Figure 1.
The graph presents percent passing by weight against sieve opening size in millimetres for multiple soil samples and classification ranges including clay, silt, sand, and gravel. The sieve size ranges from 0.001 millimetres to 100 millimetres, and percent passing ranges from 0 per cent to 100 per cent. The curves show increasing percent passing with increasing sieve size for all samples. Thurston silt increases sharply from about 5 per cent at 0.01 millimetres to nearly 100 per cent near 0.05 millimetres. Shanghai Line 18 and Shanghai Line 4 show gradual increases from about 10 per cent at 0.01 millimetres to 100 per cent near 0.2 millimetres. Kaohsiung soil increases from about 5 per cent to 100 per cent between about 0.02 millimetres and 0.2 millimetres. Hull aeolian sand shows low passing below 0.1 millimetres and rises steeply to nearly 100 per cent near 1 millimetre. The shaded region indicates the envelope for clay soils across smaller sieve sizes.Grain size distribution curves for soils where water-soil gushing failures were initiated (source: Shirlaw et al., 2025). Superimposed data from Barnes (2025): Oakdale, Puraflo, Kaolin, London, Illite, KM1 and KM2 clay samples shown as an envelope and the Thurstaston Silt shown separately. KM1 and 2 clays refer to laboratory prepared clays, see Barnes (2025)