Craig's soil mechanics / Механика грунта Крейга

To the civil engineer, soil is any uncemented or weakly cemented accumulation of mineral particles formed by the weathering of rocks, the void space between the particles containing water and/or air. Weak cementation can be due to carbonates or oxides precipitated between the particles or due to organic matter. If the products of weathering remain at their original location they constitute a residual soil. If the products are transported and deposited in a different location they constitute a transported soil, the agents of transportation being gravity, wind, water and glaciers. During transportation the size and shape of particles can undergo change and the particles can be sorted into size ranges.
The destructive process in the formation of soil from rock may be either physical or chemical. The physical process may be erosion by the action of wind, water or glaciers, or disintegration caused by alternate freezing and thawing in cracks in the rock. The resultant soil particles retain the same composition as that of the parent rock. Particles of this type are described as being of ‘bulky’ form and their shape can be indicated by terms such as angular, rounded, flat anc elongated. The particles occur in a wide range of sizes, from boulders down to the fine rock flour formed by the grinding action of glaciers. The structural arrangement of bulky particles (Figure 1.1) is described as single grain, each partic'e being in direct contact with adjoining particles without there being any bond between them. The state of the particles can be described as dense, medium dense or loose, depending on how they are packed together. <...>