Four Soviet Loess Laboratories

The Soviet Union was dismantled in 1990 and a widespread network of loess investigation and loess research vanished with it. In 1988, very close to the end of the Soviet period M.Yu.Abelev, a senior investigator, addressed a conference in Beijing, on loess in the USSR. He described the world of loess geotechnology, probably unaware that the end-times were so close. He recorded that 30,000 people in the USSR were concerned with the problems of research into the properties of loess and the development of methods of construction on loess soils. This seems like an incredibly large number but, back in 1988, there was a large amount of loess territory under Soviet control.

Abelev listed some interesting geography: loess soils constituted more than 14% of the total territory of the USSR. Such soils were widely spread over the territory of the whole Soviet Union to the south of the 60N latitude. They occupied more than 80% of the territory of many of the union republics such as the Uzbek SSR, Tadzhik SSR, Kirghiz SSR, Ukrainian SSR, Moldovian SSR and Azerbaijan SSR. Loess soils were also encountered in the Georgian SSR, Kazakh SSR and in quite a few regions of the RSFSR. A great many residential buildings in cities and towns and big industrial enterprises were being erected on loess. In many buildings and structures erected in the 1920s and 1930s deformations developed and failures sometimes occurred. Post- 1930 in the USSR under the supervision of Professor Yu.M.Abelev (1897-1971; father of M.Yu.Abelev) special research laboratories and production institutes were founded which were concerned with the research and development into reliable methods of construction of industrial and civil structures on loess ground.
New laboratories concerned with investigations into the properties of loess were set up in Kiev, Tashkent, Baku and Dnepropetrovsk; the four Soviet Loess Laboratories. Now, 30 years after Abelev delivered his paper, the quondam-loess of the USSR is in separate new countries and the all union loess network is broken.

2 references
Abelev, Yu.M. ,Abelev, M.Yu. 1968.  Fundamentals of design and construction on collapsible marcoporous ground.  Izdatel'stvo Literatury po Stroitel'stvu, Moscow 2nd.ed (this 2nd edition is probably better than the 1979 3rd edition- certainly cartographically).
Abelev, M.Yu.  1988/1989.  Loess and its engineering problems in the USSR. in Engineering Problems of Regional Soils (International Conference Beijing 1988) ed.CCES, Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp.3-6

Some additional material from V.I.Krutov:
[Krutov, V.I.  1987.  Foundation construction on collapsible soils. Soil Mechanics & Foundation Engineering 24, 219-223.]

Collapsible soils ~10% USSR territory; recent (1989) construction 30%- in the regions intense construction activity.  Problems arose in the 1920s with irrigation systems in Central Asia and the North Caucasus, and oil industry construction at Grozny.  Then the first 5 year plans, large metallurgical and machine manufacturing plants in Zaporozhe, Nikopol, Dneproptetrovsk, Zhadanov, Kherson and Kuznetsk, also irrigation systems and hydraulic structures in Central Asia, the N. Caucasus, & Transcaucasia.

Post-war years: largest industrial structuresd: VAZ, KamAZ, Atommash, KZTE etc.  Residential and industrial construction in Ukraine, the Rostov region, Siberia & Central Asia,

First solutions to foundation problems by Yu.M. Abelev (1931). Later contributions from M.Yu. Abelev, V.P. Anan'ev, Kh.A. Askarov, L.G. Balaev, Ya.D. Gil'man, V.N. Golubkov, M.N. Goldstein, A.A. Grigoriyan, N.Ya. Denisov, S.N. Klepikov, A.A. Kirilov, N.I. Kriger, A.K. Larionov, I.M. Litvinov, G.M. Lomize, G.A. Mavlyanov, A.A. Musaelyan, A.A. Mustafaev, N.A. Ostashev, A.L. Rubinshtein, E.M. Sergeev, V.E. Sokolovich, R.A. Tokar' & N.A. Tsytovich.

afterword from Osipov & Sokolov
[Osipov, V.I., Sokolov, V.N. 1995.  Factors & mechanism of loess collapse. in Genesis & Properties of Collapsible Soils. ed. E.Derbyshire, T.Dijkstra & I.J.Smalley. NATO ASI series 468, Kluwer]

55 cities & towns in Russian regions affected by loess collapse; 3.5 million km2 in area. They list 6 relevant books:

Anan'ev, V.P. 1964. Mineralogical composition and loessial soils properties. RGU Rostov-on-Don 218p.

Balaev, L.G., Tsaryev, P.V. 1964.  Loessial soils of Central & Eastern Pre-Caucasus area. Nauka Moscow 248p.

Kriger, N.I.  1965.  Loess, its properties & relation to the geohgraphical environment.  Nauka Moscow 296p.

