Water movement associated with overburden potential in a shrinking marine clay soil

D. J. Kim, J. Diels, J. Feyen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In unripe marine clay soils, water flow occurs in relation to shrinkage and swelling of the soil material. In the initial stage of physical ripening, when the soil retains its higher moisture ratio, dewatering is mainly accompanied by normal and unidimensional shrinkage. Soilwater flow at this stage, in the absence of significant mateic potential differences, can be explained only by overburden potential. In a one-dimensional vertical system, numerical solutions of non-steady flow during normal shrinkage have been validated with experimental data. For the condition of a closed boundary at the top and a constant pressure head at the bottom, there are significant differences in downward flux density with and without an overburden component to total potential. Further, for the condition of a closed bottom boundary, the generation of an upward flux can only be attributed to the overburden potential. This implies that the overburden potential plays an important role in the Darcy flow, especially for the unripe marine clay soil.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)179-200
Number of pages22
JournalJournal of Hydrology
Volume133
Issue number3-4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1992 May

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Water Science and Technology

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