Paired with the fact this size of particle was deposited within a marine system involving the [[erosion]] and [[transportation]] of the clay into the ocean.
Paired with the fact this size of particle was deposited within a marine system involving the [[erosion]] and [[transportation]] of the clay into the ocean.
Soil particles become suspended when in a [[Solution (chemistry)|solution]] with water, with sand being affected by the force of gravity first with suspended silt and clay still floating in solution. This is also known as [[turbidity]], in which floating soil particles create a murky brown color to a water solution. These clay particles are then transferred to the [[abyssal plain]] in which they are deposited in high percentages of clay.
particles become suspended in water, sand suspended clay [[]], [[]] in which .
| last = Kerr
| first = S. J.
| year = 1995
| title = Silt, Turbidity and Suspended Sediments in the Aquatic Environment: An Annotated Bibliography and Literature Review
| institution = Southern Region Science and Technology Transfer Unit, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
| type = Technical Report
| number = TR-008
| pages = 277
| url = https://ontarioriversalliance.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Silt-Turbidity-and-Suspended-Sediments-in-the-Aquatic-Environment-Marked.pdf
| access-date = 8 February 2026
}}</ref>
Once the clay is deposited on the ocean floor it can change its structure through a process known as [[flocculation]], process by which fine particulates are caused to clump together or floc. These can be either edge to edge flocculation or edge to face flocculation. Relating to individual clay particles interacting with each other. Clays can also be aggregated or shifted in their structure besides being flocculated.
Once the clay is deposited on the ocean floor it can change its structure through a process known as [[flocculation]], process by which fine particulates are caused to clump together or floc. These can be either edge to edge flocculation or edge to face flocculation. Relating to individual clay particles interacting with each other. Clays can also be aggregated or shifted in their structure besides being flocculated.
Type of clay found in coastal regions around the world
Marine clay is a type of clay found in coastal regions around the world. In the northern, deglaciated regions, it can sometimes be quick clay, which is notorious for being involved in landslides.
Marine clays vary widely in mineral composition, organic matter, acidity, salinity, and moisture. They originate from multiple sources, including weathered terrestrial rocks transported to the sea, volcaniclastics, the remains of marine organisms, and minerals that precipitate directly from seawater. Their final structure and properties depend on regional geological conditions such as tectonic activity, erosion, and sediment deposition. In addition to their sources, marine clays are shaped by their stress history and environmental factors, including interactions between water and minerals, fluctuations in water levels caused by tides or climate change, and variations in salinity and acidity.[1]
Marine clay is a particle of soil that is dedicated to a particle size class, this is usually associated with USDA’s classification with sand at 0.05mm, silt at 0.05-.002mm and clay being less than 0.002 mm in diameter.[2]
Paired with the fact this size of particle was deposited within a marine system involving the erosion and transportation of the clay into the ocean.
Marine soil particles can become suspended in water, heavier sand settles quickly, while finer silt and clay particles remain suspended longer. Marine clay particles, being very small and often negatively charged, can resist settling and sometimes stay suspended indefinitely, this is also known as turbidity, in which suspended particles create a murky brown color.[3]
Once the clay is deposited on the ocean floor it can change its structure through a process known as flocculation, process by which fine particulates are caused to clump together or floc. These can be either edge to edge flocculation or edge to face flocculation. Relating to individual clay particles interacting with each other. Clays can also be aggregated or shifted in their structure besides being flocculated.
Particles configurations
[edit]
This basic structure of clay minerals consists of one cation, usually silica or aluminum surrounded by hydroxide anions, these minerals form in sheets, known as clay particles, and have very specific properties to them including micro porosity which is the ability of clay to hold water against the force of gravity, shrink swell capacity and absorption capabilities. There are two basic types of sheets in clay minerals, the tetrahedral silica sheets, and the octahedral aluminum or magnesium sheets.[4]
Marine clay particles can adopt different arrangements, and their structure and behavior depend on the types of exchange cations (charged ions of sodium, potassium, or calcium) that attach to them. Different cations lead to different arrangements and therefore different properties of the clay.[5]
When clay is deposited in the ocean, the presence of excess ions in seawater causes a loose, open structure of the clay particles to form, a process known as flocculation. Once stranded and dried by ancient changing ocean levels, this open framework means that such clay is open to water infiltration. Construction in marine clays thus presents a geotechnical engineering challenge.[6]
Where clay overlies peat, a lateral movement of the coastline is indicated and shows a rise in relative sea level
Effect on building foundations
[edit]
Swelling of marine clay has the potential to destroy building foundations in only a few years. Due to the changes in climatic conditions on the construction site, the pavement constructed on the marine clay (as subgrade) will have less durability and requires lot of maintenance cost. Some simple precautions, however, can reduce the hazard significantly [citation needed].
