Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by KONTA, J. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Hydraulic conductivity and imbibition speed of solid clay aggregates: two different approaches involving the tortuosity of pathways

Professor Emeritus, Charles University, Albertov 6, CZ 128 43 Prague 2, Czech Republic

(Received 28 February 2005; revised 27 August 2005)

Two different approaches used to express the tortuosity of water pathways in a solid clay body are known: (1) a static approach based on microscopic measurement in thin sections; and (2) a dynamic approach based on ‘imbibition’ speed. Each is expressed by a corresponding equation. The second method has the following advantages over the first: (a) it enables the testing of a much larger volume than that observed in a common thin section; (b) it measures the effects of all particles, including the finest fragments barely visible under optical microscope which also have influence on hydraulic conductivity or the imbibition speed of water; (c) in the case of expansible clays, the magnitude of k (tortuosity of pathways including the shape of particles) can be compared with k for non-expansible clays using a non-polar liquid, e.g. tetraline; (d) the measurement of the imbibition speed into the clay aggregate through a constant area is automated. Specific properties and processes important for sealing clays are discussed in the connection with the dynamic approach.

KEYWORDS: compacted clays, hydraulic conductivity, imbibition speed, tortuosity of pathways, non-expansible clays, expansible clays

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Bernard-Ubertosi, P. Dudoignon, and Y. Pons Characterization of Structural Profiles in Clay-Rich Marsh Soils by Cone Resistance and Resistivity Measurements Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., January 21, 2009; 73(1): 46 - 54. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]