Bentonite clays of the Central Kyzylkum and their material composition and engineering and geological properties, Uzbekistan

Abstract

The authors consider the conditions of occurrence, composition, and properties of the Eocene clays of the Paleogene, common in the northern part of Tamdytau, which were the foundation of the structures. The present study of the authors is aimed at studying the problem of the long-term interaction of Eocene clays with water and identifying the features of changes in their material composition and properties; the variability of the composition, properties of clays, and the reasons for these changes are analyzed. The main factors determining the differences in the composition and properties of Paleogene clays are: genetic - different salinity of the sea basin or less saline at which the reservoirs were connected with the open sea; zonal-climatic - different humidity and other physical properties. So far, no unified methodology has been developed for predicting the composition and properties of clays at the base of structures when interacting with water. The results of granulometric analysis established that Paleogene clays are classified as highly dispersed soils containing more than 55% of clay particles. Analysis of the diffraction pattern showed that the clay fraction of the studied samples contain montmorillonite (M), hydromica (H), kaolinite (K), mixed-layer formations of the montmorillonite-hydromica series.