Geostatistical methods to predict collapsing soils

An application of the theory and methods of geostatistics for predicting the distribution of collapse-susceptible soils in Tucson, Arizona is described. Selected collapse-related soil parameters were derived from laboratory test results for 992 samples retrieved at various depths from 411 different locations in the city. The methods of ordinary and indicator kriging were used to estimate values of each parameter in areas where no test data were available, and to develop contour plots. Results are presented in the paper for the collapse criterion Cp, which is defined as the percent collapse a soil sample undergoes in an oedometer following saturation under load. -from Authors