Evolution model and failure mechanisms of rainfall-induced cracked red clay slopes:insights from Xinshao County,China

Red clay landslides are widely distributed worldwide,resulting in severe loss of life and property.Although rainfall-induced red clay slopes have received extensive attention,the role of cracks in the evolutionary process of red clay slopes and their connection to failure mechanisms is still poorly understood.A comprehensive approach integrating field investigation,laboratory tests,and numerical simulations was conducted to study the 168 red clay landslides in Xinshao County,China.The results show that red clay is prone to forming cracks at high moisture content due to its low swelling and high shrinkage properties.The failure mode of red clay slopes can be summarized in three stages:crack generation,slope excavation,and slope failure.Furthermore,the retrospective analysis and numerical simulations of the typical landslide in Guanchong indicated that intense rainfall primarily impacts the shallow layer of soil within approximately 0.5 m on the intact slope.However,cracks change the pattern of rainfall infiltration in the slope.Rainwater infiltrates rapidly through the preferential channels induced by the cracks rather than uniformly and slowly from the slope surface.This results in a significant increase in both the depth of infiltration and the saturated zone area of the cracked slope,reaching 3.8 m and 36.2 m^(2),respectively.Consequently,the factor of safety of the slope decreases by 13.4%compared to the intact slope,ultimately triggering landslides.This study can provide valuable insights into understanding the failure mechanisms of red clay slopes in China and other regions with similar geological settings.

Using Sorghum Stalk as a Partial Replacement of Lime in the Stabilization of Red Clay Soil for Road Sub-Grade Construction

This research aimed at testing the viability of using Sorghum Stalk Ash (SSA) as a partial replacement of lime in the stabilization of red clay soils for road subgrade construction. Red clay soils have been identified as highly expansive soils, which are affected by both climatic conditions and loading patterns. The consideration of both traffic loading patterns and climatic effects on these soils has been taken into account. A penetration test of 2.5 mm has been used on both pure red soils and stabilized soils at 10% and 15% partial replacement of lime with SSA and showed an improvement in the CBR of stabilized red clay soils up to 11.6%. Again, the PI of stabilized soils at 15% partial replacement of lime reduced up to 11.2%. The results obtained on both CBR and PI of these red clay soils are within the recommended values for the effective subgrade required for laying both permanent and flexible pavements. As a result, a recommendation of making use of SSA to lower the quantities of lime and its costs used in the stabilization of highly expansive soils have been tested through this research. However, further research on a more percentage partial replacement of lime to improve the PI of these soils to below 10% while keeping the CBR levels within the road construction regulations is welcomed.

A "Yellow Cap" on Quaternary Red Clay in Jiujiang,Jiangxi Province

A thin layer of yellow-brown-colored earth was generally found on Quaternary red clay in Jiujiang,Jiangxi Province. A typical profile was established. Both particle size distribution and REE (rare earthelements) characteristics of the yellow-brown-colored earth of the profile fully suggested its aeolian origin andclose similarity to Naming Xiashu loess. The study also implied aeolian origin of the underlying Quaternaryred clap Compared with the red clay, the yellow- brown- colored earth was less weathered because of its lowercontent of free iron and higher mole ratios of SiO2/A12O3 and SiO2/(Fe2O3+A12O3 ) as well as its lessdeveloped chemical microtextures of quartz grains.In order to study the aged of the two deposits comparatively, the thermoluminescent dating method wasused. As a result, the bottom of the yellow-brown-colored esrth was dated to 6015 ka B. P. and the upperpart of the red clay 38854 ka B. P. It was suggested that the yellow- browm- colored earth was formed inthe Late Pleistocene and was probably the aeolian deposit of the Last Glacial, which corresponded with theMalan loess in the Loess Plateau of the northwestern part of China; while the underlying red clay was formedin the Middle Pleistocene.A "yellow cap" on Quaternary red clay in Jiujiang implied a great climatic and environmental varistionin the beginning of the Late Pleistocene in the southern pot of China, especially in the middle and lowerreaches of the Yangtze River. The eveal not only halted the rubification, once dominating the region, butalso produced a widespread covering of aeolian deposit, as only occurred in the cold and dry environment.

