J. Ocean Univ.

China (Oceanic and Coastal Sea Research)

DOI 10.1007/s11802-009-0215-5
ISSN 1672-5182, 2009 8 (3): 215-221
[Link]
E-mail:xbywb@[Link]

Characteristics and Causes of the Preconsolidation Stress

of Soils in the Yellow River Delta
YANG Xiujuan, JIA Yonggang*, LIU Hongjun, and SHAN Hongxian

College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, P. R. China

(Received April 2, 2008; revised August 22, 2008; accepted March 11, 2009)

Abstract Preconsolidation stress ( σ P' ) is the maximum effective stress that a soil has suffered throughout its life. From a geotech-
nical point of view, pre-consolidation stress has great importance because it separates elastic and reversible deformations from ine-
lastic and only partially irreversible deformations and marks the starting point of high compressibility. In this study we calculated the
preconsolidation stress for 72 undisturbed soil samples from the Yellow River Delta, using the oedometer test and applying the
method proposed by Casagrande. The results showed that the over-consolidation ratio (OCR– the ratio of pre-consolidation stress to
current natural overburden stress) values of the soil from soil surface to 6m depth varied from 1.72 to 15.34 and the maximum pre-
consolidation stress was above 200 kPa. In consequence, the soils of the Yellow River Delta are highly over-consolidated within the
upper 6 m, the OCR decreasing gradually with depth from 6 to 12 m. For samples from deeper than 12 m the soils were found to be
under-consolidated, which was proved by standard penetration tests (SPTs). The main causes of this type of consolidation are the
mineral composition and the designability of the soil body.

Keywords pre-consolidation stress; Casagrande method; OCR; Yellow River Delta

called the elastic curve (or elastic recharge curve if it re-

sults from a reload of soil sample) and is characterized by
1 Introduction low deformations that are recoverable if unloading occurs.
Pre-consolidation stress ( σ P' ), also called pre-com- The second is called the virgin compression curve and
pression stress, pre-compaction stress or preload stress occurs at higher stresses than the first. It is characterized
(Dawidowski and Koolen, 1994), is the maximum by its linearity and strain irrecoverability. The point that
effective stress that a soil has suffered throughout its life separates the two branches corresponds to the pre-con-
and is used to describe the stress history of cohesive soils. solidation stress. Several authors have proposed methods
A soil is said to be over-consolidated when it has been to estimate the pre-consolidation stress of a soil sample:
subjected to vertical effective stresses higher than the Casagrande (1936), Pacheco-Silva (1970), Tavenas et al.
ones acting currently. From a geotechnical point of view, (1979), Gregory et al. (2006), among others.
pre-consol- idation stress is of great importance because it Under hydrostatic conditions and with tectonic stresses
separates elastic and reversible deformations from inelas- rejected, a natural soil located at a depth z supports a
tic and partially irreversible deformations. In other words, stress called natural overburden stress (NOS or σ 0′ ) due to
pre- consolidation stress makes the start of high the weight of the soil column above it. The relationship
compressibility. This fact is of great importance in between pre-consolidation stress σ P' and natural over-
predicting expected settlement of foundations or burden stress σ 0′ is the over-consolidation ratio (OCR):
embankments because underestimated pre-consolidation
may cause overestimation of the magnitude of OCR =σ P' / σ 0' . (1)
consolidation settlement and thus make more expensive
This ratio indicates whether the soil is over-consoli-
and time-consuming geotechnical solutions necessary
dated (OCR>1), normally consolidated (OCR=1) or un-
(Tomas
Pre-consolidation
et al., 2007). stress is normally calculated by a
der-consolidated (OCR<1) (Gong, 1996).
uniaxial confined compressive stress test (AENOR, 1994)
Over-consolidation can be due to several causes: Soil
using an oedometer cell. The results of this test are plot-
erosion at ground surface (Feda, 1978; Stamatopoulos
ted on logarithmic coordinates with the normal effective
and Kotzias, 1985); Melting of ice overburden existing in
stress against void ratio (e) or unitary strain (ε). The re-
the past (Holzer, 1981); Changes in groundwater level
sulting graph shows two different branches. The first is
that cause an increase in effective stresses (Kenny, 1964);
Water flow through soil that produces a recording of soil
* Corresponding author. Tel: 0086-532-66782102
particles generating more compacted systems (Selby and
E-mail: yonggang@[Link]
216 YANG et al. / J. Oean Univ. China (Oceanic and Coastal Sea Research) 2009 8: 215-221

