A note on the physical properties of the chalk

Abstract

The Chalk is one of the most extensively distributed series in England. It is essentially a soft limestone principally consisting of the remains of marine organisms, deposited in shallow water. The Upper Chalk of Kent, in particular, is characterized by a high porosity and relatively low dry density. The porosity and dry density of the Lower Chalk of Yorkshire and the Middle Chalk of Norfolk are lower and higher respectively, because of the higher content of interstitial secondary calcite. Porosity is not a significant factor as far as the gross permeability of the Chalk is concerned. The Upper Chalk of Kent is moderately weak, when tested in unconfined compression, whilst the Lower and Middle Chalk are moderately strong. All three groups of Chalk suffer a substantial reduction in strength when saturated, in the case of the Upper Chalk the loss in strength is dramatic. The indirect tensile strength is usually less than one twentieth that of the unconfined compressive strength. When subjected to undrained triaxial tests the Upper Chalk first underwent brittle failure at lower confining pressures but above 4.9 MN/m 2 significant plastic deformation occurred leading to barrel-shaped failures. Young's modulus is not a simple constant but varies with stress, increasing somewhat with increasing stress in the Chalk from Yorkshire and Norfolk. This did not happen in the Upper Chalk since plastic deformation began much earlier.