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Engineering Geology 187 (2015) 8497

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Engineering Geology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enggeo

SPT blow count vs. shear wave velocity relationship in the structurally
complex formations of the Molise Region (Italy)
Silvia Fabbrocino a,, Giovanni Lanzano b, Giovanni Forte b,
Filippo Santucci de Magistris b, Giovanni Fabbrocino b
a
b

University of Naples Federico II, DiSTAR Department of Earth Sciences, Environment and Georesources, Naples, Italy
University of Molise, DiBT Department, Structural and Geotechnical Dynamics Laboratory, StreGa, Campobasso, Italy

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 11 November 2013
Received in revised form 4 November 2014
Accepted 25 December 2014
Available online 30 December 2014
Keywords:
SPT-N
Shear wave velocity
Structurally complex formations
Empirical correlations
Seismic and geotechnical characterization
Molise (Italy)

a b s t r a c t
The relationship between the shear wave velocity (VS) and the blow number of the Standard Penetration Tests
(NSPT) was investigated with reference to the structurally complex formations located in a wide sector of the
Southern Apennine chain (Molise Region, Italy). Novel NSPTVS correlations were developed, based on a balanced
number of in situ tests coming from the seismic microzonation of the municipalities of Campobasso District and
the seismic vulnerability assessment of strategic road infrastructures. It was proven that available relationships
were not able to t the data in the area of interest, even making the analysis according to the soil grain size classication. This circumstance was related to the nature of the geological formations, which are chaotically built
and affected by complex structuraltextural and lithological characteristics. Hence, in this paper, a rational methodology for an integrated geological and geotechnical assessment of the available eld data based on
lithostratigraphical features was presented and discussed. Three original empirical NSPTVS power function relationships were derived and distinguished depending on the main lithofacies recognized in the Campobasso District, corresponding to Structured Soil Deposit (SSD), All Soils (AS) and Weathered Soils (WS). Their validation
through statistical assessment of data conrmed the relevance of the results and the advantages related to
their use at regional scale, based on an integrated geological and geotechnical approach.
2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The solution of any problem in civil engineering usually requires the
acquisition of a certain amount of data, such as geometrical size and
shape of the construction, extension of the signicant area for design
and/or assessment of the structures, material properties, intensity measures of natural events and so on. In some circumstances, the data acquisition process is not difcult. Conversely, in the case of geotechnical
applications, the part of the soil that interacts with the construction
and/or area of interest needs to be characterized in terms of geometric,
hydraulic and physicalmechanical properties, generally all a-priori unknown and affected by large uncertainties (EN-1997-1, 2004).
Type, quality and quantity of the geotechnical investigations need to
be planned according to the type of construction, its performance class
and the complexity of the subsoil (EN-1997-1, 2004; NTC, 2008) and
should lead to denition of a reliable geotechnical model that is one of
the key issues for a successful solution of any problem civil engineering.
This topic is particularly relevant in seismic areas, where the subsoil

Corresponding author at: DiSTAR Department, University of Naples Federico II, Via
Mezzocannone, 8, 80134 Napoli, Italy.
E-mail address: silvia.fabbrocino@unina.it (S. Fabbrocino).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2014.12.016
0013-7952/ 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

characterization inuences the nature and the magnitude of the seismic


action at the foundation level of the structures (EN1998-5, 2004). In
particular, the prole of the shear wave velocity VS in the ground is
regarded as the most reliable predictor of the site-dependent characteristics of the seismic action at stable sites.
Design codes recommend a combination of laboratory tests and insitu penetration resistance or other geotechnical properties, allowing
for the scatter of such correlations. The present paper deals with the relationships between the blow number of the Standard Penetration Tests
(NSPT) and the shear wave velocity (VS), in a complex geological context.
A careful review of the technical literature demonstrated that an optimal correlation between the above-mentioned parameters does not
necessarily exist and is often site-specic. However, simplied procedures for relevant geotechnical mechanical parameter estimation can
be advantageous in a variety of real applications, especially when they
are distributed on large areas.
In the following, a novel methodology was proposed and implemented with reference to the lithostratigraphical features of the
Campobasso District, Molise Region (Italy), where structurally complex
formations crop out. A comparative analysis with the conventional
grain size approach was also discussed in order to validate the outcomes
of the study. Results appear to be encouraging, even though not comprehensive, as the proposed approach and the resulting empirical

S. Fabbrocino et al. / Engineering Geology 187 (2015) 8497

relationships could apply to larger areas located in the Apennine chain


characterized by similar structurally complex formations.
2. NSPTVS empirical correlations: basics and limitations
It is known that in a porous elastic solid containing a compressible
viscous uid, the shear wave velocity of elastic waves, propagating in
the solid component, is directly correlated with the shear modulus at
small strain of the material G0 (e.g., Biot, 1956) according to the classical
relationship:
2

G0  VS

where is the soil mass density.


In scientic and professional literature, books (e.g., Kramer, 1996),
standards (e.g., ASTM D7400-08 for Down-Hole tests, ASTM D4428 for
Cross-Hole), guidelines or manuals (e.g., Butcher et al., 2005 for Seismic
Cone Penetration Tests and Seismic Dilatometer Tests) provide specic
recommendations to perform accurate measures of the shear wave velocity, especially when in-hole techniques are adopted.
Instead, the Standard Penetration Test (SPT) is performed during the
soil boring to obtain an indirect measure of the soil resistance, as well as
a disturbed drive sample (split barrel type). The test was introduced by
the Raymond Pile Company in 1902 and remains today as the most
common in-situ test worldwide (Mayne et al., 2001; ASTM
D1586-11). The test can be performed in a wide variety of soil types,
as well as weak rocks, even though it is not particularly useful in the
characterization of gravel deposits or clays. In the rst case the sampler
can become obstructed by soil particles giving erroneous high values of
NSPT. In the second case, results might be inconsistent with actual in-situ
condition (Kulhaway and Maine, 1990) or poorly correlated with physicalmechanical soil properties (Reid and Taylor, 2010). As a matter of
fact, standard penetration tests cause the soils to fail and even though
theoretical analyses of the test were performed (Schmertmann, 1979;
Schmertmann and Palacios, 1979) sets of empirical correlations lead
to the estimation of the soil parameters from the knowledge of the
blow number see again Kulhaway and Maine (1990) for a comprehensive set of relationship between NSPT and physical and mechanical
soil parameters.
Therefore, a correlation between NSPT and VS represents an indirect
correlation between initial strength and stiffness for a soil, hence it
could not always be a good correlation. It relies on the idea that, referring to a typical stressstrain curve for a soil, the larger the initial stiffness, the higher is the strength.
However, it is well known that: 1. the initial soil stiffness is strictly
dependent upon the soil microstructure see for instance Vinale et al.,
1999; Santucci de Magistris and Tatsuoka, 2004 while its inuence
on the stressstrain response tends to reduce as the strain increases, almost disappearing at critical state (e.g., Santucci de Magistris et al.,
1998); 2. the overall stressstrain curve for a soil is affected by the stress
dilatancy and its volumetric behavior; and 3. the overall stressstrain
curve and particularly the failure conditions are affected by the drainage
conditions.
In spite of all, Tatsuoka and Shibuya (1991) determined under laboratory controlled conditions a set of relationships between the maximum Young's modulus Emax, dened at very small strain and free
from bedding errors, and the maximum deviator stress qmax. A correlation between the ratio Emax/qmax and the deviator stress qmax was observed. In particular, the higher is qmax, the lower is Emax/qmax; the
latter ranges between about 1000 for uncemented soil (clays, sand
and gravel) and about 500 for cemented materials (soft and hard
rock). Analyses of new data from Tatsuoka and Kohata (1995) conrmed the general concepts reported above.
The correlation between the shear wave velocity, VS, and the number of blows, NSPT, obtained by the Standard Penetration Tests (SPT),
was largely investigated in the last decades. A large number of Authors

