FREEZE-THAW EFFECTS ON GRANULAR STRUCTURE REORGANIZATION FOR SOIL MATERIALS OF VARYING TEXTURE AND MOISTURE CONTENT

Abstract

Repeated freezing and thawing of glacial till cores of clay loam texture results in the formation of granic and metafragmic microfabrics. These units of fabric are best developed near the surface of cores kept at moisture levels between field capacity and saturation. Well-sorted lacustrine sediments with fewer voids tend to form banded fabrics. Many of the morphological features such as vesicles, metavughs and desiccation cracks commonly attributed to freeze-thaw processes are evident in all materials tested. Discrete units of fabric observed in this study are very similar to units of fabric observed in the Ah horizons of Black Chernozemic and Cryosolic soils. Results of this investigation strongly support earlier research which suggests that frost processes are major contributors to their microstructural development. Key words: Granic, freeze-thaw, microfabrics