Physical modeling of desiccation cracking in plastic soils

Rayhani, M. H. T.; Yanful, Ernest K.; Fakher, Ali

doi:10.1016/j.enggeo.2007.11.003

Cited by 98 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…However, desiccation cracks may also hinder the development of a closed vegetation cover as nothing can grow in positions where cracks frequently open. This phenomenon is likely to be most distinctive on sites with very high clay contents as these are particularly prone to the formation of large desiccation cracks (Rayhani et al 2008;Tang et al 2008). Accordingly, desiccation cracks should be accounted for as an important abiotic factor in flood meadows and other systems featuring them and are worth being investigated further in the future.…”

Section: Implications For Plant Community Composition and Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Velde et al 1996;Taki et al 2006) and engineering (e.g. Yesiller et al 2000;Rayhani et al 2008). Their role as abiotic factor in natural ecosystems, however, has been largely neglected, and only a few studies have dealt with the impact of desiccation cracks on seed input (Elberling 2000;Espinar et al 2005) and vertical seed movement in the soil (Espinar and Clemente 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Desiccation cracks act as natural seed traps in flood-meadow systems

et al. 2010

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Desiccation cracks are a natural phenomenon of clay-rich soils that form via soil shrinkage during dry conditions. Our aim was to test the seed trapping potential of such cracks and assess its impact on seed bank formation in a flood-meadow ecosystem. We documented crack patterns on permanent plots and analysed the soil seed content along and adjacent to cracks. Seed translocation via cracks was tested with a mark-recapture experiment, and postentrapment seed fate was tested with a burial experiment. Most cracks re-opened in the same positions in consecutive dry periods. Along cracks, most seeds were found in 10-20 cm depth, whereas adjacent to cracks most seeds were found in 0-5 cm depth. The majority of seeds found in shallow depths adjacent to cracks belonged to species that were also present in the above-ground vegetation, whereas this rate was always under 50% along desiccation cracks.The mark-recapture experiment gave evidence for vertical seed translocation through desiccation cracks. Post-entrapment seed fate differed between species and burial depth, with a trend towards increasing survival with increasing depth. We conclude that desiccation cracks act as natural seed traps, foster seed bank formation and thus influence plant community dynamics in flood meadow systems.

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Section: Implications For Plant Community Composition and Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Desiccation cracks act as natural seed traps in flood-meadow systems

et al. 2010

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“…In another landfill cap study where desiccation crack propagation from wetting and drying was examined, a severe crack that was about 10 mm wide after the first drying cycle reached a depth of 160 mm within a period of 170 h. Close to 90% of the desiccation cracking occurred within a 19 h period (Miller et al, 1998). Rayhani et al (2008) report that permeability increases for some highly plastic soils during cycles of wetting and drying are not significant, despite the presence of visible cracks after drying cycles. This is attributed to self-healing (resealing) of the cracks during wetting cycles and saturation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Landfill cap models under simulated climate change precipitation: impacts of cracks and root growth

Sinnathamby¹,

Phillips

Sivakumar

et al. 2014

Géotechnique

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Desiccation crack formation is a key process that needs to be understood in assessment of landfill cap performance under anticipated future climate change scenarios. The objectives of this study were to examine: (a) desiccation cracks and impacts that roots may have on their formation and resealing, and (b) their impacts on hydraulic conductivity under anticipated climate change precipitation scenarios.Visual observations, image analysis of thin sections and hydraulic conductivity tests were carried out on cores collected from two large-scale laboratory trial landfill cap models (,80 3 80 3 90 cm) during a year of four simulated seasonal precipitation events. Extensive root growth in the topsoil increased percolation of water into the subsurface, and after droughts, roots grew deep into lowpermeability layers through major cracks which impeded their resealing. At the end of 1 year, larger cracks had lost resealing ability and one single, large, vertical crack made the climate change precipitation model cap inefficient. Even though the normal precipitation model had developed desiccation cracks, its integrity was preserved better than the climate change precipitation model.

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“…The wetting-drying cycles have significant influence on the cracking of the compacted clay. With the accumulation of wetting-drying cycles, the cracking of compacted clay becomes more and more severe (Yesiller et al 2000;Rayhani et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cracking and water seepage of Xiashu loess used as landfill cover under wetting–drying cycles

Wang

et al. 2015

Environ Earth Sci

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This paper intends to investigate the antiseepage characteristics of Xiashu loess used as landfill cover under wetting-drying cycles. A series of tests were performed to systematically evaluate the surface cracks, pores, the hydraulic conductivity and water seepage of the soil under wetting-drying cycles. The cracking tests indicated that the cracking intensity factor (CIF) increased with the number of wetting-drying cycles. After three wettingdrying cycles, the CIF gradually reached a stable value. The influence of the compactness of the compacted clay was significant to cracking. After four drying-wetting cycles, the CIF of compacted clay with relatively low compactness (q = 1.65 g/cm 3 , W 5 = 25 %) was 0.15, and the CIF of compacted clay with higher compactness (q = 1.65 g/cm 3 , W 3 = 21 %) was only 0.06. With the increase in the number of wetting-drying cycles, the accumulated pore volume of the soil particles increased and the maximum pore size was nearly unchanged. After four drying-wetting cycles, the proportion and average diameter of macro-pore in the soil particles were both increased. However, the proportion and average diameter of the meso-pore slightly decreased. Furthermore, the proportion and average diameter of the micro-pores were unchanged. After four wetting-drying cycles, the hydraulic conductivity of the compacted soil was at 8.3 9 10 -7 -1.5 9 10 -5 cm/s, which was increased about three orders of magnitude compared with the compacted soil without cracks. The hydraulic conductivity of compacted soil increased linearly as cracks increased. The hydraulic conductivity of compacted soil also gradually increased to a stable value as the pore volume increased. After 1 month of wetting-drying cycles, the cracks of soil with low compactness had extended to a depth of 15 cm below the soil surface while the cracks of soil with higher compactness only reached a depth of 5 cm.

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Physical modeling of desiccation cracking in plastic soils

Cited by 98 publications

References 9 publications

Desiccation cracks act as natural seed traps in flood-meadow systems

Desiccation cracks act as natural seed traps in flood-meadow systems

Landfill cap models under simulated climate change precipitation: impacts of cracks and root growth

Cracking and water seepage of Xiashu loess used as landfill cover under wetting–drying cycles

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