Liquefaction

Interesting liquefaction video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvYKcCS_J7Y

[YOUTUBE]tvYKcCS_J7Y[/YOUTUBE]

And for those of you who, like myself, had never heard the term before the earthquakes this is what it means:

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Soil liquefaction describes a phenomenon whereby a soil substantially loses strength and stiffness in response to an applied stress, usually earthquake shaking or other rapid loading (force), causing it to behave like a liquid.

The phenomenon is most often observed in loose sandy soils.

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Further description here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_liquefaction

I looked that up recently too! I watched a few videos on youtube, but my favorite was the one that was a boy showing his science experiment. It REALLY made it all make sense to me. There is a great Wikipedia article for it too.

Cheers! And thank you!
Moxie

Amazing video thanks for sharing :nice1

Liquefaction in action - thanks for sharing and educating us :nice1

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Originally Posted by Tia Maria

Interesting liquefaction video...

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Thanks for the link to the video!

However here some "better" sources than Wikipedia, IMHO:

geo-net (nz) - http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/glossary.html: "# Liquefaction: A process in which water-saturated sediment temporarily loses its strength and acts as a fluid."

EQC (nz) - http://canterbury.eqc.govt.nz/public...ative?page=0,5: "7.2 Liquefaction potential: Liquefaction occurs when geological materials lose strength and temporarily behave as a fluid during strong earthquake shaking. The potential for liquefaction depends on a number of factors including the nature of the materials (grain size, strength, and density), the depth of the susceptible materials below the ground surface, groundwater levels and pore water control along with the intensity, direction and duration of the earthquake shaking. Geologic materials most susceptible to liquefaction include saturated loose to medium dense silts and sands"
ecan (nz) - http://www.ecan.govt.nz/publications...quefaction.pdf with an explanatory map