Talk:Soil liquefaction

Change to a disambiguous page?
I'm having a hard time envisioning what this article is about other than being a summary of the particular phenomena encompassed in "soil liquefaction". Might it be best to make this a disambiguation page linking to the various types of soil liquefaction, so we do not have to perform upkeep on this article and keep it synchronized with the sub-articles? -- Basar (talk · contribs) 01:17, 20 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Basar, I think that this should remain as single article where the phenomenon is explained within a soil mechanics point of view. The sections on quicksands, quick clay etc, do not reflect the different mechanisms that trigger liquefaction. I see these more as examples of Liquefaction, not types of liquefaction.
 * I added the part on Cyclic Liquefaction, Flow Liquefaction and Cyclic Mobility, which I think are actual mechanisms describing the phenomenon of Liquefaction, and are actually the terminology used within the Geotechnical Engineering community.--Sanpaz 22:20, 20 July 2007 (UTC)


 * The page should remain together with the various examples described. Full reference data are needed for the recent additions. Vsmith 22:56, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

Earthquake Liquefaction
The article on Earthquake liquefaction should disappear and be incorporated into the Soil Liquefaction article. I would like some comments on this from other users. Thanks - Sanpaz 22:19, 20 July 2007 (UTC)


 * I agree earthquake liquefaction should be merged into this article and turned into a redirect here. Earthquakes are just one cause or initiating mechanism (although the most spectacular one) resulting in liquefaction. Vsmith 22:56, 20 July 2007 (UTC)


 * I also agree. There should be mentions of liquefaction in the earthquake article which point here; and I'd be happy if that awful image in the earthquake liquefaction article gets lost in the merge. Argyriou (talk) 18:49, 23 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Done. -- Basar (talk · contribs) 07:44, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

List of countries
'Quick clay is only found in the northern countries such as Russia, Canada, Alaska, Norway, Sweden, and Finland,' Since when is Alaska a country? Could someone please clean up this sentence? Grandma Roses 11:53, 11 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Good catch Sanpaz 22:08, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Simplify lead
Can somebody who understands this topic please rewrite the opening paragraph? The first sentence is particularly dense:
 * Soil liquefaction describes the behavior of loose saturated unconsolidated soils, i.e. loose sands, which go from a solid state to have the consistency of a heavy liquid, or reach a liquefied state as a consequence of increasing porewater pressures, and thus decreasing effective stress, induced by their tendency to decrease in volume when subjected to cyclic undrained loading (e.g. earthquake loading).

(!) A good lead should begin by stating the obvious and set the stage for what will be explained in detail later. There is no need for the parentheticals, i.e.s, e.g.s and technical jargon. I cannot penetrate this. &mdash; brighterorange  (talk) 05:57, 4 January 2009 (UTC)


 * It is a long and dense definition that, as you pointed out, needs improvement. I have made some changes. Let me know if it is better this time. Sanpaz (talk) 08:42, 4 January 2009 (UTC)


 * I have made a go at re-writing the introduction using simple terminology where possible (avoiding engineering speak as much as possible but failing on some accounts!). It is a bit long-winded but hopefully easy for lay-people to follow. I realise I have focussed on cyclic liquefaction and not including static liquefaction (for simplicity for lay people). I think static liquefaction deserves its own section, however it requires a more technical explanation than what is suitable for the intro to the topic in general.

GeoEng (talk) 04:48, 25 September 2010 (UTC)

I am not very happy with the mention of compressibility in sand (or water). Also the grain size is important, as large particle sand would be hard to liquify. Compared to silt, sand with particle size just above that of clay, is easily liquefied. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.154.20.36 (talk) 10:19, 10 September 2019 (UTC)

Liquifaction is about how grains under agitation act like liquid
watch: 

In the first few mins show liquifaction in a way any 2 year old could understand, whereas im a geotech grad student yes i know what the first paragraph is trying to say but its cryptically coded in soil mechanics terms.

To be more reader friendly start with something like: "Liquifaction describes a condition when grains are agitated/disturbed by vibration and/or water, causing the whole system to behave like a liquid and lose support strength."

Of course then we can go deeper into the technical description of decrease in effective stress, loss of contact points between grains, increase in porewater pressure, etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.26.84.123 (talk) 07:58, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

Liquefaction or flooding?
Many reports of liquefaction in Christchurch appear to be false. Media were actually reporting the effects of broken water mains causing flooding. The photo in this article appears to be flooding, not liquefaction. Soil may "liquefy", but it does not turn into water! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.197.15.138 (talk) 05:12, 25 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Liquefaction results in sand settling and ejecting water, often upwards, so water is frequently present at the surface after a liquefaction event. Broken water mains would leave more water than in that last the third picture, but a broken water pipe to a house or a broken sprinkler line might produce about as much water as liquefaction would.  It's impossible to say without knowing more about the specific site photographed. Argyriou (talk) 06:09, 25 February 2011 (UTC)
 * That picture of flooding is probably not caused directly by liquefaction. It would be either broken water mains, significant subsidence, or flooding from rain due to damage to storm drains. I'm going to take it out. Argyriou (talk) 06:15, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Fracking and liquefication
Curiosity - could fracking result in liquefication? 80.254.147.68 (talk) 11:14, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

No. Hydraulic Fracturing (fracking) is carried out in rock, typically at great depths in order to increase the permeability of the ground (i.e. make it easier for water, gas and/or oil condensate etc. to flow and be extracted). Soil liquefaction is something completely different. Liquefaction can be induced by man-made activities - such as blasting, seismic surveying (not normally deliberately - but has occurred by accident, and is done deliberately for research to test the ground for liquefaction resistance), and techniques designed to densify the ground through vibration (e.g. vibro-floatation) a technique to improve the ground to prevent liquefaction occurring in the future. 132.181.5.32 (talk) 04:27, 17 September 2014 (UTC)