Soils containing fines (silt and clay) display the properties of
plasticity and cohesiveness where a lump of soil can have its
shape changed or remoulded with out the soil changing in
volume or breaking up. This property depends on the amount
and mineralogy of the fines and the amount of water present, or
moisture content. As the moisture content increases a clayey or
silty soil will become softer and stickier until it can not retain its
shape when it is described as being in a liquid state. If the
moisture content is increased further than there is less and less
interaction between the soil particles and slurry, and a
suspension is formed. Typical moisture contents of soil are
shown in Table 1.