terreno roccioso

19:54 Jan 25, 2012 

"The person you describe as a geologist is a geotechnical engineer". Yes but his consulting firm, employs geologists and I translate what they write and I am extremely familiar with this specific context of "Classificazione di rocce e terreni sciolti." "rock and soil classification". First you need a geologist for the initial classification, then the geotechnical engineers start doing tests on it. They work together and use the same terminology.

"However, to make a generalization like the one you made is just plain wrong. 90% of geologists do not give a damn about soils nor do they study geomechanical properties." Yes but this is precisely the generalisation and the classification that is made in the ample context that is given. This is clearly written by the other 10%. "La prima classificazione è quella che... " which is the classification which determines whether you blast or dig. I recognise this text. This text is about things like "terreni sciolti" "loose soils", which as you say geologists aren't interested in, while geotechnical engineers are highly focused on them.

19:34 Jan 25, 2012 

There are geotechnical engineers, soil scientists and geologists. Each with their own technical lingo. The person you describe as a geologist is a geotechnical engineer. The references you provide are intended for engineers. Engineers and geologists have VERY different views on things. A geologist working for a construction firm will do the analyses and characterizations the engineers require. However, to make a generalization like the one you made is just plain wrong. 90% of geologists do not give a damn about soils nor do they study geomechanical properties.
The important thing to understand in this case is WHO the author of the text is and WHOM he is adressing. That is known only to the asker.
I do agree with you that the the author is basically differenciating between bedrock and soil. Terrain does refer to the near surface, and this is how I understand the italian text. Keep in mind that you cannot possibly extend a bedrock vs soil classification to depth as all soils are underlain by bedrock.

16:56 Jan 25, 2012 

I'm not saying that geologists don't use the word terrain, but terrain is more something you see from the air, What you excavate and classify in terms of geomechanical properties is ground, rock and soil.

16:32 Jan 25, 2012 

Sorry but, having translated for tunnel engineers of world standing for nearly 30 years, I confirm my disagree. Check out my references (see references below) and search for terrrain. In my experience experts in their field don't focus on the specific words they use, they focus on the job in hand and the meaning, whereas the translator, researches the words, and I gave up on terrain many years ago.

14:37 Jan 25, 2012 

I've been translating this stuff for years. What the guy is saying is that the first classification of the ground is into rocks (terreni rocciosi) and soils (terreni costituiti da particelle). Then he goes on to the classification of soils. Read my references and THANK YOU for the fantastic context. Sometimes a terreno can be rock and sometimes soil. Here it is rock, but "Terreni SCIOLTI " is soil (or sand :( ).