Origin of Quaternary Red Clay of Southern Anhui Province

The particle size distribution, heavy mineral constituents and rare earth elements (REE) characteristics of the Quaternary red clay of southern Anhui Province were studied to explore the origin of the clay. The results showed that the clay had some properties of areolian deposits, which could be compared with those of the loess in North China; and its chondrite normalized curves of REE were similar to those of the Xiashu loess, implying that they shared the same origin. It was concluded in combination with the results reported by other researchers that the Quaternary red clay of southern Anhui Province originated from aeolian deposits, and this could reveal the cycles of warm and cold climates in the area during the Quaternary period.

Red Clay Type Gold Deposits in China

Red clay type gold deposits,located in the south of China,are situated not only in orogenic belts,but also in inner cratons,where climate is tropical-subtropical with clear arid and humid.The lateritic weathering crust often can be divided into five zones,including topsoil,siliceous duricrust zone,multi-color zone(or red clay zone in some deposits),pallid zone and saprolite zone from surface to the base rock,several of which are absent in some deposits.The base rocks are composed mainly of carbonate rocks with minor clastic rocks,intermediate-basic volcanic rocks and intermediate-acid and alkalic intrusions.The orebodies are mainly located in the multi-color zone with part of them in the pallid and saprolite zones.The ore sources include orebodies of Carlin-type gold deposits and porphyry gold deposits,as well as gold-rich base rocks.The red clay type gold deposits experienced early-stage endogenic gold mineralization and laterization during the Tertiary and Quaternary.The areas with endogenic gold deposits,especially Carlin-type gold deposits and porphyry gold deposits in karst depressions on the plateau,structual erosional platforms in the middle-lower mountains,and intermountain basins in southern China are well worth studying to trace red clay type gold deposits.

Soil-water characteristics and shear strength in constant water content triaxial tests on Yunnan red clay

The shear strength parameters for geotechnical designs are obtained mainly from consolidated drained （CD） or consolidated undrained （CU） triaxial tests. However, during construction, the excess pore-air pressure generally dissipates instantaneously while the excess pore-water pressure dissipates with time. This condition needs to be simulated in a constant water content （CW） triaxial test. The study on Yunnan red clay is carried out to investigate the soil-water characteristics and the shear strength characteristics under the constant water content condition. Osmotic technique is used to obtain the soil-water characteristic curve. A series of CW triaxial tests are conducted on statically compacted specimens. The experimental results show that the soil-water characteristic curve has a low air entry value of 7 kPa due to large pores in non-uniform pore size distribution, and a high residual value exceeding 10 MPa. In addition, the initial degree of saturation and net confining stress play an important role in affecting the shear characteristics under the constant water content condition. Finally, a new semi-empirical shear strength model in terms of degree of saturation is proposed and then applied to Yuunan red clay. Simulation result shows that the model is capable of capturing some key features of soils. The model can be used in whole engineering practice range, covering both unsaturmed and saturated soils.

Material Composition and Engineering Characteristics of Red Clay in Guigang, Guangxi

There is fine and uniform clay with aluminous and ferrous cementation in the red clay found in Guigang, Guangxi. It has the characteristics of shrinkage outwardly, rigid upper but soft lower and well grown fissure. In addition there are engineering characteristics such as high water content, low compactness and low compressibility, high strength and high contractility but slight expansibility. This paper discusses the red clay's engineering characteristics and its change regulation with depth by analyzing changes in the red clay's grain size composition, mineralogical constitution, and chemical composition.

Study of Mutual Improvement of Completed Weathered Phyllite and Red Clay Based on Neutralization Effects of Swelling and Shrinkage Deformation

