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Soil Properties

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Encyclopedia of Engineering Geology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

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Definition

Soil consists of the mass of solid particles produced by the physical and/or chemical disintegration of bedrock found in various thickness mantling the ground surface (Johnson and DeGraff 1988; USBR 1998). It may or may not contain some proportion of organic material . For engineering geologic purposes, soil should be considered as a mass consisting of the solid particles and the intervening spaces between particles containing either air and/or water (Johnson and DeGraff 1988). This perspective is important because the qualities needed to use soil or some fraction thereof as a building material, to support structures, or to excavate into it are controlled by the mineralogical and physical character of the solid particles in combination with the presence and proportion of air and/or water in the void spaces.

Introduction

Three general properties make soil an important Earth material for human activities. These soil properties are its: (1) relative...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Science and Mathematics, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, California State University, Fresno, CA, USA

    Jerome V. De Graff

Authors
  1. Jerome V. De Graff
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Correspondence to Jerome V. De Graff .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Kanata, Ontario, Canada

    Peter T. Bobrowsky

  2. London, United Kingdom

    Brian Marker

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De Graff, J.V. (2018). Soil Properties. In: Bobrowsky, P., Marker, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Engineering Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12127-7_269-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12127-7_269-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-12127-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-12127-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

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