes.’’ These dunes
are analogous to snow drifts, and normally remain anchored to their source areas,
growing ever larger and extending inland. In arid areas, isolated dunes called
‘‘barchans’’ may break away and migrate downwind as the ‘‘children’’ of
cliff-head dunes.
4.8.4 Dune Shapes

Dunes may exhibit many shapes indicative of the directions of prevailing winds.
Most common where there is a generous supply of sand are transverse dunes that
resemble gigantic ripples. Where there is less abundant sand, transverse dunes
may become partitioned into barchans, which are the classic crescent-shaped
dunes that are a favorite with photographers. The tails or horns of a barchan
sweep off downwind, a tail from one dune leading to the head of the next.
A British Army engineer, R. A. Bagnold, made an extensive study of dunes in

the Sahara during World War II. He found that with two instead of one dominant
wind direction, one tail of a barchan tends to grow longer and give a classic
‘‘seif’’ dune, named for its shape like an Arabian sword. The long tails of seifs
may link into a continuous chain or ‘‘longitudinal’’ dune with a succession of
peaks and saddles. Whereas the maximum size of barchans is limited to about
30 m (100 ft) because of blowing off at the crest, longitudinal dunes, being
alternately blown at from both sides, may continue to build to a height of 200 m
(650 ft), and become a very prominent landform extending downwind for many
kilometers.
4.8.5 Dune Slip Face and the Angle of Repose

A characteristic of all active dunes regardless of shape is the occurrence of a slip
face on the leeward side, as illustrated in Fig. 4.13. The slip face is the main area
of deposition, as sand grains bouncing up the windward side drop into the
wind shadow behind the dune. Sand grains sprinkling down a slip face adjust
to a constant angle that depends on the frictional characteristics of the sand.

Figure 4.13
Anatomy of a sand
dune.
This is the angle of repose, and normally is less than 358, although it can
give the impression of being much steeper.
4.8.6 Internal Structure of a Sand Dune

Continual bombardment of the windward side of a dune by saltating sand
grains develops a crust that slowly creeps up over the dune, sometimes
extending out over the edge of the slip face. The dune itself also migrates as
sand grains are dislodged from the windward side and carried across to
the slip face. The migrating dune therefore encompasses former slip surfaces,
as shown in Fig. 4.13. The interior of a dune therefore remains relatively
soft and is an invitation for vehicles to become stuck if tires break through
the surface crust.
4.8.7 Migration Rate

As dunes migrate they cover and encapsulate whatever is in the way—trees,
roads, houses, whatever. As a general rule one should not place anything
close to the lee side of an active sand dune unless it is on wheels.
The rate of dune migration is predictable based on empirical measurements.

Large dunes migrate more slowly than small ones because more sand is
required to extend the slip face. While data are limited, measurements of several
barchans in Egypt gave an average rate of advance of about R ¼ 180/H 20 m/y,
where R is meters per year and H is the dune height in meters.
Example 4.1
Your brother-in-law asks to borrow money to invest in a beach motel that has a swimming
pool and tennis court, and is about 200 m downwind from a beautiful, active, 10-m-high
sand dune. How long will he have before the motel is part of the scenery and he has
to apply for government aid?

Answer: R ¼ 180/10 ¼ 18 m/y. To go 200 m will require 200/18 ¼ 11 years. The ‘‘For Sale’’
sign probably will appear after about 10 years, as soon as they get the drift.
4.8.8 Stabilizing Sand Dunes

Dune migration is a challenge. One response that is used to keep roads open
is to keep a road grader handy, push the sand off, and wait for more. A more
reasoned approach is to stop encroachment by cutting off the source of sand.
This usually involves anchoring the sand with vegetation that can grow to keep
pace with the rate of sand accumulation. Migration also can be slowed by
covering the windward side to prevent erosion or creep of the surface layer. If all
else fails, a cover can be constructed over a road or railroad so that the dune can
walk over the top.
4.9 EOLIAN SILT, OR LOESS
4.9.1 Definition
Loess is eolian dust that, as shown in the background of Fig. 4.9, still may be seen
blowing off glacial outwash to be deposited on nearby terraces and upland. Loess
is mainly silt, having grain sizes that are finer than sand and for the most part are
coarser than clay. The name is Anglicized from the German löss, which literally
means loose. The German pronunciation is approximated by ‘‘lerse’’ but more
common pronunciations are ‘‘luss,’’ ‘‘less,’’ and ‘‘lo-ess.’’
While loess is mostly silt, it also can contain some clay and minor amounts of
fine sand. The silt and sand are mainly quartz and feldspars, and the clay fraction
often consists of expansive clay minerals that usually are not in a sufficient
amount to make the soil expansive. However, weathering processes discussed
in the next chapter can turn it into expansive clay.
4.9.2 Geography of Loess