Krutov, V.I. 1982.  Bases and foundations on collapsible soils. Budivel'nik Kiev.

Larionov, A.K. 1971.  Research methods of soil structures.  Nedra Moscow 168p.

Sergeev, E.M., Larionov, A.N., Komissarova, N.N. eds.  1986.  Loess in the USSR.

 

Planning to cope with tropical and subtropical climate change

Review & Commentary; this is not the most loessic of books but the topic is very important and this impressive volume deserves a Loess Ground mention.

Planning to Cope with Tropical and Subtropical Climate Change
Editors: Maurizio Tiepolo, Enrico Ponte, Elena Cristofori
Publisher: De Gruyter Open, Warsaw & Berlin, 380p

The book is a collection of case studies in subtropical and tropical zones and considers different types of cities: large (over 1 million population), intermediate (0.1-1 million population), secondary (less than 0.1 million population). There are three sections: hazard, adaption planning and best practices.

Overall, 12 contexts are explored: large cities (Dar es Salaam, Niamey), intermediate cities (Caraguatatuba, Taberre, Zurich), secondary cities (Mekhe, Pragatinagar, Nawalparasi) and regions (Catalonia, Chaco, Gaza province, Piedmont, Reunion, Tillaberi). With the exception of Zurich, the case studies are divided equally between subtropical and tropical zones according to the Koppen-Geiger classification after the categories and subcategories studies of Trewartha.

Dust in Sydney (TG etc)

A paper we should take note of:
Aryal, R., Kandel, D., Acharya, D., Chong, M.N., Beecham., S.  2012.
Unusual Sydney dust storm and its mineralogical and organic characteristics.
Environmental Chemistry 9, 537-546

The dust storm was in 2009 and affected Sydney and Brisbane. Aryal et al (2012) did a thorough study on the dust material, and revealed four particle mode sizes: 0.6, 4.5, 9.3, 20 micrometrres.

The investigators made a neat use of thermogravimetric analysis- we do not see enough TG usage and this application is very welcome. TG revealed an organic content 10.6%. They only report a TG curve, it would have been very useful if they had produced a DTG curve. Their TG curve appears to contain various interesting events.

Our TG reproduction is much better than the original; in the original paper the figures are very small and relatively indistinct. Fig.7 is full of suggestion- a DTG picture could have been remarkably interesting.
The authors concluded that the particles contained Si, Al and Fe in oxide form in which the Al/Si ratio was 0.39. The high organic content and the Al/Si ratio indicated that the particles orginated from agricultural land as well as desert.

Thermogravimetric Analysis of Problem Soils (including Loess)

Thermogravimetric Analysis (TG) is an analytical technique in which the change in weight of a sample is measured as the sample is heated. It is widely used but it is not a popular technique; it is neglected in soil engineering and in engineering geology and (in fact) in all of the earth sciences.

Figure 1 is by George Xidakis (from Smalley & Xidakis 1979) and shows a result for the Modbury Clay (from South Australia; the Modbury High School suffered considerable damage from shrink-swell effects). This sample from CSIRO was analysed on a Leeds University TR02 thermobalance and the result is presented as derivative curves. Fig.1 shows the change in rate of weight loss as samples are heated from room temperature to 800 degrees.

Smalley, I.J., Xidakis, G.S.  1979.  Thermogravimetry of an expansive clay from Adelaide: approximate mineralogical analysis using standard montmorillonites  Clay Science 5, 189-193.


The great advantages possessed by the Stanton-Redcroft TR02 thermobalance were the ability to take quite a large sample, say 1-2 g of soil; a slow rate of heating; results presented in a way to facilitate careful graphical analysis. But the machine did not match the times- by the time the potential of TG techniques in soil engineering had been realised the age of the large sample thermobalance was over. The market required small sample machines for routine analysis which could provide quick heating and cooling. The potential of the large sample thermobalance was never realised- the time might be right for a revival of ground-targeted thermogravimetry.

The pioneering paper was probably Coleman et al (1964) on red soils from Kenya, although the TG applications were not emphasized. The dehydroxylation reaction is very marked in kaolinite (a 1:1 clay mineral) so the kaolinite development in the red soils and laterites of Africa and South America made TG a useful tool. But the first, and most impressive application of TG to a problem soil was in the investigation of the very sensitive post glacial clays of extreme sensitivity (the so-called quickclays).

Coleman, J.D., Farrar, D.M., Marsh, A.D.   1964.  The moisture characteristics, composition and structural analysis of a red clay soil from Nyeri, Kenya.  Geotechnique 14, 262-276.