85

proposed correlations for soils with different features on empirical


bases. This is possible since the correlated parameters (Vs and NSPT)
have different mechanical meanings. It is commonly established that
for geomaterials initial stiffness and strength are dependent by the
same intrinsic and state parameter, including their lithological nature
and void ratio, effective conning stress and stress-history. Other relevant aspects related to the signicance of these empirical formulations
are reported below:
1. According to the standard for the execution of the SPT, NSPT is the
total number of blows needed to obtain a sample tube penetration
of the last 30 cm out of the total 45 cm in each test step. The penetration of the sampler is obtained from the hammering of a 63.5 kg
weight from a constant free falling height (76 cm) onto an anvil
mounted on top of the drill rods. Despite this standardization of the
test, the results might be inuenced by some features of the equipment and the procedures to perform the in situ test, as diameter of
the borehole, the length of the shafts and the energy content of the
hammer. A way to avoid these false responses of the test is to correct,
and eventually normalize, the number of blows according to the procedures mainly established for liquefaction analyses (see for instance, Idriss and Boulanger, 2004);
2. In saturated ne graded soils, the dynamic loading of the blows induces instantaneous undrained conditions, therefore, test result
might depend also on the amount of the excess pore water pressure
development. In very dense ne or silty sand usually a correction applies to NSPT according to the classical recommendations by Terzaghi
and Peck (1948);
3. The NSPTVS correlations were generally site dependent: the empirical correlations should be obtained in a homogeneous geologic context and used only in that considered environment. This is why the
most recent correlations were obtained for specic and limited
areas. However, Anbazhagan et al. (2012) tried to correlate the results of SPT test with G0 in any regional context, merging the database employed to obtain the previous correlations. An intermediate
solution between these two outermost approaches could be the setting of empirical NSPTVs correlation for specic geologic context in
combination with the widening of the results to similar areas, in
order to extend and validate the equations.
3. NSPTVS empirical correlations: literature review
A careful analysis of available empirical correlations in the technical
literature has been carried out. The main outcomes are summarized in
Table 1, which extend a similar table reported in Akin et al. (2011).
Here the most common and relevant existing correlations were
reviewed with regard to their key distinctive features: country/location;
main geological characteristics of soils; basic geotechnical classication
of soils; regression function; total number of measured data; coefcient
of correlation, r or coefcient of determination, R2.
It is evident that the basic idea and the early researches were originally carried out in Japan, but later the topic became of some interest
in seismic prone regions worldwide. The rst attempts to correlate the
shear wave velocity Vs (or the initial shear stiffness G0, see Eq. (1))
and the number of blows date back to the early '70s and were based
on several datasets collected in different regions of Japan (Imai and
Yoshimura, 1970; Ohba and Toriumi, 1970; Shibata, 1970; Ohta et al.,
1972; Fujiwara, 1972; Ohsaki and Iwasaki, 1973; Imai, 1977). A process
of improvement introducing other factors as the type of soils or the
depth from the ground surface is also found. Ohta and Goto (1978) obtained as much as fteen sets of empirical correlation combining four
indexes (NSPT, depth from the ground surface, geological age and soil
type) using about 300 data derived by the characterization of the alluvial deposits in Japan. Table 1 reports the empirical equations relating
NSPT to VS (r = 0.719), but the function with the higher value of correlation coefcient is the one that includes all the indexes (r = 0.856).

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S. Fabbrocino et al. / Engineering Geology 187 (2015) 8497

Table 1
Signicant features of existing empirical correlation NSPTVS.
Reference

Country (location)

Imai and Yoshimura (1970)


Ohba and Toriumi (1970)
Shibata (1970)
Ohta et al. (1972)
Fujiwara (1972)
Ohsaki and Iwasaki (1973)

Japan
Japan (Osaka)
Japan
Japan
Japan
Japan

Imai (1977)

Japan

Geological description

Alluvium

Quaternary and
Pleistocene alluvium
Diluvium

Ohta and Goto (1978)

Japan

JRA (1980)

Japan

Seed and Idriss (1981)


Imai and Tonouchi (1982)

USA
Japan

Seed et al. (1983)


Sykora and Stokoe (1983)
Jinan (1987)

USA
USA
China (Shanghai)

Lee (1990)

Taiwan

Yokota et al. (1991)


Lee (1992)

Japan
Taiwan (Taipei)

Quaternary and
Pleistocene alluvium

Quaternary and
Pleistocene alluvium

Soft Holocene
deposits

Kalteziotis et al. (1992)

Greece

Athanasopoulos (1994)

Greece

Raptakis et al. (1995)

Greece

Iyisan (1996)

Turkey (Erzincan)

Deep Alluvial deposits

Kayabali (1996)
Rollins et al. (1998)

Turkey
USA

Alluvium
Holocene
Pleistocene

Pitilakis et al. (1999)

Greece (Volvi)

Alluvium

Jafari et al. (2002)

Iran (Teheran)

Quaternary alluvium

Hasanebi and Ulusay (2007)

Turkey (Yenisehir)

Quaternary alluvium
and detritus

Hanumantharao and Ramana (2008)