Lindsay, 1982); Desiccation of soil due to changes in in 1929 and abandoned after 1934. Hai-gang is in the
moisture content (Stapledon, 1970; Hobbs et al., 1976; Diao-kou delta lobe, which was formed from 1964 to
Graham and Shields, 1985; Tovey, 2002); Diagenesis due 1976. Xin-tan is the newest lobe, which is formed from
to organic or inorganic processes, such as cementing, 1976 up to the present. And the SPT has also been carried
changes in ion concentration, oxidation, depositional out in the four areas.
conditions and mineralogical composition (Jiménez Salas
and De Justo Alpañés, 1976; Cetin, 2000); Tectonic ac-
tivity (Arvidsson, 2001; Cetin, 2005). 3 Methodology Used to Estimate
In this study, identifying the current stress history of Pre-Consolidation Stress
soils in the area, expressed in terms of the pre-consolida- A total of 72 samples were collected from four bore-
tion stress and the over-consolidation ratio (OCR), will holes (Fig.1) at depths ranging from 0.5 to 20.8 m. Undis-
help to establish the future behavior of soils when loaded. turbed samples were taken using a 77.5 mm and 80.0 mm
We estimated the pre-consolidation stress and the over- diameter thin wall sampler following GBT50123-1999
consolidation ratios for 72 undisturbed soil samples by recommendations. This type of thin wall sampler pro-
means of the oedometer test using the Casagrande method. vides high quality samples that minimize structural prop-
It is well known that undrained shear strength (Cu) is erty disturbance of the fine-cohesive soils. The tests were
closely related to over-consolidation (Stamatopoulos and carried out on samples measuring 61.8 mm (diameter) by
Kotzias, 1985; Atkinson et al., 1987; Houlsby and Wroth, 20 mm (height), following GBT50123-1999 recommen-
1991; Mesri and Ali, 1999; Larsson and Ahnberg, 2005). dations.
Although not the ideal test devices for estimating The method used to estimate pre-consolidation stress in
undrained shear strength (Devinzenci, 2003), standard this work was that proposed by Casagrande (Fig.2). In
penetration tests (SPTs) (AENOR, 1994) are also related this method, from the maximum curvature point, M, (or
to undrained shear strength and, as a consequence, with minimum curvature radius point) of the e-logσ curve we
soil consolidation. Finally, possible causes of over-con- draw a line parallel to logσ axis (h). A tangent line (t) to
solidation of the soils are analyzed. the e-logσ curve is also drawn at the same point. Finally
the bisector line (b) of these two lines is drawn. The stress
2 The Study Area corresponding to the intersection of the bisector line (b)
with the virgin compression curve corresponds to pre-
Located on the west coast of the Bohai Sea and cover- consolidation stress.
ing a land area of 5500 km2 (Fig.1), the modern Yellow
River Delta has been in existence since 1855 when a ma-
jor switch in its lower course took place. The overall
modern Yellow River Delta, like the Mississippi River
Delta (Roberts, 1997), is composed of juxtaposed and
imbricated deltaic lobes, which were created around the
mouth of the river in different periods. In this study, we
sampled four cores in different lobes, including Dawang-
bei lobe, Guangli-gang lobe, Hai-gang lobe, and Xin-tan
lobe. The Guangli-gang delta lobe was formed between
1904 and 1929. And the Dawang-bei delta lobe was
formed after a displacement of the Huanghe River mouth

Fig.2 Graphical estimation of pre-consolidation stress

(Tomas et al, 2007).

Natural overburden stress (NOS), which corresponds to

the vertical effective stress ( σ 0′ ) of the soil at depth z,
was calculated as
Fig.1 Locations of geotechnical cores. σ 0′ =σ 0 − u , (2)
 YANG et al. / J. Oean Univ. China (Oceanic and Coastal Sea Research) 2009 8: 215-221 217

where σ0 is the vertical total stress at depth z, which was

calculated by adding the result of multiplying specific
weight (bulk or saturated specific weight, depending on
the position with respect to water table) by the thickness
of all the layers making up the soil column. The second
term u represents pore water pressure. It was calculated as
the stress caused by the water column acting at depth z,
multiplying water specific weight, γ w (set to 10 kN m-3)
by the depth in question by means of the expression

u = ( z − h)γ w (3)

with h being the depth of water table from surface.

Note that a hydrostatic distribution with depth of pore
water pressure has been assumed. This approximation can
cause deviations from real effective stress when the pie-
zometric level is higher in confined aquifer layers. Finally,
the over-consolidation ratio (OCR) was calculated by
substituting pre-consolidation stress, calculated by the
above-expose method, and natural overburden stress (Eq.
(2)) for σ P' and σ 0' in Eq. (1).

