Disposable absorbent article having a decoupled, randomly arranged absorbent structure

A disposable absorbent article for wearing adjacent a body discharge area, said article having a longitudinal centerline and a lateral centerline orthogonal to said longitudinal centerline and defining longitudinal and lateral directions respectively, said article further having a Z-direction which is orthogonal to both said longitudinal and said lateral directions, said article further comprising a liquid pervious topsheet, a backsheet joined to said topsheet, and an absorbent core intermediate said topsheet and said backsheet, said absorbent core having a body faceable surface and further comprising an expandable layer, said expandable layer having a body facing surface and a garment faceable surface and further comprising a number of smaller expandable elements activatable by body fluids which are decoupled from one another and randomly distributed within said expandable layer, wherein each said smaller expandable element is capable of expandable substantially in only one direction upon activation by body fluids and at least two different smaller expandable elements are capable of expanding in substantially two non-parallel directions, respectively, and wherein said smaller expandable elements of said expandable layer are made of compressed regenerated cellulose sponge having a dry density of 0.1 to 1 g/cc.