Silt and clay are carried aloft as clouds of dust that is carried in suspension
and spread across many tens of kilometers. In the U.S. and in Europe, most loess
was derived by winds blowing across exposed bars of braided, outwash-carrying
rivers during Pleistocene continental glaciation. The loess was deposited during
the Pleistocene between 25,000 and 10,000 years ago and therefore was
witnessed by early man. A native American name for the Missouri River valley
is ‘‘valley of smoke.’’
Loess deposits are thickest close to source areas and thin exponentially with
distance. A common assumption is that this reflects a prevailing wind direction,
but that does not explain deposition on both sides of a source. A more logical

Figure 4.14
Major eolian
surface deposits
in the U.S.
explanation is based on river valleys being approximately linear source areas, so

the thickest deposits should be from winds blowing nearly parallel with a linear
source. Then, as the wind direction approaches a right angle, the silt is carried
farther. The same pattern of distribution has been observed in dust deposits
derived from gravel roads.
The maximum loess thickness in the U.S. is about 50 m (150 ft), and the loess
cover extends from Nebraska and Kansas eastward to southern Ohio, and
southward along the Mississippi floodplain into Tennessee and Mississippi. Other
areas include the Palouse loess in southeastern Washington. Loess deposits in the
U.S. are shown in Fig. 4.14. The approximate extent of loess deposits in Europe is
shown in Fig. 4.15.
The thickest loess deposits in the world are in China, where the soil is believed to
have been blown from high Asian desert areas over a period of 2.4 million years.
The total thickness exceeds 120 m (370 ft), and the ease of erosion of loess is
a major factor contributing to the silt content, color, and difficulties experienced
with the Yellow River.
4.9.3 Stable Slope Angles

Gully walls and man-made cuts in loess, such as shown in Fig. 4.16, can have
a height and steepness that seems to be out of character for such a soft deposit.
Artificial cuts may be inclined at 4 vertical to 1 horizontal in order to minimize
erosion from rain. It once was believed that calcium carbonate cemented the
Figure 4.15
Approximate
extents of
glaciation and of
loess deposition in
Eurasia. Loess
map is from
Russian sources,
reprinted in Loess
Letter 48,
Nottingham Trent
University, Ian
Smalley, ed.
Figure 4.16
Intrepid student
engineer
suspended on a
bosun’s chair in
order to collect
samples of loess in
western Iowa.Here
the soil is so
porous that it will
collapse if it
becomes
saturated with
water. A vertical
tension crack and
landslide are at the
left.
soil grains together, but this is not borne out by microscopic examination or
by the fact that loess close to a source can collapse under its own weight if wet
with water. The cohesive mechanism therefore appears to involve capillary
forces or ‘‘suction’’ of water enhanced by clay surface activity and that is reduced
by wetting.

4.9.4 Collapsible Loess

A common problem associated with many loess deposits is collapsibility, meaning
that it collapses when wet with water. This is consistent with the hypothesized
eolian origin from wind such that it never has become saturated. Ground-
water tables in collapsible loess are perched near the bottom of the deposit, and
soil below a groundwater table is dense and not collapsible.
The problem for the engineer is to keep a collapsible loess from ever becoming
saturated. Saturation can occur at leaky joints in pavement gutters, near leaky
water or sewer pipes, or near downspouts. Close attention must be paid to surface
drainage to prevent ponding, and roof water should be carried several meters
away from foundations.
Damages from collapse also can be prevented by presaturating in order to induce

collapse prior to construction, or by founding structures on deep foundations
such as pile. Presaturation is the obvious choice for dams and canals, but after
collapse the wet soil remains soft and compressible and may require surcharging.
4.9.5 Changes with Distance from a Source

Collapsible loess occurs close to a source area. Farther away, loess deposits are
thinner, more clayey, more likely to have been saturated, and less likely to be
collapsible. As the loess was carried by wind, the larger silt grains settled more
rapidly, allowing clay to become more concentrated farther away, where its
sedimentation was aided by rain. A slower rate of deposition also provides more
opportunity for weathering during deposition.
Because the properties of a loess deposit gradually change with increasing

