Ancient fluvial sediments: their widespread occurrence and problems for site investigation

Barton, M., Redshaw, P., Smethurst, J.A. and Stuiver, C. (2015) Ancient fluvial sediments: their widespread occurrence and problems for site investigation. XVI ECSMGE Geotechnical Engineering for Infrastructure and Development, , Edinburgh, United Kingdom. 13 - 17 Sep 2015. pp. 2349-2354 . (doi:10.1680/ecsmge.60678).

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

By contrast to studies in petroleum geology and, despite their world-wide occurrence, geotechnical studies of ancient fluvial sediments are rare. This paper introduces the main characteristics of these sediments by reference to a classic UK example. Attention is then drawn to a number of major overseas examples where, although the principal features can be recognised, large differences arise as a result of factors such as the tectonic setting, the volume and mineralogy of the source material and the climate at the time the sediments were deposited. The first, over-riding problem for their engineering evaluation comes during the site investigation phase with the difficulty of deducing the geological structure and distribution of the widely varying lithologies.

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