Fig.4 Pre-consolidation stress calculated as a function of

4 Results of Pre-Consolidation Stresses depth.
The results obtained are presented in Figs.3–5 and Ta-
ble 1, with Fig.3 showing the variation of natural effec-
tive stress with depth, Fig.4 showing the distribution of
pre-consolidation stress with depth, and Fig.5 showing
the variation of OCR with depth. The pre-consolidation
stress varies from 40.90 to 207.0 kPa, while the OCR
varies from 0.45 to 15.34 for the samples.
From Figs.4, 5 and Table 1 it can be seen all samples
taken between earth’s surface and a depth of 6 m are
highly over-consolidated, with OCR varying from 1.72 to
15.34 (the average being 4.70). From 6 to 12m, 84% of
the samples are slightly over-consolidated with OCR
values varying from 0.64 to 2.15 (the average being 1.46).

Fig.5 Over-consolidation ratio (OCR) calculated as a

function of depth.

From 12 m to 20 m, the samples are very slightly over-

consolidated (39%) and frequently underconsolidated
(61%), with OCR values varying from 0.45 to 1.48 (the
average being 0.90). It is clear that the 3 segments of
the soil’s consolidation state are different. And the analy-
sis of the spatial distribution of samples showed that no
significant variations in the OCR values and preconsoli-
dation stresses existed between samples taken at Dawang-
Fig.3 Natural vertical stress calculated as a function of bei, Guangli-gang, Hai-gang and Xin-tan (Table 1 and
depth. Fig.5).
218 YANG et al. / J. Oean Univ. China (Oceanic and Coastal Sea Research) 2009 8: 215-221

Table 1 Preconsolidation property of the soils

Pre-consolidation stress ( σ P′ ) (kPa) OCR
Location Soil Depth (m)
Max. Min. Max. Min.
0–6 155.9 112.4 15.34 1.89
Dawang-bei 6–12 134.7 62.0 1.57 0.92
12–20 139.2 70.7 1.02 0.45
0–6 158.3 82.9 9.12 1.95
Hai-gang 6–12 145.2 129.0 2.04 1.26
12–20 172.8 82.8 1.46 0.58
0–6 124.7 99.1 4.48 1.72
Guangli-gang 6–12 163.7 87.1 2.15 1.18
12–20 169.2 110.6 1.48 0.64
0–6 207.0 76.3 13.81 2.30
Xin-tan 6–12 184.7 40.9 1.96 0.64
12–20 143.1 56.6 1.08 0.49

5 Variation of Shear Strength with Depth

Soil shear strength is slightly related to
pre-consolidation stress and consequently to OCR (Sta-
matopoulos and Kotzias, 1985; Atkinson et al., 1987;
Houlsby and Wroth, 1991; Mesri and Ali, 1999; Larsson
and Ahnberg, 2005). Mesri and Ali (1999) have estab-
lished numerical relationships between OCR and
undrained shear strength (Cu), which are different in form
but with all of them showing that undrained shear
strength increases proportionally with OCR and
pre-consolidation stress.
Although it is not the best test to estimate undrained
shear strength, the SPT is an indirect way of estimating
Cu variation for fine sediments (Devinzenci, 2003). In the
study zone, the variation of SPT results with depth (Fig.6)
was similar to that of pre-consolidation stress with depth. Fig.6 SPTS values of fine alluvial sediments.
Terzaghi (1929) has established numerical relationships
between Cu and N (the number of blows in the SPT): strength (Cu) to natural overburden stress ( σ 0′ ) is near
0.25 (Wood et al., 1990). Therefore, from Fig.7 it can be
Cu= (6 ~ 6.5)N. concluded that the soils under study are over-consolidated
In this study, Cu was found to be equal to 6 N. For nor- within the upper 6 m depth.
mally consolidated soils, the ratio of undrained soil shear A general overall behavior can be observed in the
above figures: soils between 0 and 6 m deep show shear
strengths greater than those located below them. This can
be interpreted as an effect that the pre-consolidation of
soils has its own geotechnical properties.
 YANG et al. / J. Oean Univ. China (Oceanic and Coastal Sea Research) 2009 8: 215-221 219

deformation, and the easier for the soil to soften with wa-
ter (Shen, 1996).
For a certain amount of soil, the greater the clay con-
tent, the bigger the total volume of the diffusion layer,
that is, the more free water adsorbed by soil particles.
Data in Table 3 shows that in the Yellow River Delta re-
gion, with increasing depth, the clay content (<0.004 mm)
gradually increases; the void ratio and water content also
gradually increase. With the increase of the particle size,
soil porosity decreases, and particle orientation and
abundance are enhanced. All this implies that the strength
of soil is increased (Hu and Lee, 2000). In the Yellow
River Delta, the values of water content and void ratio
within the top 6 m are lower than those in the deeper lay-
ers, the soil is denser and the soil particles are more
densely packed.