India (Delhi)

Alluvial deposits

Kokar and Akgn (2008)

Turkey (Ankara)

Dikmen (2009)

Turkey (Eskiehir)

Quaternary
Fluvial
Quaternary alluvium

Maheswari et al. (2010)

India (Chennai City)

Coastal and
alluvium deposits

Material type

Type

All soils
All soils
Sands
Sands
All soils
All Soils
Sands
All soils
Sand
Clays
Sand
Clays
All soils
Sands
Clays
Clays
Sands
All soils
All soils
Sands
Clay
Sands
Sand
All soils

VS = aNb
VS = aNb
VS = aNb
VS = aNb
VS = aNb
VS = aNb

76.00
84.00
32.00
87.00
92.10
81.40
59.40
91.00
80.60
102.00
97.20
114.00
85.35
88.40
86.90
100.00
80.00
61.40
97.00
87.80
107.00
56.40
100.50
116.10

0.330
0.310
0.500
0.360
0.337
0.390
0.470
0.337
0.331
0.292
0.323
0.294
0.348
0.333
0.333
1/3
1/3
0.500
0.314
0.314
0.274
0.500
0.290
0.202
0.490
0.320
0.310
0.270

VS = aNb

57.40
105.60
114.00
121.00
4.74
104.00
138.40
76.20
49.10
76.55
107.60
85.30
121.70
123.00
100.00
105.70
184.20
192.40
51.50
71.20
3.75
63.00
132.00
222.00
145.00
132.00
19.00
22.00
27.00
90.00
90.82
97.89
104.80
131.00
107.60
82.60
79.00
86.00
56.94
37.05
58.00
73.00
44.00
60.00
95.64

VS = aNb60

100.50
83.91
90.75

0.265
0.358
0.304

Sands
Silt
Clays
All soils
Sands
Silt
Clays
All soils
Sands/silts
Clays
All soils
Sands
Clays
Loose sand
Medium sands
Soft clays
Stiff clays
Gravel
All soils
All soils
Sands
Gravels
Gravels
Debris ll
Sands/silts
Clays
All soils
Silts
Clays
All soils
Sands
Clays
All soils
Sands
Clays
All soils
Sands
Silt
All soils
All soils
All soils
Sands
Clays
Silt
All soils
Sands
Clays
All soils

VS = aNb

VS = aNb

VS = aNb
VS = aNb
VS = aNb

VS = aNb
VS = aNb
VS = a(c + N)b
VS = aNb

VS = aNb
VS = c + aN
VS = a(N + 1)b
VS = aNb

VS = aNb

VS = aNb

VS = aNb
VS = aNb1
VS = c + aN60
VS = aNb60
b

VS = aN
VS = a(N60)b
VS = aNb

VS = aNb

VS = aNb60

VS = aNb

VS30 = aNb30
VS = aNb

Data
pairs

R2

100
220
943
151
183
100
122
289

0.320

0.719
0.719
0.719

0.868
0.690
0.721

97
59

0.840
0.700

22
44
22

0.620
0.730
0.440

268

221

175.000

0.886

1654

157.100
0.334
0.242
0.240
0.502
0.445
0.360
0.420
0.330
0.290
0.240
0.330
0.170
0.130
0.516
0.440
0.430
0.320
0.060
0.178
0.271
0.850
0.770
0.730
0.309
0.319
0.269
0.260
0.205
0.237
0.430
0.434
0.420
0.428
0.527
0.390
0.330
0.480
0.360
0.301

57
186
105
145
176
65
27
38
87
39
48
87
39
48

74
37
193
82
35
76
200

200

0.691
0.798
0.695
0.820
0.740
0.890
0.730
0.680
0.770

0.810
0.560
0.410
0.590
0.480
0.700
0.750

0.730
0.650
0.750
0.710
0.560
0.750
0.950
0.980
0.940
0.643
0.731
0.750
0.720
0.820
0.710
0.840
0.840
0.930
0.830

S. Fabbrocino et al. / Engineering Geology 187 (2015) 8497

87

Table 1 (continued)
Reference

Country (location)

Geological description

Sands
Clays
All soils
Sands
Clay
All soils
Sands
Clay
All soils
Sands
Clays
Silt

Maheswari et al. (2010)


Akin et al. (2011)

Turkey (Erbaa)

Alluvial soils

Pliocene soils

Tsiambaos and Sabatakakis (2011)

Greece

Quaternary and
Neogene deposits

The most wide-ranging database of Japanese surveys (about 1650 experimental points, comprehensive of all previous records) was analyzed
by Imai and Tonouchi (1982), revealing that clayey soils are generally
characterized by higher VS than sands.
Since the early '80s, a similar assessment was carried out with reference to several areas in the USA, especially to evaluate the liquefaction
susceptibility of alluvium and marine sands in California (Seed and
Idriss, 1981; Seed et al., 1983; Sykora and Stokoe, 1983; Rollins et al.,
1998; Brandenberg et al., 2010). Some of these empirical relationships
are based on energy-corrected SPT blow counts N60 and on
overburden-corrected SPT blow counts (N1)60 (e.g. Seed et al., 1985),
which are generally used for the evaluation of the cyclic strength ratio
CRR in the liquefaction simplied analysis.
On the other hand, in the last decade the enhancement of seismic
microzonation study rened data eld techniques and increased the
availability of VS measures. So, the empirical correlations were differentiated according to the geographic location and the soil type, mainly for
alluvial formations in Greece (Kalteziotis et al., 1992; Pitilakis et al.,
1992; Athanasopoulos, 1994; Raptakis et al., 1995; Pitilakis et al.,
1999; Tsiambaos and Sabatakakis, 2011), Turkey (Iyisan, 1996;
Kayabali, 1996; Hasanebi and Ulusay, 2007; Kokar and Akgn, 2008;
Dikmen, 2009; Akin et al., 2011), India (Hanumantharao and Ramana,
2008; Maheswari et al., 2010; Anbazhagan et al., 2013) and Iran (Jafari
et al., 2002). Most of the empirical laws used for the data regression
were power type, such as:
b

