Redeveloping and inflating clays Search form for the Northern Department

The removal by drying of clay soils during severe and/or long-lasting drought results in deformations of the soil surface (differentiated cutters). It can be followed by swelling phenomena as initial hydrogeological conditions recover or more rarely creep with softening. Nature of the phenomenon: In a temperate climate, clays are often close to their saturation state, so their swelling potential is relatively limited. On the other hand, they are often far from their withdrawal limit, which explains why the most important movements are observed during dry periods. The most superficial slice of soil, 1 to 2 m deep, is then subject to evaporation. This results in a removal of the clays, which is manifested vertically by a settlement and horizontally by the opening of cracks, classically observed in the bottoms of the pools that dry.在严重或持续的干旱过程中，黏土经干燥脱湿作用会引发地表变形（差异型切痕）。随着初始水文地质条件恢复，该变形随后可出现膨胀现象；极少数情况下还会发生伴随软化的蠕变。 该现象的本质： 在温带气候环境中，黏土通常接近饱和状态，因此其膨胀潜能相对有限；但与此同时，它们往往远未达到其脱湿收缩极限，这也解释了为何最为显著的土体位移均发生于干旱时期。此时，深度1至2米的表层土体将承受蒸发作用，进而引发黏土脱湿：该过程在垂直方向表现为土体沉降，水平方向则表现为裂缝张开——这类裂缝常见于干涸的池底。