Fig.7 Cu / σ 0′ ratio as a function of depth.

6 Causes of Pre-Consolidation Stress

The preconsolidation stress in soil samples from the
Yellow River Delta is quantified and presented in previ-
ous sections (see Figs.3–5 and Table 1). These results
show that the soils are clearly over-consolidated in the
range 0–6 m depth, slightly over-consolidated and nor-
mally consolidated between 6 and 12 m. For depths larger
than 12 m the computed OCR is lower than 1, implying
that the soils are under-consolidated. An important aspect
of the problem is to analyze the cause of this distribution
of consolidation. In this study zone, two main superim-
posed causes could explain the pre-consolidation ob-
served, i.e. the mineral composition and the designability
of the soil body.

6.1 Mineral Composition

Mineral composition of the soil samples is shown in
Table 2. The main minerals are quartz, feldspar, calcite
and dolomite. The clastic mineral content is 75.8%, and
there may be calcareous cement in it. Some clay minerals
are illite, chlorite, kaolinite and montmorillonite. The clay
mineral content is 24.2%, and montmorillonite has the
largest expansion, followed by illite. The content of
montmorillonite is small, but the illite content reaches
13.67%. As a consequence, the soil has a certain expansi-
bility and designability. The higher the clay minerals
content, the lower the soil strength, then the bigger the
Table 2 Mineral and clay composition of the soil samples
Mineral composition and content (%) Clay mineral and content (%)

Quartz Feldspar Calcite Dolomite Clastic mineral Illite Chlorite Kaolinite Montmorillonite Clay mineral

43.68 20.71 9.47 1.94 75.8 13.67 4.44 5.78 0.31 24.2

Table 3 Physical properties of the soil samples

Location Soil Depth (m) Clay content (%) Density (g cm-3) Water content (%) Void ratio
220 YANG et al. / J. Oean Univ. China (Oceanic and Coastal Sea Research) 2009 8: 215-221

0-6 10.23 1.97 24.40 0.77

Dawang-bei 6-12 47.18 1.89 33.00 0.91
12-20 39.12 1.86 34.90 0.97
0-6 11.38 2.00 26.43 0.74
Hai-gang 6-12 17.98 2.01 26.20 0.68
12-20 26.83 1.93 30.60 0.85
0-6 12.75 2.00 24.90 0.69
Guangli-gang 6-12 19.70 1.95 30.10 0.87
12-20 15.75 1.97 26.20 0.73
0-6 16.25 1.97 26.60 0.76
Xin-tan 6-12 17.59 1.99 26.70 0.74
12-20 40.37 1.89 36.50 0.99

body. For depths between 6 and 12 m, more and more

6.2 Designability flocculation appears to dominate the soil structure, and at
18 m depth, cementation becomes the main form of con-
The designability of soils also affects their consolida- nection between the soil particles.
tion state. Data in Table 1 clearly demonstrate the exis- From soil surface to the 6 m depth, the structure of the
tence of the over-consolidation state. This over-consoli- soil body is mainly single-grained, with high salinity wa-
dation may be related to the long-term effects of waves, ter in the particle pores, and unsteady salt-crystal connec-
tides and currents. Wang et al. (2004) analyzed the rela- tions between the particles are easy to form. This type of
tionship between pre-consolidation stress and structural connection is faster in gaining strength, and the structural
strength, pointing out that the over-consolidation of soft strength is also greater, while with the increase of depth,
soils is the result of the existence of structural strength. the silt content decreases and the clay content increases.
The formation of soils’ designability is related to the The connection between soil particles is also changed
long-term hydrodynamic effects in tidal flats, where hy- from salt cementation to clay cementation. The latter has
drodynamic action causes the pore water to be discharged plastic property, and its cementation strength depends on
from the soil particles and the particles become cemented. the amount of water absorbed by clay, and the structural
Fine silt particles form honeycombed aggregates, while strength is small (Gao, 1984). In this area, above 6 m
the clay minerals may demonstrate squamose structure depth, the main connection is the salt-crystal, which has
and flocculation. They have the characteristics of align- larger structural strength. On the contrary, below 6 m
ment, no longer appearing to be single-grained in struc- depth, the main connection is the clay cementation, which
ture. The SEM photographs of the soil samples in Fig.8 has smaller structural strength, and its cementation
show the change in the designability. Above 6 m depth, strength depends on the amount of water absorbed by soil
single granules constitute the spactial structure of the soil in the deposition process.
 YANG et al. / J. Oean Univ. China (Oceanic and Coastal Sea Research) 2009 8: 215-221 221

Fig.8 SEM photos of some of the soil samples.

ence Foundation of China (Nos. 40472137 and 40606020).

7 Conclusions
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