VS a  NSPT

Material type

in which VS is the shear wave velocity measured at a specic depth z


and NSPT is the uncorrected number of blows of the SPT at the same
depth. In some cases, different expressions were employed to t the
dataset (Table 1). Only in a few cases the linear type correlations were
used (Kayabali, 1996; Lee, 1992), showing, however, low regression coefcient r. In other cases, the power expression incorporated also a constant term c (Jinan, 1987; Kayabali, 1996). The most recent correlations
explored the possibility to add depth (z) dependence (Akin et al., 2011)
again in a power formula. As aforementioned, a rather extensive set of
correlation (Kayabali, 1996; Rollins et al., 1998; Pitilakis et al., 1999;
Hasanebi and Ulusay, 2007; Maheswari et al., 2010; Tsiambaos and
Sabatakakis, 2011) investigated the relationships between the VS with
the well-known energy corrected SPT blow counts N60 and overburden
stress corrected values (N1)60.
However, with some exception (e.g., Lee, 1990), almost all the studies showed better correlations in evaluation of VS if uncorrected blow
counts were considered (Hasanebi and Ulusay, 2007; Dikmen, 2009).
In this regard, Tsiambaos and Sabatakakis (2011) argued that the use
of (N1)60 may provide worse regression models, possibly due to uncertainties related to the denition of correction coefcients. Instead, low
regression coefcients are probably due to the attempt to correlate

Type

VS = aNbzc

VS = a(N60)b

96.29
83.27
59.44
38.55
78.10
121.80
52.04
140.60
105.70
79.70
112.20
88.80

0.266
0.365
0.109
0.176
0.116
0.101
0.359
0.049
0.327
0.365
0.324
0.370

Data
pairs

R2
0.830
0.920

0.426
0.481
0.350
0.216
0.177
0.232

137
63
30
30
6
19
416
78
301
37

0.890
0.940
0.920
0.940
0.980
0.890
0.600
0.630
0.610
0.750

uncorrected shear wave velocity measurements (e.g., measured at any


given depth) to overburden correct SPT blowcount (e.g., reported at
the conventional atmospheric pressure, as for the conning stress).
Generally speaking, the geologic context in which the correlations
were obtained, was strictly homogeneous. Usually, the considered lithological formations are alluvial or marine deposits, collecting the experimental data for a single site (Jinan, 1987; Iyisan, 1996; Pitilakis et al.,
1999; Jafari et al., 2002; Hasanebi and Ulusay, 2007; Hanumantharao
and Ramana, 2008; Kokar and Akgn, 2008; Dikmen, 2009;
Maheswari et al., 2010; Akin et al., 2011) or for a set of sites in the
same region, district or country (Ohta and Goto, 1978; Imai and
Tonouchi, 1982; Tsiambaos and Sabatakakis, 2011). An attempt to
make a distinction between the different ages of geological deposits is
done by some authors (Rollins et al., 1998; Kokar and Akgn, 2008;
Akin et al., 2011), but, in most cases, the experimental database was
clustered according to the grain size of the soil layers. In general, the entire database was divided in sands and clays, but in some case also silts
and gravels were considered. Ohta and Goto (1978) used the grain size
as a signicant parameter in correlation and observed that the shear
wave velocity VS for gravel resulted larger than the one for sand and
the latter larger than the one for clay. More in general, the empirical correlations for cohesive soils are more consistent than those for sandy
soils and also showed higher shear wave velocities than sand; the silts
gave intermediate results and gravels the highest. Some remarks on
geological features of the area can be nally found in Imai and
Tonouchi (1982), who observed that the greater VS values are in tertiary
deposits, lower values pertain to diluvial, and the lowest in alluvial
layers. Ohta and Goto (1978), Rollins et al. (1998) and Akin et al.
(2011) observed signicant difference in the values of VS between the
Holocene and the Pleistocene sands, in particular the former were characterized by lower values compared with the latter. Sykora and Stokoe
(1983), instead, suggested that the geological age and the type of soil
were not predictive of the shear wave velocity VS.
In summary, the technical literature review did not prove that the
grain size approach for empirical correlations is able to provide a full
and reliable description of the soil geological and geotechnical variability. This is the reason why an additional effort seems to be required in
order to perform an integration of the geotechnical and geological
knowledge in view of reliable results. This is particularly true for the extremely complex geological context of the Italian Southern Apennines,
where the Campobasso District area (Molise Region) is located.

4. Geological setting of the Campobasso District area (Molise Region)


The Molise Region is part of the Apennines chain, a fold and thrust
belt, that represents the backbone of the Italian peninsula. According
to Cello and Mazzoli (1999), the architecture of the chain recognizes
a complex imbricate structure including different thrust sheets, in

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S. Fabbrocino et al. / Engineering Geology 187 (2015) 8497

which the orogenic activity juxtaposed several paleogeographical domains, characterized by different lithological properties. A number of
authors proposed several models of its late paleogeography, identifying
more or less complex systems of carbonate platforms and pelagic basins
(e.g., Selli, 1962; Ogniben, 1969; D'Argenio et al., 1972; Ippolito et al.,
1975; Mostardini and Merlini, 1986; Sgrosso, 1988, 1998; Patacca and
Scandone, 2007). The Campobasso District area, where a large number
of geotechnical tests are available, occupies the external portion of
chain and it represents the foreland thrust belt system. The complex geological setting of this sector can be simplied into three main units composed of carbonate successions, siliciclastic ysch deposits and marine to
alluvial mainly clastic successions (e.g., Patacca et al., 1992; Patacca and
Scandone, 2007).
Fig. 1 shows a simplied map of geolithological complexes recognized in the area of interest. Carbonate platform units crop out extensively in the south-western part of the Molise Region, in the so-called Matese
Mountains, and include only the south western edge of the Campobasso
District. The stratigraphic succession is composed of Mesozoic dolomites
in the lower part and limestones in the upper one. At the top, the sedimentary succession is closed by Miocene transgressive terrigenous sediments in facies of continental shelf and bypass made of carbonate and
turbiditic deposits (Cusano and Longano formations, Pietraroja ysch)
(Patacca and Scandone, 2007; Bonardi et al., 2009). Siliciclastic ysch deposits represent the most widespread geolithological complex, distinguishable from the north-east of the carbonate complex up to the front
of the thrust belt, close to the current coast line. It includes all allochthonous siliciclastic deposits of the thrust top and foredeep basins. Such
complex involves Molise Sannio basin formations, the Fortore Unit and

