Relationship between granitic soil particle-size distribution and shrinkage properties based on multifractal method

Abstract

The mechanical properties of granitic residual soils vary with depth due to changes in soil type and heterogeneity caused by weathering. The purpose of this study was to relate the spatial variation of particle-size distribution (PSD) of granitic soils with soil shrinkage parameters using multifractal theory. The heterogeneity of PSD and pedogenic processes were depicted in detail by multifractal dimensions. The PSD generally increased with the increase of profile depth in accordance with the variation of single fractal dimension (D) ranging from 2.45 to 2.65. The shrinkage limit was greatly influenced by the multifractal dimension parameters, including information dimension (D1) and capacity dimension (D0) (Adjusted R2 = 0.998, P < 0.01), and the maximum linear extensibility (κν) was determined by spectral width (Δα) and bulk density, with the latter explaining 89% of the total variance of κν (P < 0.01). Soil shrinkage characteristic curve was fitted by the modified logistic model (R2 > 0.97, root sum of squares < 0.1), and the water variation corresponding to the maximum change rate of linear extensibility was determined by the silt content (R2 = 0.81, P < 0.01). Overall, the shrinkage of granitic soils was primarily influenced by PSD and soil compactness.