## 1 Introduction  
In recent years, Zhanjiang, China, has extensively developed infrastructure projects, leveraging its strategic position within the Northern Gulf City Cluster, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Hainan Free Trade Zone, and as a critical link for the Belt and Road initiative [1, 2]. While these developments have spurred economic growth, they have also introduced significant engineering challenges. For instance, vibrations from construction activities have resulted in structural damage and hastened the degradation of geotechnical structures. Consequently, investigating the damage and deterioration of Zhanjiang Formation structural clay under disturbed conditions is of substantial practical importance for engineering projects. The concept of \"disturbance damage\" was first introduced by [PERSON] [3] and refers to the process where the adjustment and weakening of the soil's microstructure is accompanied by the deterioration of its mechanical properties [4; 5]. Consequently, the impairment of soil microstructural integrity and the associated deterioration of mechanical properties due to disturbance are collectively termed \"disturbance damage\". The deformation of soil when disturbed is the cumulative result of changes in structural connections, particles, pore spaces, and other elements [6]. The characteristics and distribution of internal pores are the intrinsic causes and important manifestations of changes in soil microstructure [7], and they are a vital parameter in the quantitative analysis of microstructure. In engineering, they directly reflect the deformation of the soil [8] and therefore are considered deep-seated factors causing changes in the macroscopic mechanical properties of the soil [7]. [PERSON] et al. [9] believe that under the influence of the external environment, soil structure is complex and variable, and the geometric shape of pores can serve as an important indicator of the state of soil structure. [PERSON] et al. [6; 10] analyzed the microscopic pore characteristics of Zhanjiang clay and the controlling factors of pore development using scanning electron microscopy, mercury intrusion porosimetry, and nitrogen adsorption methods, establishing the interrelations and sensitivities between microstructure and physical indices as well as mechanical behavior. Based on grayscale computation of the soil's three-dimensional porosity, they analyzed the patterns of microscopic pore changes during compression. They conducted mercury intrusion experiments on undisturbed and compressed soil samples to analyze the pore distribution, pore size, and pore structure characteristic parameters under different consolidation pressures, supplemented by SEM images for qualitative analysis of pore morphology, and interpreted and verified these findings from the perspective of fractal theory. [PERSON] et al. [11] studied the pore size distribution of different types of clays at various stages of consolidation. [PERSON] et al. [12] derived mathematical expressions for pore distribution and permeability coefficients of undisturbed and remolded soils under different consolidation pressures based on MIP tests. [PERSON] et al. [13] observed a bimodal pore structure in compacted silt clays through mercury intrusion tests. [PERSON] et al. [14] used a mercury intrusion porosimeter to study the evolution of pore size distribution in red clay during compaction and found that large pores significantly reduced while small pores were essentially unaffected. The disturbance in clays is reflected in Material Constitutive modeling into which uncertainty quantification and machine learning algorithms have been incorporated [15; 16]. The aforementioned studies indicate that pores are the intrinsic cause of soil deformation and the primary influencing factor on the physical and mechanical properties of soils. They also provide a methodological reference for the research on the microscopic pore characteristics of Zhanjiang Formation structural clay based on disturbance damage presented in this study.