the so-called Samnitic Nappe deposits. Molise Sannio basin formations


(LiasMessinian) may be identied on the basis of the facies analysis.
Namely, Frosolone Unit (Ippolito et al., 1975; Sgrosso et al., 1988;
Antonucci et al., 2002), shelf-edge and transitional sedimentary deposits;
Agnone Unit, Tullo Unit and Daunia Unit, which progressively present
more distal facies. Frosolone and Agnone Units consist of calciturbidites
enriched with siliciclastic deposits composed of clay and marly clay interbedded with sandstones. These Units are separated by a major thrust
surface, but the original contiguity of the Frosolone and Agnone depositional domains is attested by geological evidences of gradual transition of
facies. They pass gradually to the megaturbidites of the S. Elena Flysch
(Festa et al., 2006). The Tullo Unit (LanghianTortonian) consists of
varicolored shales with subordinate intercalations of calciturbidites,
hemipelagic marls, limestones and Numidian sandstones (Patacca and
Scandone, 2007). Daunia Unit is composed by the following geological
formations: Faeto Flysch, Toppo Capuana clayey marls and Montecastello
Evaporites (Di Nocera et al., 2006; Pertusati and Buonanno, 2009). Faeto
Flysch is mainly composed of intercalation of marls, calcareous marls and
limestones. In the upper part of the succession the stratigraphic contact
to the Toppo Capuana clayey marls (Tortonian) is present. The Messinian
Evaporites (Montecastello Evaporites) are composed of gypsum and carbonate conglomerates in an arenaceous matrix with clay intercalation.
They rest on the Faeto Flysch and are transgressive on the Tona Formation (MessinianMiddle Pliocene) that represents the closure of a regressive cycle, constituted of marly clay, sands and conglomerates. The Faeto
Flysch passes by lateral facies heteropy or by tectonic contact to the San
Bartolomeo Flysch Unit that is widespread in the Campobasso District
too. It was recognized as a piggy-back basin resting on the roof-thrust

Fig. 1. Simplied geolithological complex map of the study area and location of the experimental NSPTVS pairs.

S. Fabbrocino et al. / Engineering Geology 187 (2015) 8497

of the chain (Tortorici, 1975). These ysch deposits are partitioned into
two members: the composition of the lower is for the most part argillaceous; the upper is arenaceous-conglomeratic. The San Bartolomeo
Flysch often overlies the Fortore Unit, composed of pelagic sediments
(varicolored clays and shales) intercalated with ne carbonate turbidites.
The so-called Samnitic Nappe deposits are also noteworthy. Their origin is still object of debate: they are mainly characterized by the Variegated Clays Formation interlayered with calcareous quartz arenite
inclusions. Finally, in addition to the cover deposits, in the eastern and
periadriatic sector of the Campobasso District, Plio-Pleistocene transgressiveregressive cycles crop out. The whole succession was described
due to several stratigraphic logs derived from deep drilling data (ViDEPI
Project), in which the Apulian carbonate bedrock (TriasCreta) was
reached. A Plio-Pleistocene terrigenous sequence thick more than
2000 m is in onlap on the carbonates. It consists of the Montesecco
Clays Formation (PlioceneCalabrian?) composed of gray-bluish marly
and silty clay, which passes upward to the Serracapriola Sands and
Campomarino Conglomerates. They also represent the closure of the regressive cycle.
Molise Region is exposed at seismic risk, since it is embedded within
well-identied seismogenic zones (Meletti and Valensise, 2004;
Morasca et al., 2008; Valensise et al., 2004). The detailed description of
the regional seismicity is out of the scope of the present paper, but the
interested reader can nd further details elsewhere (Caccavale et al.,
2010).
5. Molise Region geotechnical test database and NSPTVS relations
A large number of geotechnical in situ and laboratory tests were
executed for the study of the seismic microzonation of all the municipalities belonging to the district of Campobasso (Molise Region,
20032009). Available datasets include stratigraphic logs, Standard
Penetration tests (SPT), laboratory tests on soil specimens (triaxial UU
or RC tests), and Down-Hole tests (DH). Fig. 2 reports typical results of

89

the investigation at a test site. Those results were collected and analyzed, providing a very dense database of available geotechnical surveys
for this relatively small Regional district. Further data were made available in the framework of a wide regional program aimed at evaluating
the seismic vulnerability of strategic buildings and road infrastructures
(Di Carluccio et al., 2009; Evangelista et al., 2011) and from the construction of a 3-D subsoil model in the coastal part of the investigated
regional district (Fabbrocino et al., submitted for publication).
As a result, a large database of soil investigations was set with a considerable potential in the geological and geotechnical characterization of
the structurally complex formations of the district. Indeed, it was already
used for the construction of a regional EC8 soil class map (Forte et al.,
2013a) and for the study of the earthquake-induced landslide susceptibility (Forte et al., 2013b). For the purpose of this study, the location of
sites where NSPTVS pairs were collected is shown in Fig. 1. Despite the
uneven distribution of the dataset, the investigations characterize all
the soil types recognizable in the Campobasso District, or, more precisely,
all the identied geolithological complexes. Overall, a total of 160 locations were considered, where both the DH and SPT tests were performed.
The borings reach a maximum depth of 50 m. SPTs were executed during
the drilling and, usually, in each borehole, two or three blow count measurements were taken in a depth range variable from 2 to 30 m. From the
preliminary dataset, 142 NSPT measurements were rejected, because the
number of blows was greater than 100. On the other hand, the achieved
DH tests recorded the rst arrival time of shear wave at 1 m depth intervals. Finally, 286 NSPTVS couples, all measured at the same depth and at
the same site, were assumed as a reliable reference dataset to assess
novel and specic empirical relationships to t the Campobasso District
geological and geotechnical features.
5.1. Empirical correlations NSPTVS based on the grain size approach
The rst step of the analysis consisted of the superposition of the
NSPTVS pairs for the Campobasso District with the most common and

Fig. 2. Main results of integrated borehole microzonation data (stratigraphic log, shear wave velocity prole and the SPT prole): an example in the village of Mafalda (CB).