Completely weathered phyllite(CWP)soil is a kind of special soil with high swell potential,while red clay is a special soil with high shrinkage.This means that these two kinds of special soils are usually not suitable for direct use as subgrade fill.To reduce the swell index of the CWP soil and the shrinkage of red clay at the same time,it was proposed to blend the CWP soil with red clay to improve their basic characteristics.A series of swell index tests and dry-wet cycle tests of the blended soils have been carried out at varying blending ratios,compaction coefficients and moisture contents.The test results show that the free swell index of the blended soil decreases with the increase of red clay,moisture content and compaction coefficient,respectively.The fissure density of the blended soil first decreases and then increases with the blending ratio,with the lowest being zero when the blending ratio is ranging from 20%to 40%.Through particle microscopic analysis and elemental composition analysis,it is found that the neutralization effect,the dilution effect of swell minerals,and the partition effect of coarse particles play an important role in restraining expansion and shrinkage deformation of the blended soil.Based on the liquid limit requirement of Chinese Railway Design Code(TB 10001-2016),the optimal blending ratio of red clay has been proposed to be 50%.Compared with the CWP soil,the free load swell index of the blended soil is reduced by 45.0%and the fissure density is reduced by 99.3%compared with that of red clay.Therefore,it is feasible to improve the CWP soil by blending it with red clay at an optimal ratio of 50%by using the neutralization effect of the expansion of CWP and shrinkage of red clay.

Sedimentary environment of vermicular red clay in South China

Increasing interest in recent years has focused on vermicular red clay(VRC) in southern China due to its controversial sedimentary environment and provenance. Grain size is a useful way to determine sedimentary environment and provenance. Fisher Linear Discriminant Analysis(LDA) is a common and widely used method for multivariate statistical analysis. Based on a proper training sample set, the LDA can be used to discuss the sediment provenance. In this study, grain size data for 77 Malan loess samples and 41 floodplain deposit samples were used as a training sample set to deduce a Fisher linear discriminant function. Then, 299 VRC samples from 6 Quaternary red clay profiles were analyzed using the discriminant function. Grain size parameters and microscopic images of quartz grains separated from the VRC were evaluated in detail to determine the VRC sedimentary environment in south China. The results show that VRC profiles can be classified into two regions: the Chiang-nan Hilly Region and Wuyi Mountains Region. The VRC samples in the Chiang-nan Hilly Region originated from eolian dust deposits. This VRC is characterized by a higher content of fine particles(<20 μm) and lower average transport kinetic energy than loess in a C-M plot. The quartz grain sizes and microscope images of this VRC suggest that it could be a polyphyletic mixture of far-sourced and nearsourced eolian deposits. The far-sourced eolian deposits share similar provenance with Xiashu loess and were transported by the East Asian winter monsoon. The near-sourced eolian deposits were dust emitted from the adjacent floodplain. In the Wuyi Mountains Region, the rugged topography weakened the dustfall and strengthened the reconstructive effect of hydrodynamic forces during the Quaternary glacial periods. The VRC in this region was reworked strongly by water and retained typical hydraulic characteristics no matter the source.

Improving the Unconfined Compressive Strength of Red Clay by Combining Biopolymers with Fibers

To explore an environmentally friendly improvement measure for red clay,the function and mechanism of xanthan gum biopolymer and polypropylene fibers on the strength properties of red clay were investigated by unconfined compressive strength and scanning electron microscopy tests.The test results demonstrated that the contents and curing ages of xanthan gum had significant influences on the unconfined compressive strength of red clay.Compared with untreated soil,1.5%xanthan gum content was the optimal ratio in which the strength increment was between 41.52 kPa and 64.73 kPa.On the other hand,the strength of xanthan gum-treated red clay increased,whereas the ductility decreased with the increase in curing ages,indicating that the xanthan gum-treated red clay started to gradually consolidate after 3 days of curing and stiffness significantly improved between 7 and 28 days of curing.The results also showed that the synergistic consolidation effects of the xanthan gum–polypropylene fibers could not only effectively enhance the strength of red clay but also reduce the brittle failure phenomenon.The strengths of soil treated with 2.0%xanthan gum-polypropylene fibers were 1.9–2.41 and 1.12–1.47 times than that of red clay and 1.5%xanthan gum-treated clay,respectively.The results of study provide the related methods and experiences for the field of ecological soil treatment.

