10 - Soil Water
10 - Soil Water
10 - Soil Water
10 Soil Water
The most obvious part of the hydrological cycle involves rainfall that runs
downhill and accumulates into streams and rivers that combine and eventually
reach the sea. Less evident is the evaporation that simultaneously takes place, rises
to form clouds, and returns to the ground surface as rain or snow to rejoin the
hydrological cycle. Even less evident is water that infiltrates into the soil where its
influences are manifest in springs, wells, and green lawns. These factors plus
the influence of transpiration from vegetation and recycling by animals complete
the hydrological cycle.
Runoff water is the main sculptor of landscape, and erosion patterns and the
resistance to erosion are important clues to the compositions of rocks and soils, as
discussed in earlier chapters. The management of infiltrating water is a major
concern for geotechnical engineers as it influences such diverse factors as soil
strength, reservoir levels, and soil conditions and erosion at construction sites.
Water can reduce the bearing capacity of soils and is a key factor in landslides.
Geotechnical engineers also are concerned with seepage of water through earth
dams, levees, and soil lining irrigation ditches, as well as flow into underdrains
and wells. It is important that an engineer has a working knowledge of the
principles governing the flow and retention of water in soil, and the effect of water
on strength and stability of this material.
10.2 GROUNDWATER
10.2.1 Overview
Soils and pervious rocks contain a vast subsurface reservoir of water that has
percolated downward to a zone of saturation. Not only is groundwater a major
source for water supplies, but it helps to maintain lakes and streams during
periods of low rainfall or drought. Water stored in soil pores is essential for
survival of terrestrial plants and animals. The importance of groundwater may
not be fully appreciated until a supply becomes depleted, which currently is a
matter of considerable concern in areas where more water is being extracted for
irrigation than is being replenished by rainfall and snow melts. Climatic change as
a result of deforestation also can have a devastating influence on water supplies,
as in the constantly expanding Sahara. It is humbling to realize that North Africa
once was the breadbasket for Rome.
The level of the groundwater table is measured and included in boring logs. Since
saturated soil is removed during the boring operation, time is required for water
Figure 10.1
Rain infiltrating into
soil recharges the
groundwater.
In fine-grained
soils a zone of
capillary saturation
occurs above the
groundwater table.
to enter the boring and reach a stable level. Normally measurements are made
after 1 hour, but they also may be repeated after 24 hours. The time required
depends on the ease with which water flows through the soil, being less for highly
permeable soils than for less permeable soils such as clays.
A perched water table is illustrated in Fig. 10.2. Such conditions often can be
predicted from a knowledge of the soil strata and buried clayey paleosols, or
ancient weathered soils that have a high content of clay.
A perched water table also may exist in loose fill soil that is placed on top of less
permeable soil. Without the fill, the water would be free to run off. A sewage
Figure 10.2
Nomenclature
descriptive of
various
groundwater
conditions.
Tapping into an artesian aquifer can go out of control if water emerges rapidly
enough to erode and open the boring. The use of a drilling mud that is heavier
than water can contain moderate artesian pressures, and if high artesian pressures
are anticipated a special dense mud should be used. Artesian conditions can be
expected on floodplains that are capped with clay and are flanked by flat terraces
that gather water. An astute driller may keep a wood fencepost close at hand to
drive down into a boring and prevent a nuisance from becoming a disaster. The
plug can be made more permanent by ramming in dry concrete premix. Auger
borings may even require the sacrifice of the auger if its withdrawal allows
unimpeded erosive flow. Continuing escape of large amounts of artesian water
will draw down the groundwater level and can dry up nearby wells as well as
causing surface erosion and flooding.
A gaping hole, locally known as ‘‘Jumbo,’’ was described as the ‘‘eighth wonder of
the world’’ in 1886 when artesian flow went out of control at Belle Plaine, Iowa,
after the wrong size of casing was inserted into a water well. Flow continued for
over a year and finally was stopped by dumping in 40 railroad cars of rock,
25 tons of Portland cement, a diversity of scrap iron, plus unrecorded amounts of
sand and clay.
Typically the water table is highest during and following spring rains, and lowest
during autumn and winter. Because soil water is continually in motion it seldom
reaches a condition of equilibrium unless there is an impervious cover such as a
pavement that prevents infiltration and evaporation. Prevention of surface
evaporation can create saturated conditions immediately underneath a pavement,
even in a dry climate, and an eventual change in soil color.
Permanent saturation tends to cause gray or even a bluish or green soil color
indicative of reducing conditions. During periods when the groundwater table is
low, infiltrating water carries oxygen into the gray soil so that the soil becomes
mottled with brown colors. Water infiltrating through root channels draws
soluble iron compounds toward the channels where the iron oxidizes and becomes
concentrated as rust minerals. This also occurs where root channels penetrate
a zone of capillary saturation. Soil color therefore is an important indicator
of former levels of a groundwater table that may be experienced again in the
future.
For example, landslides usually stop during a dry season and give a false sense of
security when all that is needed for them to start again is more rain. The design of
corrective measures should be based on the highest anticipated level of the
groundwater table, which can be indicated by the soil color.
