liquefied soil layer

/ˈlɪkwiˌfaɪd ˈsoɪl ˈleɪər/

noun phrase

  1. A layer of loose, water-saturated soil that has lost much of its strength and stiffness in response to an applied stress, often during an earthquake or other rapid loading, and temporarily behaves like a liquid.

    C1

    countable noun phraseformal

    • "The building became unstable because it was founded on a liquefied soil layer."B2
    • "Engineers found a liquefied soil layer beneath the road after the earthquake."C1
    • "The retaining wall failed when pore-water pressure increased within the liquefied soil layer."C2
    • "The construction site was abandoned after the soil was found to be liquefied."B1

Common mistakes

  • liquid soil layer→liquefied soil layer

    The term 'liquefied' refers to the process of soil losing its strength, not just being in a liquid state.

Collocations

liquefied soil layersoil liquefactionliquefaction-induced settlementpore-water pressureearthquake-induced liquefactionliquefied soil layer during an earthquakestability of liquefied soil layer

Word family

liquefyliquefactionliquefied