Red Clay Sediment in the Central Chinese Loess Plateau and Its Implication for the Uplift of the Tibetan Plateau

The widely distributed red clay sediment underlying the Chinese Loess Plateau truly records the Neogene environmental evolution, and its genesis and development are intrinsically related to the uplift processes of the Tibetan Plateau and the evolution of East Asia monsoon system. In this paper, a detailed magnetostratigraphy of a loess-red clay section （107°13′E, 35°02′N） from the central Loess Plateau is reported. The loess-red clay sequence is composed of 175 m Quaternary loess-paleosol sequence and 128 m Neogene red clay sediments. Based on the correlation with the standard geomagnetic polarity time scale, the paleomagnetic results indicate that the age of Chaona red clay sequence extends to 08.1 Ma, which is the older red clay deposition in the central Chinese Loess Plateau. The commencement of red clay at -8.1 Ma may imply that the Ordos planation surface was broken by the movement of the Haiyuan-Liupanshan Faults, which was related to the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau induced by the collision of India Plate and Eurasian Plate. And the western part adjacent to the Tibetan Plateau was uplifted to form the embryo of the Liupan Shan （Mts.） and the eastern part was down-faulted to receive red clay deposition. We link this faulting to an initial uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. The undulating nature of the broken Ordos planation surface may explain the chronological differences and depth discrepancies among various cross-sections of red clay.

A New Model for Correlation between the Marine Benthic Oxygen Isotope and Red Clay Magnetic Susceptibility on the Chinese Loess Plateau

Objective Aeolian sediments on the Chinese Loess Plateau contain some of the best continental archives of palaeoclimate change in the Late Cenozoic. The consensus that alternating MS in loess-paleosols in China was due to the strengthening and weakening of the East Asian palaeomonsoon provides an excellent climate record when correlated with global ice volume. Significantly, new basal dates from the red clay underlying the loess-paleosol sequence indicate that wind-blown dust began to accumulate on the Chinese Loess Plateau at least 22 million years ago. There are differences of opinion,

Experimental Study on Improvement Effects of Completely Weathered Phyllite Using Red Clay and Cement for High-Speed Railway Embankments

Completely weathered phyllite(CWP)has the characteristics of difficult compaction,low shear strength after compaction and large settlement after construction.The traditional improvement method using a single agent of red clay or cement for CWP satisfies the subgrade requirements for ordinary railway,but cannot meet the requirements of immediate strength and long-term post-construction settlement of high-speed railway at the same time.A series of experimental investigations were undertaken for the blended CWP soils,with three additives used.The first additive was red clay,the second was cement and the third was a combination of both red clay and cement at various portions.Results of consolidation test and shear strength test carried out for the treated CWP soils show that:1)The effect of cement on improving the compression modulus of CWP is much better than that of red clay;2)The settlement of an embankment of 10 m high formed by blended soil of CWP with 3%cement can be controlled within 15 mm,while the settlement will be 25.15 mm for the same embankment of blended soil of CWP with 40%red clay;3)The shear strength and ultimate bearing capacity of CWP improved by red clay are much better than those of 5%cement;4)The ultimate bearing capacity of CWP improved by 40%red clay is 3.42 times of that by 3%cement and 2.95 times by 5%cement.Furthermore,the bearing capacity of CWP when improved by red clay can meet railway subgrade requirements immediately after compaction,while cement improved CWP needs a curing time of 1 day or longer.This is an impediment to rapid construction process.The improvement mechanism of red clay is mainly filling effect and grading improvement effect,while the improvement mechanism of cement is mainly hardening reaction,which produces high strength material to cement.It is found that 40%red clay and 3%cement treated CWP,which is considered to be optimum,can meet the subgrade requirements of both immediate bearing capacity and long-term post-construction settlement for the high-speed railway.

A Study on the Shear Strength Characteristic of Unsaturated Red Clay

The red clay in Chenzhou, Hunan province is mostly in unsaturated state. Simply applying the mechanical properties that derived from classic saturated soil mechanics often leads to slope failures in this region. In order to study the shear strength characteristic of unsaturated red clay in Chenzhou and to explore a shear strength equation that can be easily applied in engineering practice, a series of triaxial tests of saturated and unsaturated red clay samples were performed using the regular triaxial testing apparatus. The testing results show that the peak strength of red clay drops slightly before the moisture content of 30% but decreases sharply after that. The friction angle of red clay under unsaturated state is basically equal to the effective friction angle under saturated state, while the cohesion of unsaturated red clay is far much bigger than that of saturated one, which indicates that the matric suction makes a great contribution to the cohesion. By fitting the testing results with appropriate curves, the relationships between total strength parameters and with moisture content were obtained. The total increases logarithmically before the moisture content of 35% then decreases linearly, while decreases cubically with increasing moisture content.

