Electroosmotically driven water flow in sediments

The electroosmotically driven flow of water through a fine-grained glacial till in response to the application of an electric field is examined. The till contains large amounts of calcite and clay minerals of the illite and smectite groups. The presence of these minerals cause the system to respond much differently to the application of an electric field than kaolinite systems. The mode of current conduction differs from that in kaolinite and the presence of calcite prevents the formation of low pH conditions in the sediment pore water. These results are applicable to the wide variety of naturally occurring fine-grained sediment that commonly contain calcite and expandable clays.