sinkage
Downward movement underground
Sinkage is the amount something sinks or has sunk—the degree of downward settling or submersion.
Engineers measure sinkage when foundations settle into soil or when vessels sit lower in water under load: The sinkage of the pier was within acceptable limits.
The word appears in technical contexts more than everyday speech.
Gradual ground sinking
- settlingReaching resolution or rest
- compactionReducing volume through pressure
- compressionForcing into smaller space
- foundationUnderlying support structure
soil · consolidation · geotechnical · bearing · load · differential · construction · ground
Yielding, engulfing sediment
- mireBoggy, waterlogged terrain
- bogAcidic peat wetland
- swampWaterlogged land with vegetation
- submersionBeing entirely underwater
suction · drowning · morass · slough · immersion · plunge · entrapment · absorption
Decreasing in intensity
- collapseSudden structural failure
- saggingBending downward weakly
- slumpExtended period of decline
- deteriorationProcess of declining quality
creep · cracking · instability · undermining · washout · hollowing · cavitation · degradation
subsidence
Gradual ground sinking
- settlingReaching resolution or rest
- compactionReducing volume through pressure
- compressionForcing into smaller space
foundation · soil · consolidation · geotechnical · bearing · load · differential · construction · ground · structure
quicksand
Yielding, engulfing sediment
submersion · suction · drowning · morass · slough · immersion · plunge · entrapment · absorption · descent
subsiding
Decreasing in intensity
deterioration · creep · cracking · instability · undermining · washout · hollowing · cavitation · degradation · wearing