The swapping of this positive cation with another is what makes different types of clays including Kaolinite, montmorillonite, smectite and illite. This happens in marine clays because the ocean’s water is high in solution with cations making it very easy to overcome the clays negative net charge and swap the clays cation with a less positive one. These marine clays can be what are known as quick clays, which are notorious for its erosive properties. A great example of these quick clays is in the Pacific Northwest. They are known as blue goo which is a mix of clay and mélange (greenstone, basalt, chert, shale, sandstone, schists. uplifted through the accretionary wedge). These quick clays have a very high-risk factor associated with them if they are built upon, as they are very unstable due to the fact that liquefaction happens when it becomes saturated and literally flows, causing mass wasting events to happen. Other marine clays are used all around the world for many different uses, such as ceramics, building material, including adobe. Clay layers in soils which can be used as an impermeable layer are very important for dumps or chemical spills as they have a very high absorption capacity for heavy metals. For these clays to be available for human use they must have been eroded, deposited on the ocean floor and then uplifted through means of tectonic activity to bring it to land.
Geotechnical problems posed by marine clay can be handled by various ground improvement techniques. During the construction of Marina Barrage in Singapore, marine clay was found at the site. Given the known risk of soft marine clay in deep excavations, foundation design for the Marina Barrage project incorporated extensive geotechnical analysis that anticipated the ground response of the marine clay encountered at the site.[7]
Marine clay can be stabilized by mixing it with cement and fly ash binding materials in specific proportions.[8]
Dredged marine clay can be adapted as roadbed using wastes of various industries.[9]
- ^ Luo, Zhibin; Li, Zhangming; Fu, Yong; Airey, David (2024). “Insight into the formation of marine clay structure and its effect on the correlation of index properties with engineering properties”. Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment. 83 (8). Heidelberg: Springer: 301. doi:10.1007/s10064-024-03796-6.
- ^ “Subpart A – General Information”. National Soil Survey Handbook (PDF). Title 430 – VI. Vol. Part 618: Soil Properties and Qualities (Amended August 2024 ed.). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. August 2024. Retrieved 2026-02-06.
- ^ Kerr, S. J. (1995). Silt, Turbidity and Suspended Sediments in the Aquatic Environment: An Annotated Bibliography and Literature Review (PDF) (Technical Report). Southern Region Science and Technology Transfer Unit, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. p. 277. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
- ^ Horton, Robert J. (1996). Laboratory Studies of Selected Core Samples from A/M Area, Savannah River Site, South Carolina (PDF). U.S. Department of the Interior. USGS Open-File Report 96-699 (Report). Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO: U.S. Geological Survey.
- ^ Shen, Xinyi; Bourg, Ian C. (2022). “Interaction between Hydrated Smectite Clay Particles as a Function of Salinity and Counterion Type”. Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 126 (42): 17836–17849. doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c04636. Retrieved 2026-02-06.
- ^ “Overcoming Problems with Marine Clays”, Fairfax County, Virginia
- ^ Badelow, Frances (2007). “Foundation Design for the Marina Barrage, Singapore”. Coffey Geotechnics Pty Ltd. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
- ^ Nontananandh, Supakij; Boonyong, Sanupong; Yoobanpot, Thakol; Chantawarangul, Korchoke (30 August 2004). “Strength development of soft marine clay stabilized with cement and fly ash”. Agriculture and Natural Resources. 38 (4): 539–552.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Tran, T. Q.; Kim, Y. S.; Kang, G. O.; Dinh, B. H.; Do, T. M. (December 2019). “Feasibility of reusing marine dredged clay stabilized by a combination of by-products in coastal road construction”. Transportation Research Record. 2673 (12): 519–528. doi:10.1177/0361198119868196.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
- Deng, Yong-feng; Yue, Xi-bing; Cui, Yong-jie; Shao, Guang-hui; Liu, Song-yu; Zhang, Dong-wei (1 June 2014). “Effect of pore water chemistry on the hydro-mechanical behaviour of Lianyungang soft marine clay”. Applied Clay Science. 95: 167–175. doi:10.1016/j.clay.2014.04.007.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - Zhang, R. J.; Santoso, A. M.; Tan, T. S.; Phoon, K. K. (2013). “Strength of high water-content marine clay stabilized by low amount of cement”. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. 139 (12). American Society of Civil Engineers: 2170–2181. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0000951.
- Kamruzzaman, A. H. M.; Chew, S. H.; Lee, F. H. (2009). “Structuration and destructuration behavior of cement-treated Singapore marine clay”. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. 135 (4). American Society of Civil Engineers: 573–589. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2009)135:4(573).
- Holmkvist, Lars; Kamyshny Jr., Alexey; Brüchert, Volker; Ferdelman, Timothy G.; Jørgensen, Bo Barker (1 October 2014). “Sulfidization of lacustrine glacial clay upon Holocene marine transgression (Arkona Basin, Baltic Sea)”. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 142: 75–94. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2014.07.030.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - Dezi, Francesca; Gara, Fabrizio; Roia, Davide (2017). “Linear and nonlinear dynamic response of piles in soft marine clay”. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. 143 (1). American Society of Civil Engineers. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0001580.
