HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Veenhof, D.W. Articles by McBride, R.A. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Veenhof, D.W. Articles by McBride, R.A. Agricola Articles by Veenhof, D.W. Articles by McBride, R.A.

Overconsolidation in Agricultural Soils: I. Compression and Consolidation Behavior of Remolded and Structured Soils

Department of Land Resource Scieace, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1

*Corresponding author (rmcbride{at}lrs.uoguelph.ca).

ABSTRACT

The identification of meaningful physical indicators of soil quality is an important part of characterizing the present state of our soil resources. A study was undertaken with the main objective of examining the compressive behavior of remolded (saturated only) and structurally intact (variable degrees of saturation including saturated) solum horizons sampled from an agricultural region in south western Ontario, Canada. The measured compression lines for the majority of soils showed significant convergence as C_c, the slope of the virgin compression line (VCL), increased with initial void ratio (e₀) and preconsolidation stress (_c). The deegree of saturation affected C_c mostly through its influence on _c. Strength gain with progressive desorption was most apparent in nonplastic soils with more than a minimum contnet of structure stabilizing substances (transient strengthening) and in plastic soils with higher e₀ values. The widely adopted compaction paradigm derived from compression of sieved aggregates (i.e., constant C_c and VCL displacement to higher void ratios for a given stress with progressive desorption) was found to hold only for soils with relatively uniform e₀ and weaker grades of structure. Samples identified as highly overconsolidated (mostly subsoils) had their measured VCL displaced below the normal compression line (NCL) at C, which occurred when the void ratio difference between the NCL at unit stress and e₀ exceeded 0.36. Factors contributing to subsoil overconsolidation were believed to be mostly natural, including secondary compression and soil dessication. A pedotransfer function based on VCL reconstruction and _c estimation is proposed for assessing the degree of overconsolidation in agricultural soils located in this part of Ontario.

Received for publication August 10, 1994.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Imhoff, A. P. Da Silva, and D. Fallow Susceptibility to Compaction, Load Support Capacity, and Soil Compressibility of Hapludox Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., January 1, 2004; 68(1): 17 - 24. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L.A. Schipper and G.P. Sparling Performance of Soil Condition Indicators Across Taxonomic Groups and Land Uses Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., January 1, 2000; 64(1): 300 - 311. [Abstract] [Full Text]