MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF COASTAL PROFILE SOILS BETWEENANCON AND ANCONCITO

Abstract

The soils that make up the coastal profile between the parishes of Ancon and Anconcito in the Province of Santa Elena have the geomorphological features of cliffs approximately 40 meters towering above the sea level. Marginal oil exploitation continues in this area, and since the last decade there have been unconsolidated human settlements without basic services such as drinking water, sanitary and rainwater sewerage, which have caused problems of soil stability in the area described. This instability also has its origins within the formation of cracks in the foundation soils related to volumetric changes, erosion and dispersion that depend on the mineralogy of the soils.

Due to the lack of geotechnical studies in the sector, activities were carried out such as: data collection of the geological structure, tours in the studied area and exploration of the subsoil with the method of open trial pits to extract samples with which laboratory tests were carried out to characterize the soil for its mechanical properties and mineralogy. Obtaining in this way the parameters of resistance to the shear indispensable for the analysis of the slope stability and with these values the landslide, which occurred the 2 of February 2010 in the neighborhood located in the Salinas canton, was modeled in the program of GEOSLOPE, comparing the veracity of the parameters of resistance to the results obtained.