Paleoclimatic application of spectral parameters to the eolian red clay of the Jianzha Basin,northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau

Reflectance spectroscopy is rapid,inexpensive,and non-destructive and can provide important information about the mineralogy of rocks and sediments.We measured the reflectance spectroscopy of Miocene red clay deposits on the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau,with the aim of developing a rapid methodology for detecting paleoclimatic changes.We obtained visible/near-infrared(VNIR)and short-wave infrared(SWIR)spectroscopy data from the red clay in the Jianzha Basin,and analyzed their relationship with independent paleoclimatic records,including mineral contents and environmental magnetic parameters.The results show that the VNIR parameters,including D500,D900,R500,and R900(where D and R represent the depth and reflectance of the absorption peaks around 500 and 900 nm,respectively)are temperature-sensitive and correlated with the magnetic susceptibility,frequency-dependent magnetic susceptibility,and the marine δ^(18)O record.The results of frequency-domain analysis of the VNIR parameters show that they reflect climate change on orbital timescales.SWIR parameters,such as AS1400,D1400/D1900 and D1900(where AS represents the asymmetry of the absorption peaks around1400 nm),are correlated with the illite and montmorillonite content,and they are sensitive to the weathering intensity.The spectral parameters of the eolian red clay in the Jianzha Basin reflect regional climatic changes caused by the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau at~8.5 Ma and global climatic cooling at~7.2 Ma,and thus they are applicable as both regional and global paleoenvironmental indicators.

New eolian red clay sequence on the western Chinese Loess Plateau linked to onset of Asian desertification about 25 Ma ago

The expansion of inland Asia deserts has considerably influenced the environmental, social and economic activities in Asia. Aridification of inland Asia, especially timing of the initiation of Asian desertification, is a contentious topic in paleoclimatology. Late Cenozoic eolian loess-red clay sequences on the Chinese Loess Plateau, which possess abundant paleoclimatic and paleo-environmental information, can be regarded as an indicator of inland Asia desertification. Here we present a detailed magnetostratigraphic investigation of a new red clay sequence about 654 m in Zhuanglang located at the western Chinese Loess Plateau. Sedimentological, geochemical, mineralogical, and quartz morphological lines of evidence show that the red clay is of eolian origin. Magnetostratigraphic correlations indicate that this core sequence spans from 25.6 to 4.8 Ma, and typical eolian red clay appears as early as 25 Ma. This extends the lower limit of the red clay on the Chinese Loess Plateau from the previously thought early Miocene back into the late Oligocene. This new red clay record further implies that the inland Asia desertification was initiated at least by the late Oligocene. This sequence provides a unique high-resolution geological record for understanding the inland Asia desertification process since the late Oligocene.

Magnetic properties of the Tertiary red clay from Gansu Province, China and its paleoclimatic significance

The study on magnetic properties of the red clay indicates that the red clay and loess- paleosol sequence have a common magnetic mineralogy, with magnetite, maghemite, hematite (and possibly goethite) contributing to the magnetic behavior. The red clay magnetic susceptibility is also found to have a positive relation with extrafine superparamagnetic grains. This suggests that, like the Quaternary loess-paleosols, an ultrafine ferrimagnetic component produced during pe-dogenesis in the red clay under humid conditions also plays an important role in susceptibility enhancement in the soil units. This is supported by the correlation between Rb/Sr ratio and magnetic susceptibility. This signifies that, like the above loess-paleosol sequence, the magnetic susceptibility of the red clay can be used as a general proxy paleoclimatic indicator, although whether its susceptibility in the red clay is comparable to pedogenesis intensity and requires further investigation. Magnetic susceptibility variation in the red clay thus also provides an eo-lian/pedogenic record of paleoclimatic evolution. Study of the background susceptibility indicates that, on average, the absolute scale of the paleoclimatic shift from red clay development to Quaternary loess deposition is similar to the climatic shift from stage 5 (S1) to stage 2-4 (L1). This may suggest that during the Quaternary there is an evident strengthening of the absolute wind intensity to bring more (about double) coarser and less weathered (non-SP fraction) eolian magnetic input from the source regions to the Loess Plateau than during the Pliocene. The presence of eolian red clay since 7.5 Ma BP in central-northern China implies an important envi-ronmental change from the underlying Cretaceous red sandstone. The red clay development was closely related to global drying and climate cooling since the Cretaceous and closely associated with the abrupt uplift of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau at about that time. This uplift of the plateau intensified the East Asia monsoon system and started red clay deposition.