Fig.3 is the derivative plot for the St.Jean Vianney clay. SJV was the site of a significant quick clay landslide (several killed, much damage) and this resulted in much investigation of the ground material. The SJV DTG plot is quite complex. A1- adsorbed water: a small peak- the clay minerals are of the inactive nature. The equivalent peak for the Modbury clay is large, the Modbury clay is dominated by smectite type clay. B2 organic material; C1 dehydroxylation reaction- but muted, not a large amount of an inactive 2:1 clay mineral; D carbonate breaks down to CaO + CO2. This particular result showed that there was a small amount of clay mineral material in the SJV clay, the ground material was not really 'clay' - the SJV clay was dominated by clay-size primary minerals; the clay minerals played a relatively small role in determining the properties. The sensitivity was not due to clay mineral content.

Smalley, I.J., Moon, C.F., Bentley, S.P.  1975.  The St.Jean Vianney quickclay. Canadian Mineralogist 13, 364-369.

This is a particularly satisfying picture from Smalley et al 1975. This is the SJV quick clay (note the alternative terminologies- there was a move to call the quick clays quickclays to show that they were distinctive materials- to detach from the clay label)  2 g samples showing -at point C - the dehydroxylation reaction of the inactive type clay- probably illite. The carbonate peak is well defined- a beautiful piece of analytical architecture.

TG/DTG techniques were appreciated in Hungary; a whole series of standards was produced and published as loose-leaf cards. (see G.Liptay 1971  Atlas of Thermoanalytical Curves, Akademiai Kiado Budapest). Card 123 was Potassium Hydrogen Phthalate: recommended for use as a thermal standard.

 

The heavy bombardment model for the formation of clastic material on Mars

Loess on Mars?- we keep looking but loess does not appear. It appears that no mechanism operates at the Martian surface which can produce the silt-sized particles necessary for the formation of a loess deposit. The granitic crust and some vigorous geomorphology ensured that the Earth was well supplied with sand sized quartz particles and silt sized quartz particles; the essential ingredients for sand dunes and loess deposits. Mars appears to have an essentially basaltic crust and we are faced with the difficult problem of finding a particle forming mechanism.

Speculation: the last major particle forming events occurred on Mars at the time of the Late Heavy Bombardment, i.e. about 4 billion years ago. These are old particulates- but maybe old particulates can exist at the Martian surface. If there are no internal lithological controls in Martian crustal rocks then an energetic particle forming event should produce a range of particles. On Earth there are internal controls and this tends to give a marked modality in clastic material (in particular sand and silt). So-very large clasts down to very fine dust. Dust due to crushing and abrasion at the impact events, and lasting for billions of years because no lithological processes converted it into anything else. The dust is very old.  Sand sized debris can go to make the Martian dunes. Large & very large clasts can litter the Martian surface, as the mechanical explorers reveal.

This range of impact particle sizes should contain some 'loess' sizes, but probably not enough to form a proper modal deposit. The loess ages on Earth are measured in thousands, perhaps millions of years; the aerosolic fine dust is probably recent material- is it reasonable to expect very old, very fine particulates on Mars?  Given the age of the Martian surface one might expect more particulates; if there was essentially one particle forming event a very long time ago this might explain the relative paucity of particulate matter.

Fragipans: Dashing Rocks, Timaru, New Zealand

 

The History of INQUA- for XX INQUA Congress

Many years ago there was talk about the preparation of a detailed history of INQUA (the International Union for Quaternary Research) but nothing seems to be happening; no materials are appearing. In the interim, and in time for the XX INQUA Congress in Dublin in 2019, here is a link to a short history of INQUA- available online thanks to Michigan State University.

Notes for a history of INQUA- the International Union for Quaternary Research (Association pour l'etude du Quaternaire, Internationale Quartarvereinigung, etc.  2011. Ian Smalley. Loess Letter 65 (ISSN 0110-7658) online at www.loessletter.msu.edu

The INQUA Loess Commission provided additional historical data and the doings of that particular Commission are fairly well recorded:

Smalley, I.J., Markovic, S.B., O'Hara-Dhand, K. 2010.  The INQUA Loess Commission as a Central European enterprise. Central European Journal of Geosciences/ Open Geosciences 2, 3-8.

Smalley, I.J., O'Hara-Dhand, K. 2010.  The Western Pacific Working Group of the INQUA Loess Commission: expansion from Central Europe. Central European Journal of Geosciences/ Open Geosciences 2, 9-14.

Smalley, I.J., Howarth, J., Nugent, H.  2011.  The INQUA Loess Commission goes from Budapest to Beijing, and then returns to Europe (1991-2003).  upload to Scribd.com