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City Research Online City Research Online City, University of London Institutional Repository Citation: Little, John Antony (1984). Engineering properties of glacial tills in the Vale of St. Albans. (Unpublished Doctoral thesis, City, University of London) This is the submitted version of the paper. This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/21115/ Link to published version: Copyright and reuse: City Research Online aims to make research outputs of City, University of London available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the author(s) and/or copyright holders. URLs from City Research Online may be freely distributed and linked to. City Research Online: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/ [email protected] ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF GLACIAL TILLS IN THE VALE OF ST. ALBANS. by Oohn Anthony Little. A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE CITY UNIVERSITY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN CIVIL ENGINEERING. OCTOBER 1984. I To Gail and Matthau and Carl and Emma, Thank you for your patience and understanding. CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE I CONTENTS II LIST OF TABLES VII LIST OF FIGURES X ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS XVIII DECLARATION XIX ABSTRACT XX LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS XXI CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION. 1 1.1 General. 1 1.2 The Study. 3 CHAPTER 2. THE GEOLOGICAL SETTING. 5 2.1 Introduction. 5 2.2 The Quaternary in the U.K. 6 2.2.1 The Quaternary : a definition. 6 2.2.2 Anglian Cold Stage. ? 2.2.3 Hoxnian Interglacial. 7 2.2.4 Wolstonian Cold Stag«. 8 2.2.5 Ipswichian and Devensian. B 2.3 The Vale of St. Albans. 9 2.3.1 Physical and geological setting. 9 2.3.2 The ancestral Thames in the Vale. 10 2.4 The sequence of Pleistocene sediments in the Vale. 12 2.4.1 Leavesden Green Gravel 12 2.4.2 Westmill Lower Gravel and Wastmill Gravel. 12 2.4.3 Watton Road Laminated Silts. 13 2.4.4 Ware Till. 13 2.4.5 Westmill Upper Gravel. 14 2.4.6 Moor Mill Laminated Clays. 14 2.4.7 Eastend Green Till. 15 2.4.8 Smug Oak Gravel. 15 2.4.9 Hatfield Organic Deposits. 15 2.4.10 Poat-Hoxnian sediments in theVale. 16 2.5 Summary. 16 II Page CHAPTER 3. SOME ASPECTS OF THE MECHANICS OF ENGINEERING SOILS. 25 3.1 Introduction. 25 3.2 Stress invariants and a volumetric parameter. 25 3.3 One-dimensional and isotropic drained compression of a clay. 27 3.4 Behaviour during compression shear testing. 28 3.5 Normalising procedures : a general view of the state boundary surface. 31 3.6 Pore pressure response in undrained loading. 34 CHAPTER 4. THE CLASSIFICATION OF TILLS AND THEIR ENGINEERING PROPERTIES. 42 4.1 Introduction, 42 4.2 Glacial till : a definition. 42 4.3 Tills and their depositional environment : a landsystems approach. 43 4.3.1 Subglacial tills. 45 4.3.2 Supraglacial tills. 46 4.4 Till fabric. 47 4.4.1 The geological and the engineering meaning of fabric. 47 4.4.2 The presence, origins and significance of discontinuities in till. 49 4.5 Till as an engineering material. 52 4.5.1 Plasticity. 53 4.5.2 Particle size. 54 4.5.3 One-dimensional compression. 56 4.5.4 Permeability end rate of consolidation. 60 4.5.5 Undrained and drained shear strength. 62 4.5.6 Elastic modulus. 67 4.6 Summary. 69 CHAPTER 5. FIELD INVESTIGATIONS. 92 5.1 Introduction. 92 5.2 Site locations and descriptions of Pleistocene sediments. 93 5.2.1 floor Mill Quarry, Bricket Wood. 93 5.2.2 Hatfield Quarry, St. Albans. 94 5.2.3 Holuell Hyde Quarry, Welwyn Garden City. 95 5.2.4 Foxholes Quarry, Hertford. 96 5.2.5 Westmill Quarry, Ware. 97 III Page 5.3 In situ testing. 90 5.3.1 Clast orientation and dip. 99 5.3.2 Discontinuity survey, Holwell Hyde Quarry. 103 5.3.3 A new till fabric instrument. 105 5.3.4 Shear vane testing. 107 5.4 Sampling procedures. 109 5.4.1 Bulk disturbed samples. 109 5.4.2 Undisturbed samples for oedometer and direct shear testing. 109 5.4.3 Undisturbed 38mm diameter samples for triaxial compression testing. 111 CHAPTER 6. LABORATORY WORK. 129 6.1 Introduction. 129 6.2 Classification tests. 130 6.2.1 Atterberg limits. 130 6.2.2 Particle specific gravity. 131 6.2.3 Particle size, 131 6.2.4 Quantity and distribution of chalk* 132 6.3 Mineralogy. 133 6.3.1 X - ray diffraction analysis (XRD), 133 6.3.2 Energy dispersal analysis (EDAX). 134 6.4 Fossil assemblages. 134 6.5 Oedometer compression tests. 135 6.6 Motorised shear vane tests. 