Grain size Grain size Grain size (or particle size) is the diameter of individual grains of sediment, or the lithified particles in clastic rocks. The term may also be applied to other granular materials. This is different from the crystallite size, which refers to the size of a single crystal inside a particle or grain. A single grain can be composed of several crystals. Granular material can range from very small colloidal particles, through clay, silt, sand, gravel, and cobbles, to boulders. Size ranges define limits of classes that are given names in the Wentworth scale (or Udden–Wentworth scale) used in the
Internal erosion a larger cavity. The process continues until the formation of a sinkhole. It is possible for a cavity to not collapse; this will lead to backward erosion occurring. Soil contact erosion can occur between any granular layer and a finer soil such as in silt-gravel, and often results in a loss of stability, increases in pore pressure and clogging of the permeable layer. Experimental results show that close to the geometrical limit, the point at which the fine particles can "just pass" between the coarse particles(the filter criterion), erosion initiation and failure are much more likely. It is possible to