Capillary water is held by surface tension forces in small pores or capillaries. One
characteristic of capillary water is negative pore pressure relative to atmospheric
pressure. Negative pore pressure equals suction, since it in effect sucks water up
above the phreatic surface.
All capillary water, including that which occurs in the zone of capillary saturation,
is said to be in the capillary fringe. The upper limit of the capillary fringe is
indistinct and may be at the ground surface. It is emphasized that the water itself
is not different; only the dominant forces retaining the water are different.
Hygroscopic water may be defined as water that is retained after air-drying and
lost upon oven-drying at 1058C. The amount of hygroscopic water therefore
varies depending on temperature and relative humidity.
Structural OH water is not water until clay minerals are heated sufficiently to
break down their crystal structure, normally in the range 500–7008C, depending
on the clay mineral.
Evaporated water is part of the soil air, in which the relative humidity may be 100
percent. Drying at the ground surface creates a gradient that draws water up from
below.
The angle between the hydrogen ions dictates a relatively open hexagonal
crystal structure of ice. When ice melts, the crystal structure collapses and
hydrogen bonding becomes more random. This allows a closer fit of water
molecules so liquid water is denser than ice, which is a unique property of water.
Ice floats.
Figure 10.3
(a) A water molecule showing separation of the hydrogen ions; (b) hydrogen bond between
two water molecules; (c) hydration water with negative ends of water molecules attracted to a
Ca2þ ion; (d) simplified representation of water dipoles attracted to a positive ion.
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Soil Water
10.6.1 Overview
An early method for studying clay minerals involved measuring thermal delays
occurring in small samples as they are heated. For example, calories are required
to cook off free water at 1008C, which causes a lag in temperature. A clever
arrangement was devised to amplify these differences, heating an inert reference
sample and monitoring the difference in temperature between the test sample and
the reference. This is easily accomplished with two opposing thermocouples
attached in series so that a voltage difference occurs only when one is hotter than
the other. This is the scheme for differential thermal analysis or DTA.
Figure 10.4
Differential
thermal analysis
of a smectite clay.
by interlayer Ca2þ ions as shown in Fig. 10.3(c). The test therefore can differen-
tiate between Ca- and Na-smectite. A small exothermic peak at 3508C indicates
burning of organic material.
The higher temperature peaks in Fig. 10.4 show the loss of OH ions from the clay
mineral structure, a final complete breakdown of the structure, and then
recrystallization to form new minerals. Specialized instrumentation now allows
simultaneous weighing and X-ray diffraction analyses of samples as they are being
heated and analyzed.
10.7.1 Definition
The term ‘‘colloid’’ is derived from a Greek word meaning ‘‘glue-like.’’ The
colloidal fraction in soil is largely responsible for its plasticity when wet and
hardness when dry. Colloids are defined as particles that are small enough that
they remain in suspension in water, or smaller than about 0.1 mm and down to
molecular size. Clay-size is defined as smaller than 2 mm, so fine clay that
dominates smectites is colloidal-sized.
Colloids mixed with water are called suspensions and not solutions, which involve
dispersion as ions or molecules. The two can be distinguished because a light beam
passing through a solution is invisible, but can be seen passing through a
suspension, referred to as the ‘‘Tyndall effect.’’ Smoke is a colloidal suspension of
particles in air. Milk is a colloid; carbonated water is a solution. Asphalt
emulsions are colloidal suspensions in water.
Colloids have a large surface area per unit volume. This can be illustrated
by dividing a cube into smaller cubes, as shown in Fig. 10.5. Dividing a unit
volume into 5 slices each way increases the surface area from 6 1 1 ¼ 6 to
125 6 0.2 0.2 ¼ 30, or by a factor of 5. Now let us similarly divide into 1000
slices on a side, and the surface area is increased by a factor of 1000.
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Soil Water
Figure 10.5
The finer the
particles the larger
the surface area.
Every surface has unsatisfied bonds that adsorb water and other molecules.
Colloidal suspensions are highly surface-active, which means that they are
sensitive to the presence of chemicals that can act as either dispersing agents or
flocculating agents.
There also are weak attractive forces between particles or molecules that are called
van der Waals attractions. These forces are relatively constant while the diffuse
double layer changes depending on the hydration, concentration, and electrical
charges of the cations. Therefore by juggling cations in the diffuse double layer a
colloid can be ‘‘stabilized,’’ that is, remain dispersed, or it can become flocculated.
Flocculation is the preferred attribute in soils used for engineering purposes,
although dispersion is utilized in particle size analysis.
A high salt concentration or more highly charged positive ions such as Ca2þ
compress the double layer and cause flocculation, whereas lower charged and
Figure 10.6
Diffuse double-
layer cartoon.
highly hydrated ions such as Naþ can cause a suspension to remain dispersed.
Mathematical details of double-layer theory are treated by Mitchell (1993).