138 6.7 Drained direct shear box tests. 139 6.8 Consolidated undrained triaxial compression tests. 140 6.8.1 Testing schedule. 140 6.8.2 Laboratory services. 142 6.8.3 Instrumentation. 144 6.8.4 Transducer calibration procedures. 145 6.8.5 Preparation of samples. 148 6.8.6 Testing procedures. 149 CHAPTER 7. LABORATORY TEST RESULTS. 175 7.1 Classification tests. 175 7.1.1 Atterberg limits and particle specific gravity. 175 7.1.2 Particle size. 175 7.1.3 Quantity and distribution of chalk in the tills. 175 7.2 Mineralogical tests. 176 7.2.1 Clay mineral content. 176 7.2.2 Element composition. 176 IV Page 7.3 Oedometer compression test results. 177 7.4 notarised shear vane test results. 178 7.5 Drained direct shear box test results. 178 7.6 Consolidated undrained triaxial compression test results. 179 CHAPTER 8. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION. 269 8.1 Engineering classification of the tills. 269 8.1.1 Plasticity. 269 8.1.2 Grading characteristics. 270 8.1.3 Activity of the tills. 271 8.1.4 The distribution and effect of chalk in the tills. 272 8.2 One-dimensional and isotropic compression. 275 8.3 Permeability and consolidation. 279 8.4 The strength of the tills. 282 8.4.1 Undrained shear strength from the vane testa. 282 8.4.2 Peak (nohr - Coulomb) states from the triaxial tests. 285 8.4.3 Ultimate or critical states. 285 8.5 Normalised critical state parameters: the Hvorslev and Roscoe state boundary surfaces. 288 8.6 Aspects of behaviour inside and on the state boundary surface. 291 8.6.1 Pore pressure response. 291 8.6.2 Undrained elastic modulus. 294 8.7 Carbonate cementation. 296 8.7.1 The mineralogical evidence. 297 8.7.2 The evidence from the grading analyses. 298 8.7.3 The evidence from the oedometer tests. 299 8.7.4 The evidence from the strength tests. 300 CHAPTER 9. SUWIARY AND CONCLUSIONS. 377 9.1 The geological origin of the tilla. 377 9.2 The poat-depositional history of the tills. 378 9.3 An overview of the engineering properties of the tills. 380 9.4 An overview of the field and laboratory methods used in the sampling and testing of the tills. 384 V Page REFERENCES. 386 APPENDICES. Appendix I - Till fabric instrument : engineering drawings. 406 VI LIST OF TABLES Table Page 2.1 British Quaternary stages. 18 2.2 The Anglian stratotype, Corton Cliff, Lowestoft. 19 2.3 Pleistocene stratigraphy in the Vale of St. Albans. 20 4.1 Classification of tills - associated landforms and sediments. 71 4.2 Summary of plasticity data : site locations and sources. 72 4.3 Gradational series of till textures. 74 5.1 Summary of till fabric data. 112 5.2 Results of in situ shear vane tests. 113 5.3 Summary of samples obtained at the five sites. 114 6.1 Microfauna from tills HH(a) , HH(b), Holwell Hyde. 155 6.2 Index of oedometer tests. 156 6.3 Index of drained shear box tests. 157 6.4 Index of CU triaxial compression tests. 158 6.5 Summary of transducer calibrations, panels 1-4. 159 7.1 Natural water content, plasticity and particle specific gravity results. 181 7.2 Activity of the tills. 182 7.3 The effect of the removal of acid solubles on various size fractions during sedimentation. 182 7.4 Chalk and acid soluble content, tills HH(a) , HH(b) , Holwell Hyde, 183 7.5 Mineralogical composition of the tills. 184 7.6 Clement composition of the tills. 184 7.7 Oedometer test 0R(1), reconstituted till HH(a). 185 7.8 Oedometer test 0R(2), reconstituted till HH(b). 185 7.9 Oedometer test 0R(3), reconstituted till F(b). 186 7.10 Oedometer test 0R(4), reconstituted till U(b). 186 7.11 Oedometer test 0R(5), reconstituted till li/(d). 187 7.12 Oedometer test 0U1(V), undisturbed till HH(a), vertical drainage, 188 7.13 Oedometer test 0U2(V), undisturbed till HH(b), vertical drainage. 188 VII Page 7.14 Oedometer test 0U3(V), undisturbed till F(b), vertical drainage. 189 7.15 Oedometer test 0U4(V), undisturbed till W(b), vertical drainage. 189 7.16 Oedometer test 0U5(V), undisturbed till W(d), vertical drainage. 190 7.17 Oedometer test 0U(1) H(p), undisturbed till HH(a), horizontal drainage, parallel to fabric. 191 7.18 Oedometer test 0U(1) H(n), undisturbed till HH(a), horizontal drainage, normal to fabric. 191 7.19 Oedometer test 0U(1) H(r), undisturbed till HH(a), horizontal drainage, random orientation. 192 7.20 Oedometer test 0U(2) H(p), undisturbed till HH(b), horizontal drainage, parallel to fabric. 193 7.21 Oedometer test 0U(2) H(n), undisturbed till ' HH(b), horizontal drainage, normal to fabric.
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