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A comparison of tests of soil structural stability
Author(s) -
MATKIN E. A.,
SMART P.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.244
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2389
pISSN - 0022-4588
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2389.1987.tb02130.x
Subject(s) - soil water , stability (learning theory) , mathematics , soil test , soil science , reliability (semiconductor) , moisture , geotechnical engineering , environmental science , geology , materials science , composite material , computer science , thermodynamics , physics , power (physics) , machine learning
SUMMARY Samples from 70 horizons from UK soils were tested for structural stability, and a comparison was made between the results from the following six tests: (i) Emerson, (ii) Janse & Koenigs, (iii) Thorburn, (iv) Childs (soil moisture characteristic), (v) Williams & Cooke slump test, and (vi) wet sieving. Both correlations and systematic differences were observed between the tests, suggesting that different aspects of stability were emphasized by different test procedures. The tests leading to classes (i), (ii) and (iii) were found to be more subjective than those leading to indices. It is suggested that (v) may be applicable to less stable soils, and (vi) to more stable soils. Childs’ test was time consuming and subject to some erratic results; two new indices of stability are proposed to increase the reliability of this test.