Mpala Research Centre Discovery Day 2014

1. Beneath the surface:
cracks in the black cotton
soil
Keita DeCarlo
July 19th, 2014

2. How do cracks form?
• Breaking of material when stressed
• Stresses include water loss and animal stepping
• Soil compaction can change crack shape and depth

3. Why should we care about
crack shapes?
• Cracks are holes,
but many different
types of holes
• Water loss and
drying can be
greater or lesser
depending on hole
type

4. How do we measure cracks?
• Solid casts
made from
pouring resin
into cracks

5. What do cracks look like?

6. What do cracks look like?

7. What do cracks look like?

8. What do cracks look like?

9. • Thank you for listening!