Development of structure in sedimenting soils

At very low densities, a cohesive soil slurry behaves as a dense fluid, with the particles supported by the pore water, which has a pressure equal to the total vertical stress. As the soil settles under gravity, the particles begin to interact and the pore water pressure drops. At this stage, as non-zero effective stresses now exist, the behaviour has changed from that of a fluid to that of a consolidating soil, with an associated structure. This paper explores this development of effective stress and structure, and presents evidence of the occurrence of creep in addition to the process of densification by consolidation.