distance from a source, loessial soils exhibit a spectrum of behavior from
collapsible close to a source to relatively stable to expansive farther away. This is
referred to by geologists as a ‘‘facies change’’ (facies from Latin for face).
Expansiveness or collapse can be measured in a laboratory compression test or
can be indicated from the soil density and classification that are discussed in later
chapters.
4.10 MAN-MADE FILL
4.10.1 Overview
As the best building sites become used and re-used, random fill becomes more
commonplace and can contain everything from concrete rubble to tree limbs and
old refrigerators. The recognition of landfill can be one of the easiest but
nevertheless most critical duties of the geotechnical engineer. Random fill usually
is not compacted, and even if it is compacted it can contain open voids.
Surcharging can be beneficial but remains an uncertain remedy because of gradual

disintegration or decay of components in the fill. Another method of treatment is
to repeatedly drop a large weight using a crane, a process called deep dynamic
compaction. Driven piles can be used as foundation elements, but even this can be
difficult if the fill contains structural elements such as concrete rubble that also
makes the fill difficult to investigate by drilling.
4.10.2 Clues
Fill soil is out of place—that is, it does not fit a natural order. This requires an
appreciation for the natural order, which is a reason for emphasis in this and the
next chapter. Fill soil does not follow the dictates or conditions imposed by
geology or by weathering. Fill soil is a mix. A common evidence for fill is a buried
layer of topsoil that under normal circumstances would be on top.
Other critical evidence is bits of glass, concrete, brick fragments, bones, coal ashes,
lumber, bedsprings, soup cans, etc. Such clues to landfill must be recorded in boring
logs and soil reports, which are legal records and can be subject to subpoena.
Fill containing organic material or garbage can generate methane and if allowed
to accumulate inside a building can cause an explosion. Buildings should be
separated from such fill with a plastic liner and/or ventilation system.
Landfills that include toxic or radioactive wastes add another dimension to the
problem, and are addressed by specialists in geoenvironmental engineering.
The failure to recognize random fill and take it into account in design almost
inevitably leads to future difficulties.
4.11 SUMMARY
Most geotechnical problems are not the result of mathematical errors or use of the
wrong formulas, although such errors obviously must be avoided. Some problems
result from poor or inappropriate construction practices, but most derive from
an inadequate appreciation for the soil, its properties, and its variability.
A geotechnical engineer learns to have a critical eye in order to see problems
before they happen.
Problems
4.1. Explain how the weight of a continental glacier can affect properties of the
underlying soil deposits. How may this relate to allowable foundation
pressure to minimize settlement?
4.2. How can a continental glacier move so far on such a low slope angle?
4.3. Explain how one might identify the following from airphotos, and discuss
engineering features:
(a) Alluvial terrace composed of sand and gravel deposited by a braided
river.
(b) Peat bog.
(c) Terminal moraine.
(d) Esker.
(e) Stable sand dunes.
(f) Point bar and clay plug.
(g) Landslides.
(h) Alluvial fans.
(i) Talus.
4.4. Differentiate between a youthful stream, a braided stream, and a
meandering stream.
4.5. What confines a meander belt within a broad floodplain? Which are
most effective for containment, clay plugs or natural levees? Why? Draw a
cross-section showing a clay plug and associated point bar, backswamp
clay, and a natural levee.
4.6. Sketch a cross-section for a stream valley that has a succession of progres-
sively lower floodplain levels. What are these levels called? Which is the
oldest?
4.7. The transportation agent for sand dunes and for loess silt is the same, wind.
Which deposit do you expect to be closer to a source? Why?
4.8. What changes occur in loess with increasing distance from a source?
Explain the changes.
4.9. How do deposits from a braided stream differ from those from a
meandering stream? Make a list of deposits from a meandering stream.
4.10. Radiocarbon dating shows that Wisconsin-age loess in the United States
was deposited during the period between 29,000 to 14,000 ybp (years before
present). How does the average thickness accumulation per year of the
thickest loess deposits compare with the accumulation of dust alongside
a dusty road, measured to be as much as 2.5 mm/y (0.1 in./y)?
4.11. Suggest ways to keep sand dunes from encroaching on a housing
development.
4.12. The edge of a field of barchans 6 m high is located 2.4 km (1.1 miles) upwind
from an express highway. Estimate the time of arrival.
4.13. Would you expect to find any gravel terraces along the Mississippi River
floodplain? Why?
4.14. If you did find gravel terraces along the Mississippi River floodplain, would
they be loess covered? Why?
4.15. Which should give the better prediction of maximum scour depth that
might be anticipated during a flood, the deepest water depth in the river, or
the maximum clay thickness in a nearby oxbow? Why?
4.16. Where would you prospect for sources of coarse aggregate in Fig. 4.9?
4.17. An association of property owners around a small artificial lake has come
to the conclusion that the lake is filling with sediment. What are some
options?
4.18. How can extension of a river delta lead to more flooding upstream?
4.19. How does a dam contribute to erosion by a river downstream from the
dam? To the reduction of the river delta?
4.20. Why and at what depth do waves break?
4.21. In the open sea a tsunami has a very long wavelength and is barely
noticeable. Why is it so devastating when it reaches land?
4.22. Install the free version of Google Earth on your computer.
(a) Go the Grand Canyon, tilt the image, and see if there is evidence for
sedimentary rock layers overlying an igneous rock complex.
(b) Zoom in on your area and browse for some of the features listed in
Problem 4.3.
(c) Check out Greenland for evidence of global warming.
(d) Find a mountain range that has the appearance of having been eroded
by streams. What mountains are constructive?
(e) It may be a small world but it’s complicated. Play.
Further Reading
Bagnold, R. A. (1941). The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes. Methuen, London.
Reproduced by Dover, New York, 1965.
Chorlton, Windsor (1983). Planet Earth Ice Ages. Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Va.
Flint, Richard Foster (1971). Glacial and Pleistocene Geology, 3rd ed. Wiley, New York.
Google Earth (high-speed internet connection is required).
Handy, Richard L. (1972). ‘‘Alluvial Cutoff Dating from Subsequent Growth of a
Meander.’’ Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 83, 475–480.
Handy, Richard L., et al. (1975). ‘‘Unpaved Roads as Sources for Fugitive Dust.’’
Transportation Res. Bd. News, 60, 6–9.
Handy, Richard L. (1976). ‘‘Loess Distribution by Variable Winds.’’ Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull.
87, 915–927.
Jackson, Julia A., ed. (1997). Glossary of Geology, 4th ed. American Geological Institute,
Alexandria, Va.
Kehew, Alan E. (1995). Geology for Engineers and Environmental Scientists, 2nd ed.
Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Kiersch, George A. (1964). ‘‘Vaiont Reservoir Disaster.’’ ASCE Civil Engineering 34(3),
32–39.
Leopold, Luna B., Wolman, M. Gordon and Miller, John P. (1964). Fluvial Processes
in Geomorphology. Freeman, San Francisco.
Miller, Russell (1983). Planet Earth Continents in Collision. Time-Life Books,
Alexandria, Va.
Philipson, Warren, ed. (1997). Manual of Photographic Interpretation, 2nd ed. American
Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Bethesda, Md.
Strahler, Arthur N. (1971). The Earth Sciences, 2nd ed. Harper and Row, New York, 1971.


