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Remember Gilgai

Gilgai Remembered!

Gilgai Technical Terms

Gilgai: A microfeature pattern of soils composed of a succession of microbasins and microknolls on level areas, or of microtroughs and microridges parallel to the slope on sloping areas, and produced by expansion / contraction and shear / thrust processes with changes in soil moisture. Found in soils containing large amounts of smectitic clay that swell and shrink considerably with wetting and drying. Various types of gilgai can be recognized based on the dominant shape of micro-highs and micro-lows: circular gilgai, elliptical gilgai, and linear gilgai. Also referred to, in part or in total, as crabhole, Bay of Biscay, or hushabye in older literature. SW & GSST



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