The behaviour of three calcareous soils in monotonic and cyclic loading

[Truncated] Calcareous sediments exist in many different forms, each possessing different characteristics. This thesis is aimed at (1) investigating the fundamental behaviour of uncemented calcareous soils covering a wide range of particle sizes in undrained monotonic and cyclic loading, and (2) characterising the observed behaviour using both empirical and theoretical methods. Three calcareous sediments - muddy silt, silt and sand - recovered from areas off the North-West Coast of Australia are included in this research. A method of reconstituting samples of a fine-grained calcareous silt in such a way as to replicate the behaviour of in situ material is developed. The monotonic behaviour of the three soils is investigated through a series of undrained triaxial and simple shear tests, while the cyclic behaviour is investigated through a series of undrained simple shear tests. The monotonic responses of the three soils are different: the calcareous muddy silt behaves like soft clays, while the calcareous sand and silt behave like sands. However, the cyclic responses of the three soils in simple shear tests are very similar.