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Source: GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

4 Soils That Are Sediments

4.1 SEDIMENTS IN ENGINEERING

An understanding of sedimentary processes helps to define and explain differences

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4.1.2 Transportation and Sorting

A stream or a river is capable of excellent sorting action, with gravel being

4.2 SEDIMENTS AND GEOGRAPHY

4.2.1 Location, Location

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Mechanism Sediment name (sorting) Characteristics Table 4.1 Common

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Buoyancy therefore is an important consideration in geotechnical engineering,

4.2.3 Medieval Construction

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Soils That Are Sediments 63

4.3 GRAVITY DEPOSITS

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4.3.2 Rockfalls and Rock Avalanches

A rock avalanche involves a mass movement of loose rock. A rock avalanche

Curiously, rock noises apparently are audible to animals, which become

Creep of soil instead of rock is common on hillslopes and is not necessarily

Creep is important to recognize because it increases lateral soil pressures

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Soils That Are Sediments 65

4.3.5 Recognizing Landslides

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Soil underneath a landslide is weakened by sliding so one scarp frequently leads to

4.3.6 Landslide Abuse and Retaliation

4.3.7 Concealing a Landslide

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Soils That Are Sediments 67

unscrupulous or blissfully ignorant will cover or smooth over a landslide scarp

4.3.8 Precursors of Landslides

4.3.9 Landslides and Earthquakes

4.4 DEPOSITS FROM ICE

4.4.1 An Outrageous Proposal

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Approximately 30 percent of the continental land mass has been covered at

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Soils That Are Sediments 69

Continental glaciers once covered broad northern areas of the continents.

4.4.3 Glacial Erosion

4.4.4 Beaches and Strandlines

4.4.5 Mechanics of Glacial Sliding

4.4.6 Life in the Pleistocene

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Soils That Are Sediments 71

4.4.7 River Valleys in the Pleistocene

This influence of continental glaciation was world-wide because as sea level

4.4.8 Sedimentation of River Valleys

4.4.9 Glacial Drift, the Deposit

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4.4.10 Glacial Outwash

4.4.11 Glacial Till

4.4.12 Overconsolidation Pressure and Ice Thickness

4.4.13 Retreat of an Ice Front

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Soils That Are Sediments 73