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Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards pp 99–105Cite as

Collapsing Soil Hazards

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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Synonyms

Hazards of collapsible or metastable soils

Definition

Collapsing soil hazard. A major hazard to natural land, disturbed ground, or engineered structures worldwide resulting from the structural collapse of constituents in soil. In most cases, collapse occurs following the wetting and loading of unsaturated materials (unconsolidated sediments), but soils with higher moisture content such as quick clays may undergo collapse as well. Collapsible soils also include those sediments that contain perennial ice or permafrost that has subsequently melted.

Introduction

Collapsing soils are not a local problem, but rather a worldwide phenomenon occurring on a variety of landscapes under different subsurface conditions. Soils may collapse catastrophically, but often signs of impending failure remain undetected especially in remote areas or on land modified by humans. The rate of collapsibility in soils depends on a number of factors such as their internal structure, moisture content and...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Illinois State Geological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 615 East Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL, 61820, USA

    Dr. Andrew J. Stumpf

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  1. Dr. Andrew J. Stumpf
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Correspondence to Andrew J. Stumpf .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada

    Peter T. Bobrowsky

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Stumpf, A.J. (2013). Collapsing Soil Hazards. In: Bobrowsky, P.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4399-4_70

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