swelling

These Figures are taken from the Grizzly Peak area, California. They illustrate cracks in the
soil and on the road due to swelling and dehydration cycles of clay. The clay originates
from the weathered claystone of the Franciscan Formation. What is very impressive to see
(and also expected) is how these cracks appear on the road exactly in the contact between
the layers of the claystone and the basalt. This is schematically illustrated in the Figure that
follows.

Information collected during the "Engineering Geology" course, instructed by Professor N.
Sitar, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California at Berkeley.