90

S. Fabbrocino et al. / Engineering Geology 187 (2015) 8497

applicable empirical correlation laws for all soils (Ohta and Goto,
1978; Yokota et al., 1991; Kalteziotis et al., 1992; Iyisan, 1996; Jafari
et al., 2002; Hasanebi and Ulusay, 2007; Dikmen, 2009; Akin et al.,
2011), as shown in Fig. 3. It is clear the large dispersion of the experimental data and the inability of any aforementioned correlation relationship to characterize the terrain of interest. Technical literature
reports several NSPTVS regression equations related to the different
soil types. Hence, the integrated borehole experimental data were analyzed in order to better dene the soil grain size classes in the dataset.
The available stratigraphic log descriptions and laboratory tests were
compared in order to validate the results.
In this way, the database was divided according to the main component of the grading curves: the larger amount of data (58%) referred to
clayey soil samples, followed by silty (23%) and sandy ones (11%). A
very few pairs of measures (8%) referred to gravelly soils, and so they
were neglected. Then, for each grain size class the correlations were developed for uncorrected number of blows NSPT, according to the background technical literature. As shown in Fig. 4, statistical correlations,
between uncorrected number of blows NSPT and relating VS measurements, and their coefcients of determination, R2, were evaluated by a
power law, for sandy (Fig. 4a), silty (Fig. 4b) and clayey soils (Fig. 4c) respectively. In spite of the fact that the Standard Penetration Test is more
appropriate for coarse-graded soil rather than for ne-graded material,
it seems that there is no correlation between NSPT and VS for the sandy
materials, while two relationships can be derived for silty and clayey
soils. This is probably due to the limited amount of sand data available
for the empirical correlation (32 pairs). For medium and ne graded
soils the shear wave velocity (m/s) could eventually be obtained from
the following relationship:
0:192

VS 149:3NSPT



2
R 0:362r 0:571

based on the non-linear regression of 62 VSNSPT pairs. For clayey soils


the relationship, based on 178 pairs is:
0:252

VS 110:5NSPT



2
R 0:369r 0:604 :

It is worth noting that a quite large dispersion of data is observed,


and conrmed by low values of R2, thus the soil type could have only
a slight effect on the investigated correlations. Hence, this approach
seems to be not reliable to characterize the Campobasso District terrain,
where, on the analogy with other Italian Southern Apennines areas,
many complex geological and morphological factors control and mark
the mechanical behavior of soils.

Fig. 4. VSNSPT empirical correlations based on grain size approach: a) sandy, b) silty and
c) clayey soils.

5.2. Empirical correlations NSPTVS based on the lithostratigraphical


approach

Fig. 3. Comparison between experimental values and the most common empirical NSPTVS
correlations for all soils.

The heterogeneity of the sedimentary deposits cropping out in the


Campobasso District reects the geological features of the whole fault
and thrust Apennine chain. In this sector of the chain, most of the
lithotypes consist of ysch sequences, with the exception of carbonate
olistholites derived from bedrock splitting and embodied in such
marlyclayey and arenaceousconglomeraticclayey sequences. They
often show the characteristic structure of the so-called wild ysch, a
very chaotically built formation (Maisadze, 2008). Their structuraltextural and lithological features differ in both vertical and horizontal
directions. In general, it is likely to recognize a clayey and lesser clayeymarly and arenaceoussandy facies in the lower member, while in
the upper member the conglomeraticsandy facies, with heterometric
calcareous and calcareousmarly blocks, is dominant.

S. Fabbrocino et al. / Engineering Geology 187 (2015) 8497

It is clear that the same geolithological complex can be characterized by a high variability of geotechnical properties, while the grain
size classication plays a minor role in the improvement of the correlations between NSPT and VS. Conversely, a relevant role may be ascribed to the lithostratigraphical features of the geolithological
complexes. An insight into the integrated borehole data and particularly into stratigraphic logssee Fig. 2was made to identify the geological formation related to each experimental pair of NSPT and VS
values. They were allocated on the 1:100,000 Molise Geological Map
by Festa et al. (2006), which represents the existing geological outline
of the Campobasso District area at a t scale of representation. The recognized geological formations are summarized in Table 2. The number
of experimental NSPTVS data pairs associated with the identied geological formations is shown in Fig. 5. All geolithological complexes
were characterized with the exception of the detrital and carbonate
onessee Fig. 1such as the most widespread formations, namely
ysch sequences, and were signicantly represented. The combination
of such data and information derived from the background literature
as well as from a geological survey was able to distinguish within the
examined formations the structuraltextural and lithological features
of each horizon related to analyzed NSPTVS value pairs.
Particular attention was paid to local conditions of outcropping sedimentary deposits, such as weathering processes, tectonic setting, hydrodynamic models, and anthropic impact, which can modify intrinsic
properties of recognized layers and inuence the geotechnical characteristics of the same horizon. For instance, the integrated boreholes derived from the investigations in the Mafaldasee also Fig. 2, Santa Croce
di Magliano and Casacalenda villages, were correlated with the succession of the Faeto Flysch (Fig. 6) as it is representative of the main
lithofacies detectable in the Campobasso District. The Faeto Flysch consists of a calcareous marly turbiditic succession. The lower part was
characterized by a calcareousmarly facies; the upper part acquired a

91

marlyclayeycalcareous facies. The top layer, on the contrary, was


characterized by an arenitic Qz-rich facies (e.g., Pertusati and
Buonanno, 2009). All experimental NSPTVS data pairs shown in Fig. 6
were correlated to the upper member of the Faeto Flysch formation,
but the data from Mafalda village B5 described the arenitic Qz-rich turbidites interbedded with massive marls and marly limestones. The data
of Santa Croce di Magliano B3 and Casacalenda B2 identied the marly
clayeycalcareous facies, composed of regular alternations of massive
marls, marly limestones, calcilutites and white and gray clays. In particular, the corresponding NSPTVS value pairs were evaluated for the clayey layers. The location of the Casacalenda investigation in displaced
materials of landslide is also noteworthy.
This approach pointed out that the evident dispersion of experimental NSPTVS data pairs recorded in Fig. 3 could be reasonably related to
the different lithofacies observed in the study area. In particular, three
main lithofacies could be distinguished in the Campobasso District and
related to the geotechnical behavior of the examined structurally complex formations, in view of the optimization of the empirical NSPTVS
correlation formulas (Fig. 6):
a) Structured Soil Deposit (SSD): this facies is typical of complexes and
formations (or only of some horizons of them) in which the rock
interbeddings are not negligible and highly affect the soil behavior
(Fig. 6Mafalda B5);
b) All Soils (AS): this facies involves complexes and formations (or only
some horizons of them) in which the argillaceous fraction is dominant. Its behavior could be considered similar to the sensu-strictu
soils, because it encompasses the frictional and cohesive materials
(Fig. 6S. Croce di Magliano B3);
c) Weathered Soils (WS): this facies includes the same complexes and
formations of the so-called All soils, but the geotechnical properties are affected by both natural and anthropic factors (Fig. 6

Table 2
Summary of the lithological descriptions of geological formations cropping out in the investigation sites.
Geological
formations

Description

Outcropping sites

Alluvial and lacustrine deposits


Lacustrine and marsh deposits

Gravels with sand intercalation inserted in a silty matrix.


