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Fig. 1. The solid line represents the laser elevation of the soil surface before the rainstorm, the circular symbols represent the elevation of the soil surface immediately after the rainstorm, before penetration, and the diamond symbols represent the final position of the penetrometer immediately after the rainstorm, after application of the 500-g load. (A) Needle penetration measurements from Exp. B, immediately following the first rainstorm. (B) Immediately following the second rainstorm. (C) Immediately following the third rainstorm. Here, the depth of the wetting front, near the column centers, is less than the previous rainstorm, while the depth of wetting near the previous cracks is greater. (D) Immediately following the fourth rainstorm. The depth of wetting near the previous cracks increased 2 cm, while the depth of wetting near the previous prismatic column centers remained 2 cm below the surface. (Cracks formed after the first rainstorm and following each subsequent rainstorm.)
