Mud peeling & crack formation in drying clayssteemCreated with Sketch.

in #steemstem • 5 years ago (edited)

May be we all have seen that drying clay cracked into parts. It looks cool. But science beyond this is quite complicated but interesting.

Mud-cracking is a process commonly observed in hot, dry climates in regions where a clayey soil has been recently saturated with water such as intertidal regions or deserts after a rainfall. There are two main types of fractures that occur during drying.

  • The first type propagates perpendicular to the clay surface causing the soil to fracture into polygonal sections as in the first picture.

    • IMG_20190711_162520.jpg

    © utpal-biswas

  • The second type of fracture that occurs with the formation of shrinkage cracks is the formation of “mud curls” or mud peeling. In this case a “peeling” crack propagates parallel to the surface of the clay. Depending on the thickness of the peeled layer, the peel can roll up to leave a characteristic mud curl as in the pictures.


    • © utpal-biswas

    REFERENCES:


    https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2010JF001842

    #science #nature #rain #mud
    5 years ago in #steemstem by
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