Cracks in clayey soils are common during desiccation. The presence of cracks significantly alters the mechanical and hydraulic properties of soils. The objective of this article is to summarize the works on cracking behavior and mechanism in clayey soils related to desiccation. Historical field investigations, laboratory experimentations, identified mechanisms, and numerical approaches for modeling the process of cracking during desiccation are discussed. The experimental approaches for interpreting the mechanisms of cracking are systematically summarized and comprehensively reviewed based on the in situ observations and laboratory experimentations from the literature. The soil mechanics‐based approaches resumed in this article according to the fracture mechanics theory and numerical results highlight the cracking development mechanism. Concerning the plasticity characteristics of clayey soils, researches on soil fracture mechanics should be paid more attention. More in situ experimentations and numerical researches are suggested for future researches to better understand the cracking behavior and mechanism in clayey soils related to desiccation.

Under the conditions of drought, cracks are likely to appear in loess due to shrinkage, which leads to salt precipitation and accumulation on the surface of loess. Therefore, salinized lands are created in loess areas. Deep study into the influence of soluble salt content on the cracking characteristics and mechanism of loess is of great significance to engineering constructions, geological problems, and disaster prevention for salinized lands in loess regions. In this paper, free desiccation experiments were carried out on the loess samples with different NaCl concentrations (a soluble salt). A high-resolution digital camera was used to obtain the sequence images of loess during the drying process. With the advantage of digital image correlation (DIC) technology and the non-contact full-field strain measurement method, the local displacement and strain on the surface of loess samples were calculated. The microstructure and main elements distribution of loess samples were obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive spectrum (EDS) methods. Finally, the influence of NaCl concentrations on cracking characteristics and mechanism of loess was analyzed. The results show that, with the increase in NaCl concentration, the evaporation rate of loess samples decreased and the residual water content increased. The NaCl content can prevent the development of desiccation cracks in loess.