The microstructure and the behaviour of low organic clayey soils in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Numerous studies focus on investigating organic soils with high organic content. However, only a limited amount of literature discusses the properties and behaviour of low organic content soils. Sri Lankan organic soil is an excellent example of a low organic content soil, demonstrating different behaviour from highly organic fibrous soil. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of Sri Lankan organic soil were studied to determine the reasons for these observed variations. Sri Lankan organic soils were observed to consist of highly decomposed organic matter in an amorphous state with higher proportions of mineral matter. The microstructure characteristics observed through SEM images mostly explained the variation of properties and behaviour of the Sri Lankan organic soil in contrast to highly organic fibrous soil. Correlations were also derived between properties of Sri Lankan organic soil and compared with similar relationships derived from other geological conditions. While some correlations derived in this study closely follow the relationships for other organic soils with similar microstructure characteristics, the acidity of the deposit resulted in different behaviour of a few correlations. This study improves the current knowledge of the effect of microstructure characteristics on the properties and behaviour of Sri Lankan low-organic clayey soils, which otherwise primarily depend on theories for highly organic peaty soils. Furthermore, the correlations derived and validated for low organic soils can be utilized in any organic clay deposit with similar microstructure characteristics.