Varved clay bounded upwards and downward by clastic complexes
in a clayey matrix
Lenses and beds of gravels and conglomerates with intercalation of
sands and clays
Gray-bluish marly and silty clay
Gypsum and carbonate conglomerates in an arenaceous matrix with
clay intercalation
Gray-bluish silty clay with cemented layers and intercalation of
sandy clay
Conglomerates constituted by carbonate marlycalcareous and
sandstones elements. They are contained in a matrix of clayey sands
Graded sandstones in banks with intercalation of clay deposit
Intercalation of clay and siltstones passing upward to sandstones. At
the top of the formation are present elements of varicolored clays
and quartz sandstones
Clay, marls, gray-bluish marly siltstones with intercalation of
calcarenites and turbidite sandstones
Thick interbedding of limestones, white marly limestones, clayey
marls, siltstones with intercalation of bioclastic carbonates
Interbedding of yellow bioclastic sandstones with clays, marls and
gypsum passing upwards to gray clays with lenses of carbonate
conglomerates
Calcarenites and brecciated limestones with abundant organic
fragments and chert nodules, interbedded with lenses of yellow
carbonate sandstones, marls and marly clays
Interbedding of carbonate breccias, biocalcarenites with chert
nodules and marly clays. At the base of the deposit is present a layer
of red-greenish clays
Thick intercalation of marly clays and cherts. It is a chaotic mlange
with presence of micritic limestones, quartz siltstones and
radiolarites

Bojano, Trivento, Termoli, Campochiaro, Lucito


Campobasso, Bojano, Termoli, Campochiaro, Campomarino,
Guglionesi, Vinchiaturo
Termoli, Campomarino

Campomarino conglomerates
Montesecco clays
Gessopalena gypsums
Tona formation
Campobasso conglomerates
Sant'Elena Flysch
Pietraroja Flysch

Frosolone Unit
Tullo Unit
Fortore Unit

Faeto S. Bartolomeo Flysch

Cercemaggiore formation

Variegated clays

Petacciato, Campomarino, Ururi


Montecilfone
Sant'Angelo Limosano, Larino, Castellino del Biferno
Campobasso
Toro, Campodipietra, Spinete
Ripalimosani, San Paolo Matese, Campolieto, Guardiaregia

San Massimo, Frosolone


Palata, Salcito, Montagano, Petrella Tifernina, Guardialera,
Montemitro, Provvidenti
Campobasso, Ripalimosani, Busso, Matrice, Monaciloni, Montagano,
Ferrazzano, Mirabello Sannitico, Macchia Valfortore, Gambatesa,
Baranello, San Giuliano del Sannio, Vinchiaturo
San Felice del Molise, Montefalcone del Sannio, Trivento, Mafalda,
Roccavivara, Colletorto, Santa Croce di Magliano, Bonefro,
Casacalenda, Montorio nei Frentani
Castropignano, Oratino, Sepino

Trivento, San Biase, Pietracupa, Gildone, Torrella del Sannio, Sant'Elia


a Pianisi, Jelsi, Montagano, Lupara, Lucito, Pietracatella, Limosano,
Campodipietra, Larino, Provvidenti

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S. Fabbrocino et al. / Engineering Geology 187 (2015) 8497

Fig. 5. Number of experimental NSPTVS data pairs per each geological formation.

Casacalenda B2). This group is mostly composed of very shallow


measurements, composed by eluvium, colluvium or talus deposits.
Then a non-linear regression analysis was carried out to dene three
original empirical functions between NSPT and VS, driven by the lithostratigraphical features of the outcropping geological formations (Fig. 7):
0:385

SSDVS 104:55  NSPT


0:317

ASVS 90:35  NSPT

0:272

WSVS 78:59  NSPT



2
R 0:681r 0:825



2
R 0:748r 0:865


2
R 0:607r 0:774 :

relationships between the shear wave velocity and the SPT blownumber compared with the soil grain size classication; and 2) the reliability and signicance of the original relationships based on the
lithostratigraphical features of the area.
5.3.1. Issue #1
A preliminary check on NSPT data quality was performed. Firstly, for
each available measurement, the normalized value N1 was computed to
remove the dependence of the blow-number from the overburden
stress. Specically, following Idriss and Boulanger (2004):

6
7

In all the cases, the developed analytical functions represent a better


t of data, as shown by the higher correlation coefcients, compared
with those provided by Eqs. (3) and (4).
Some remarks can be proposed, based on the comparison between
the novel and available empirical correlation formulas (Fig. 8):
The SSD relationship shows higher values of VS compared to other
existing expressions; this could be associated with the prominent
contribution of the rock component of the deposit;
For the case of AS, the empirical correlation is quite similar to the Ohta
and Goto (1978) relationship, because the soils investigated by the
Authors are mainly composed of clay and silty clay successions, with
sandy intercalations;
The correlation for WS is similar to the expression of Dikmen (2009);
this empirical evidence was likely due to similar lithofacies in which
the analyses were done.

5.3. Discussion of the results


A simple statistical treatment of data was carried out to assess:
1) the capacity of the lithostratigraphic analysis in establishing suitable

N1

pa
0
v

!0:7840:0768p
N
1

 NSPT

in which, pa is the atmospheric pressure and v is the overburden pressure. The latter was evaluated by assuming the two boundary conditions related to fully saturated soils and fully dry soils. Then, the
normalized SPT blow-number data were grouped into three different
soil classes, respectively clay, silt and sand. The corresponding boxchart is shown in Fig. 9. A general increasing trend of the normalized
blowcount depending on the increase of the average soil grain size
can be observed. Furthermore, the data present a quite large dispersion
that becomes more signicant for the coarser materials. Such distribution of experimental normalized blow number N1 is consistent with
the remarks reported in the previous sections. The grain size classication has slight or negligible signicance in order to improve the evaluation of correlations between the two examined parameters (NSPTVS).
5.3.2. Issue #2
The lithostratigraphical analysis of geolithological complexes documented in the Campobasso District provided an improvement of the investigated mathematical relations. It was conrmed not only by higher
values of correlation coefcients, but also by the detailed statistical representation given by the additional parameters in Table 3 that are:
(a) The number of samples; (b) The coefcient of determination, R2;
(c) The Mean Absolute Error of the prediction (MAE); (d) The Sum of

S. Fabbrocino et al. / Engineering Geology 187 (2015) 8497

93

Fig. 6. Correlation between integrated borehole data and lithofacies. An example for the Faeto Flysch.

