In this paper we are concerned with the existence of a weak solution to the initial boundary value problem for the equation ∂ t u=Δ(Δu) −3 . This problem arises in the mathematical modeling of the evolution of a crystal surface. Existence of a weak solution u with Δu≥0 is obtained via a suitable substitution. Our investigations reveal the close connection between this problem and the equation ∂ t ρ+ρ 2 Δ 2 ρ 3 =0 , another crystal surface model first proposed by H. Al Hajj Shehadeh, R. V. Kohn and J. Weare in [1].