Licensed Professional Geologist A “Licensed Professional Geologist” or a “Certified Professional Geologist” is a person who is certified by a State and/or Federal agency (such as the California Department of Consumer Affairs, Board for Professional Engineers, Geologists & Land Surveyors), and has proven be educated, formally trained and professionally competent per government standards, to practice…

Critical Void Ratio The “Critical Void Ratio,” in soil science and geology, represents the final void ratio of a soil sample, at ultimate strength. And Critical Void Ratio is achieved by the loose and dense samples of the same soil post-shearing.

Volcanic Rock (Igneous) Definition A “Volcanic Rock” is an igneous rock that is finely crystalline and glassy (or aphanitic). To illustrate, volcanic rocks result from volcanic action at the earth’s surface. Typically, this also includes igneous intrusions that are “near-surface,” which may otherwise be considered plutonic. This action results in a final rock that is…

Well Graded Soil Well Graded: In the soil classification process of geology, well graded soil represents a sedimentary soil sample that fully displays all of the possible grain sizes for that soil classification, in accordance with the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS). For example, a well graded sand (SW) comprises fine, medium, and coarse grains…

Direct Shear Test A Direct Shear Test is a geotechnical engineering laboratory procedure that measures the shear strength value of a soil sample.