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compaction

geology
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compaction, in geology, decrease of the volume of a fixed mass of sediment from any cause, commonly from continual sediment deposition at a particular site. Other causes include wetting and drying of sediments in the subsurface, which promotes clay mineral changes and granular reorientations, and the extraction of groundwater or petroleum from certain sediments, which also leads to granular reorientation and thus compaction.

This article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty.