Quick Clay: Really Tricky Stuff!

1 April 2016

Ken Torrance. Quick Clay: Really Tricky Stuff!

Ken Torrance’s lecture summary

I would introduce the hazard context, proceed to discussion of its origins with emphasis on the critical roles of chemical factors and conclude with my prescription for the amelioration (not elimination) of the landslide problem.

Ken Torrance’s bio.

Dr. Ken Torrance grew up on a mixed/potato farm with Honeywood silt loam soil in Dufferin County, Ontario. His education includes a B.S.A. from OAC, Guelph, and M.S. and Ph.D. at Cornell University in soil science, with his research on soil freezing and frost heave. Then he was awarded a NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute – where he studied further soil chemistry, mineralogy and quick clays. He has been a Professor in the Geography Department at Carleton University since 1970, with his specialty being soils, geomorphology, Leda clay; soil freezing, the roles of soil and clays in many different situations. He was awarded an OCUFA Teaching Award in 1975.