Geotechnical Characteristics of Marine Sediments in Selected Sectors off West Coast of India vis-a-vis Provenances

Abstract

Geotechnical parameters of three selected sectors in the nearshore waters off West Coast of India, viz. (1) Kandla, Gujarat, (2) Devgarh, Maharashtra and (3) Tadri, Karnataka, having three different provenances, are discussed in this paper. As the geotechnical parameters are also likely to change in accordance with composition and texture of the sediments, silty clay and clayey silt samples only were selected so as to maintain homogeneity. Studies confirm that the nature and composition of marine clayey sediment from shelf area to a large extent are dependent on the lithology of hinterland. It is observed that in the Kandla area, where hinterland is mainly composed of sedimentaries, the values of geotechnical parameters like water content, wet unit weight, void ratio, porosity, liquid limit, plastic limit, plasticity index, and liquidity index are low, whereas in the Tadri area, where hinterland is mainly crystallines and metasedimentaries, the values are relatively higher. In Devgarh area, where the provenance is mainly Deccan basalts, the values are the highest.