The Properties of Pusan Clay : Soil and Mineralogy of Clay Sediments in Noksan Area, Nakdong River Estuary

부산점토의 특성 : 녹산지역 점토 퇴적물의 광물조성과 토질

The foundation of Noksan area is composed of consolidified sediments including clay mineral, quartz, plagioclase and calcite. The mineral compositions vary dependent on the depth. That is, at the depth of 0-15 meters quartz and plagioclase are more abundant than clay mineral, at the depth of 17-39 meters clay minerals and calcite are more than quartz and plagioclase, at the depth deeper than 40 meters, the amounts of quartz and plagioclase increase slightly and that of clay minerals decrease. Clay minerals of the clayey sediments include illite, smectite, kaolinite and chlorite. At the depth 17-39 meters smectite is abundant and kaolinite is little relatively The pH of suspension is various between 3-9 and decrease to 3-5 at the depth deeper than 40 meters. The result of soil test of clay sediments, water content shows that liquid limit, plastic limit, particle size, unconfined compressive strength varies depending on the depth. The variation of mineralogical, geochemical, engineering properties of soil with the depth are probably due the differing sediments of different sedimentary environment. That is, these variations are considered to be correlated with the sedimentary environment change resulting from the change from continental environment to ocean environment due to the transgression of the interglacial period after the regression the latest glacial period.