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Creep can be caused by the expansion of materials such as Clay when they are exposed to water. Clay expands when wet, then contracts after drying. The expansion portion pushes downhill, then the contraction results in consolidation at the new offset.

Design engineers sometimes need to guard against downhill creep during their planning to prevent Building Foundation s from being undermined. Pilings are planted sufficiently deep into the surface material to guard against this behavior.


MODELING REGOLITH DIFFUSION


For shallow to moderate slopes, diffusional sediment flux is modeled linearly as (Culling, 1960; McKean et al., 1993)

q_s = k_d S \,\!

where k_d\,\! is the diffusion constant, and S\,\! is slope. For steep slopes, diffusional sediment flux is more appropriately modeled as a non-linear function of slope (Roering et al., 1999)

q_s = rac{k_d S}{1 - (S/S_c)^2}\,\!

where S_c\,\! is the critical gradient for sliding of dry soil.


BIBLIOGRAPHY


  • Culling, 1960.

  • McKean et al., 1993.

  • Roering, Kirchner and Dietrich, 1999. Evidence for nonlinear diffusive sediment transport on hilslopes and implications for landscape morphology. ''Water Resour. Res.'', 35:853-887.



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