Squared Errors of the prediction (SSE); and (e) The Root Mean Squared
Error of the prediction (RMSE).
The correlation value (Value), the standard error (SE) and the upper
and lower boundaries of the 95% condence interval (CI) are reported
for multiplier (a) and exponent (b)see Eq. (2). The parameters MAE,
SSE and SMSE are error estimators, so they can be helpful to measure
how close predictions are to the outcomes: the lower the parameter,
the more the model approaches experimental data. According to the

Fig. 7. Novel VSNSPT empirical correlations based on lithostratigraphical approach.

data collected in Table 3, a satisfactory tting is observed for the three


lithofacies derived from the lithostratigraphical approach. Fig. 10 reports the bi-logarithmic plots of the proposed relationships for the
Structured Soil Deposits (SSD) (Fig. 10a), for All Soil (AS) (Fig. 10b)
and for the Weathered Soils (WS) (Fig. 10c), together with the 95%

Fig. 8. Comparison between the novel empirical relationships derived from the
lithostratigraphical approach and the existing ones.

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S. Fabbrocino et al. / Engineering Geology 187 (2015) 8497

where Vs,c is the shear wave velocity calculated by Eqs. (5)(7) and Vs,m
is the experimental measured value. Fig. 11 shows that Eq. (5) for SSD
provides about 90% of the predicted values within a 20% error margin;
Eq. (6) for AS gives about 97% of predicted values within a 19% error
margin; nally Eq. (7) for WS leads to about 90% of values predicted
within a 20% error margin. It is thus conrmed that the three proposed
correlations offer a good estimation of investigated parameter. The
comparison between Vs,c and Vs,m derived from the normalized consistency ratio Cd strengthens such comment. The normalized consistency
ratio, see Fig. 12, was evaluated as:
Cd

Vs;c Vs;m
:
NSPT

10

A reliable estimation of VS values is also observed in the case of the


AS and WS correlations. The Cd values are generally close to zero, except
for small NSPT values (generally lower than 15). But, the lower values
were measured under particular local conditions, such as weathered
or fully saturated soils, which affect the results. As expected, a larger
variability was observed for SSD, even if the predictive capability of its
mathematical relation may be considered reliable.
6. Conclusions
Fig. 9. Box chart of normalized SPT blow number N1 per soil type in dry and wet
conditions.

condence interval of the expected values. Due to the good ability to the
power model to t the data, relatively narrow bands can be seen in the
graphs.
Finally, in order to check the capability of the three novel empirical
correlations for shear wave velocity prediction, the relative error Er, in
terms of percentage, was evaluated as shown below:
Er 100 

Vs;c Vs;m
Vs;c

The present paper reports a study focused on the assessment of reliable relationships between the shear wave velocity VS and the number
of blows derived from SPT (NSPT), in structurally complex formations
characterizing the geological terrains of the Southern Apennine chain
(Italy). Based on a relative large number of in situ tests, available for
the Campobasso District in the Molise Region (Central Italy), novel
power-type relationships were presented. They were derived following
an original methodology that combines geological and geotechnical
knowledge and aims at overcoming the limitations shown by the conventional grain size approach. In particular, a lithostratigraphical approach was developed in order to account for the structural textural
and lithological features of the examined chaotically built formations,

Table 3
Main statistical parameters for the proposed regression equations.
Relation

WS
AS
SSD

Samples

63
118
105

R2

0.607
0.748
0.681

MAE
(m/s)

SSE
(m/s)2

RMSE
(m/s)

Coefcient a (m/s)
Value

SE

Lower CI

Upper CI

Exponent b
Value

SE

Lower CI

Upper CI

17.938
23.636
43.957

34,023.174
97,012.695
305,425.534

23.617
28.919
54.455

78.593
90.353
104.552

8.753
6.175
10.328

61.122
78.141
84.093

96.081
102.565
125.000

0.272
0.317
0.385

0.030
0.018
0.028

0.212
0.281
0.330

0.331
0.353
0.441

Fig. 10. Novel NSPTVS correlations and relative 95% condence interval of expected mean values: a) SSD; b) AS; c) WS).

S. Fabbrocino et al. / Engineering Geology 187 (2015) 8497

95

Fig. 11. Scaled relative errors of VS for the novel correlations based on the lithostratigraphical approach.

mostly consisting of ysch sequences. Three distinct correlations were


obtained depending on the main evident lithofacies, namely Structured
Soil Deposit (SSD), All Soils (AS), and Weathered Soils (WS). The rst
correlation (SSD) applies to formations (or only to some horizon of
them) for which the inuence of the rock interbedding is dominant;
the second (AS) refers to formations (or only to some horizon of
them) for which the classical soil mechanics applies as the argillaceous fraction is very relevant; the third (WS) is useful to predict VS
for the same formations classied as AS, but for which the geotechnical
properties decay either for natural factors or for anthropic impact that
increases the water content and modies the ow conditions. The statistical analysis of the data conrmed the validity of the proposed
relationship.
The proposed approach appears to be fully consistent with the experimental procedures used to obtain the two valuesNSPT and VS
that are here correlated. The rst data is a punctual measurement that
is well affected by the specic soil characteristics where the test is performed; the second is representative of more global information. This
means that the SPT blow count in structured soil deposits usually detects the strength of the weaker part of the material, as the testing device is not able to penetrate into the most lithic part of the soil. On the
other hand, the shear wave velocity, even obtained at a given depth, is
a more global measurement accounting for both the stiffer part and
the softer part of the soil formation. Then, the SSD correlation law is located in the upper part of the VSNSPT plane. Conversely, the WS correlation is in the lower part of the plane because the local SPT blow count
is there mostly inuenced by the remolded and the fully saturated nature of the soil belonging to the formation. Even if only a sector of the
Apennine chain is concerned, the proposed correlations could reasonably be applied in different sectors of the same chain or in similar geological terrain whenever the uncertainties and the features of this
simplied tool t the aim of the analysis and the scale of the engineering
problem of interest. In view of the use of the proposed original tools, it is
worth noting that the knowledge of regional geology is strongly recommended for the identication of the lithofacies corresponding to the
geological formations (or only to some horizon of them) in which the
in situ tests are performed. Furthermore, the stratigraphic logs and
eventually the geological survey can be recommended as a guide in setting out the intrinsic properties (structuraltextural and lithological features) of the recognized geological formations and in assigning the
experimental blow count value to the most suitable correlation law. In
this way, the thickness of soil or lithofacies layers can also be derived, although it is not a priori known.

Fig. 12. Normalized consistency ratio Cd for (a) Structured Soil Deposit (SSD), (b) All Soils
(AS) and (c) Weathered Soils (WS).

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