Comparisons of Petrographic and Engineering Properties of Loess in Southwest, East-Central, and Northeast Iowa

Recent studies by the Iowa Engineering Experiment Station have been concerned with basic properties of loess. The objective of the studies is to help solve the problem of stabilization of loess for roads. To date studies have been made on loess from three areas in Iowa, southwest, east-central, and northeast Iowa (Figure 1). Property studies of loess in each area were conducted in two phases: The first phase of study was to sample the loess and determine properties and property variations within each area. Combinations of grid patterns and traverses were used to lay out the sample locations, and samples were taken at various depths at many locations. Systematic areal variations were revealed, and with a grid sampling system, it was found that contour lines could be drawn for various loess properties. These and other data have already been extensively reported on, and the bibliography will be found in references (1), (2), and (3)