All rights reserved. Click here to order online. A Closer Look at Liquefaction A thick, horizontal layer of sediments provides high resistance to upward flowing water, because the water must flow through tiny, twisting gaps between particles.
Great pressure is needed to force water up through such layers.
In liquefaction, the weight of falling sediments usually provides the required high pressure. Water flowing up through a bed of sediments with enough velocity will lift and support each sedimentary particle with water pressure. Rather than thinking of water flowing up through the sediments, think of the sediments falling down through a very long column of water. Slight differences in density, size, or shape of adjacent particles will cause them to fall at a slightly different speeds. Their relative positions will change until the water's velocity drops below a certain value or until nearly identical particles are adjacent to each other, so they fall at the same speed .