Luminescence dating of reticulated red clay buried in Lanshanmiao Paleolithic site in Zhejiang Province,southern China

The Lanshanmiao(LSM) Palaeolithic site,which was excavated in the summer of 2017 by the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology,is the only excavated palaeolithic site in central Zhejiang Province to date.Luminescence dating methods,including optical stimulated luminescence(OSL) and thermal transfer OSL(TT-OSL) for quartz and post-infrared(IR) stimulated luminescence(p IRIR290) for feldspar,were used to determine the age of the LSM site.The results showed that the LSM section developed before 145.5 ± 12.5 ka and ended after 17.1 ± 1.0 ka.The TT-OSL dating of samples NJU2576 and NJU2615 showed that palaeolithic artifact-bearing layer was between 150 and 100 ka in age.The age range of the palaeolithic layer mainly corresponded to the transition between Marine Isotope Stage(MIS) 6 and MIS5.Our study showed that hominins prominently occupied the LSM site during the glacial and interglacial stages,when it exhibited a floodplain environment.

Incorporation of SCBA in Red Ceramics and Sintering in Microwave Oven

The present study investigated the incorporation of sugarcane bagasse ash(SCBA)in red ceramics,sintered in conventional oven and microwave oven,aiming to provide an alternative product,and a sintering process with higher energy efficiency in the production of red ceramics.The raw materials were characterized by XRF,XRD,thermogravimetry,particle size distribution and specific mass analyses.The specimens were shaped by extrusion in two different compositions,red clay and red clay with addition of 20%SCBA and sintered at temperatures from 700 to 1100℃.The conventional sintering occurred for 60 min with heating rate of 10℃/min.In the microwave oven the sintering occurred in a hybrid way,with heating rate of 50℃/min for 5,10 and 15 mins.After sintering the tests of linear shrinkage,compressive strength,water absorption,apparent porosity and apparent specific mass were performed.The addition of SCBA causes an increase in the values of water absorption and decreases the compressive strength and specific mass of the red ceramic.This occurs due to the creation of pores inside the material from the volatilization of organic matter present in the ashes.The sintering in microwave oven,when compared to conventional sintering,promotes an increase in the values of compressive strength and specific mass and reduction of water absorption values of ceramics,probably due to the refinement of the microstructure and the higher densification.Thus the incorporation of ashes can be partially compensated by a more efficient sintering.The use of SCBA and the sintering in microwave oven,showed to be viable alternatives in the development of a more sustainable and light material,promoting the management of waste,reduction in the consumption of raw materials and energy saving.

Analysis of the Tropism and Anti-Bacterial Potential of a Type of Clay

Natural clays have been used by man in infections of bacterial etiology, since the first historical registers. Our attention turned to a red-colored clay, known in the northeast of Brazil as “barro de lou&#231a” (dish clay). These clays and other natural earth materials seem interesting to us, as the blockage of the liberation of toxins or inactivation, may be related to the interruption of infection cycles in the skin and mucous membranes. The adsorptive and absorptive properties of the mineral clays are well documented in the cure process of skin and gastrointestinal diseases. Susceptibility and bacterial tropism tests were carried out. The results were analyzed and interpreted according to the conventional microbiological protocol. The bacterial strains, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli e Pseudomonas aeruginosa, did not present a susceptibility profile to an isotonic solution of clay, but there was an increase of the bacterial tropism as the concentration of the isotonic solution was increased, being the minimal observed concentration of 100 mg/mL. Our aim is to document a type of red clay from the northeast of Brazil with possible attraction properties (Tropism) to bacteria and their toxins.