The chemistry of drilling muds used in oil well drilling is complicated by several
factors including encountering water-soluble rock layers. ‘‘Salt domes’’ are
created when a deep layer of rock salt becomes plastic under pressure and,
being less dense that most rock, pushes upward through overlying strata, trap-
ping oil in the tilted stata. Drilling muds are specially concocted to prevent
swelling of shale and to contain high gas or fluid pressures encountered in deep
drilling. Heavy minerals such as barite are added to increase the density of the
mud to prevent blowouts. However, fluid pressures must not be so high as to
cause hydraulic fracturing and loss of the drilling fluid. If gas dissolved in the
drilling mud comes out of solution as the mud is pumped upward, this will
decrease the mud density and increase the potential for a blowout. If more mud is
observed coming out of the hole than is going in, drilling is immediately stopped
and an expandable ‘‘blowout preventer’’ is used to seal the space between the
well bore and the drill pipe. A denser mud then is cautiously pumped down
the hole.
Figure 10.7
Electrophoresis
moves negatively
charged clay
particles toward a
positive electrode.
Figure 10.8
Setup for drainage
by electroosmosis.
As negatively charged clay particles move, positively charged ions move in the
opposite direction and take their water hulls with them. This is called
electroosmosis, and was put to practical use for draining soils in 1939 by Leo
Casagrande in Germany. Because electroosmosis moves water that is adsorbed in
the double layer, it can extract water that cannot be drained by gravity.
Because electroosmosis mobilizes cations and water in the double layer it is more
effective than gravity drainage in fine-grained soils. However, because of its high
cost, electrical drainage is not used where well points or vacuum well points will
do the job.
Hydrated lime, CaCO3 þ H2O ¼ Ca(OH)2 þ H2CO3, a weak acid and a strong
base, which makes lime an effective stabilizing agent, particularly for expansive
smectite clays. Furthermore H2CO3 ¼ H2O þ CO2"; as carbon dioxide gas escapes,
the weak acid, which is the same as in carbonated soft drinks, turns to water.
The several interactions involving water and soil minerals can be summarized as
follows:
Water molecules are linked by hydrogen bonds in ice. When ice melts the
hydrogen bonds become more random, which allows closer packing and a
higher density so that ice floats on liquid water. This property is unique to water.
The geometry of the water molecule causes it to be dipolar, which in turn leads
to clustering of water molecules around ions in solution.
Mineral surfaces, in particular clay mineral surfaces, usually carry a negative
charge that attracts water dipoles as adsorbed water, and cations with their
associated water molecules that are part of the diffuse double layer.
Ions and water in the double layer can be moved with d.c. electricity to remove
water from difficult clays.
Suppression of the double layer by drying or by the addition of multivalent
ions allows particles to come close enough that they attract one another
through van der Waals forces so that they flocculate.
Lime stabilization combines the flocculating potential of Ca2þ ions with an
increase in the negative pH-dependent charge on smectite clay particles.
Problems
10.1. Draw a diagram of the hydrological cycle.
10.2. What are three principal ways that precipitation is disposed of after falling
to the earth?
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Soil Water
10.3. Prepare a table outlining a classification of soil water and state the basis
for each class.
10.4. How can one distinguish by means of a single boring between a main
water table and a perched water table?
10.5. Name two ways in which a soil can be saturated above the water table.
10.6. Name two natural processes by which the elevation of a water table may
be lowered.
10.7. How may a water table be lowered artificially?
10.8. What causes a water table to rise? Explain.
10.9. What clues would you look for to indicate former high elevations of a
water table?
10.10. What happens when a dispersed clay dries out? Explain in terms of
double-layer theory.
10.11. A soil is dispersed for particle size analysis by adding a small amount of a
sodium salt. Explain how this works using double-layer theory.
10.12. A landslide in wet clay soil is taking the back yard of a multimillion-dollar
home owned by your favorite movie star, and if it keeps on raining the
house will be next to go. Wells will not drain the smectite clay and it is not
practical to move the house. Two possibilities are suggested, electrical
drainage, or boring holes in the clay and filling the holes with quicklime.
Tell how each method will operate.
10.13. How will calcium carbonate, CaCO3, affect the pH of water? Compare its
effectiveness with hydrated lime for chemical soil stabilization.
10.14. What is the difference between a water dipole and hydrogen-bonded
water? Which occurs where?
10.15. What is the zeta potential?
10.16. DNA fragments carry a negative charge and are separated using
electrophoresis because smaller pieces move faster. Suggest a reason why
they move faster.
Further Reading
Baver, L. D., Gardner, W. H., and Gardner, W. R. (1972). Soil Physics, 4th ed. John Wiley
& Sons, New York.
Bjerrum, L., Moum, J., and Eide, O. (1967). ‘‘Application of Electro-osmosis to a
Foundation Problem in a Norwegian Quick Clay.’’ Geotechnique 17, 214–235.
Grim, R. E. (1968). Clay Mineralogy, 2d ed. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Ho, Clara, and Handy, R. L. (1963). ‘‘Characteristics of Lime Retention by
Montmorillonitic Clays.’’ Highway Research Record 29, 55–69.
Mitchell, J. K. (1993). Fundamentals of Soil Behavior, 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons,
New York.