Two abyssal plain sites on either side of the North Atlantic Ocean are characterized by sequences of distal turbidites and pelagic clays. At the Great Meteor East location, turbidites are quite thick and geotechnical properties such as water content and shear strength can be correlated to the observed stratigraphy. At the Southern Nares Abyssal Plain site, turbidites are much thinner, harder to identify, and less distinct from the pelagic clays. Geotechnical properties there can not easily be correlated to the type of sediment.
A new Office of Naval Research Program is focusing on developing new mine burial prediction models for a number of processes that have been identified for shallow water environments. These processes are briefly reviewed and preliminary modeling aspects and numerical computations for seabed liquefaction due to surface water waves are presented. Both a deterministic and a possible empirical approach are discussed.
A new finite element program is introduced and its predictive capabilities are compared to results from two long-term, drained laboratory creep tests on a deep sea clay. The constitutive behaviour is based on Cam clay critical state plasticity theory with creep and time-dependent hardening. Creep is computed using either Singh-Mitchell's three-dimensional equation or Taylor's secondary compression relationship. The experimental creep data include a triaxial specimen subjected to two deviatoric stress increments and a one-dimensional consolidation specimen subjected to three vertical stress increments. In addition, the pore pressure behaviour following an increase in stress is examined in the triaxial sample. Predictions compare favourably to test data, which provide confidence for applying the chosen constitutive model and numerical formulation to solve seabed-related problems on the continental slope that are of interest to geologists, the oil industry and the navy, among others.
Evidence from geological and geophysical records indicates that time-dependent deformations occur on or within many submarine slopes. Laboratory studies on marine clays from the slope/rise and the ocean's basin have shown that these clays are generally quite viscous and therefore can be expected to deform in the field even under such small stresses as those caused by the downslope component of gravity on relatively gentle slopes. The nature and extent of these deformations has important geologic and engineering applications and depends on a number of factors. A research program at the University of Rhode Island is under way to study these factors, make predictions on rates of displacement, and identify environmental conditions that may lead to catastrophic mass failures. A laboratory testing program on the time-dependent characteristics of marine clays has been under way for a number of years. The data include, among others, long-term drained triaxial, one-dimensional, and direct simple shear creep tests. These results along with practical considerations are used to select a constitutive model for inclusion in the numerical code. Sediment deposits encountered on the continental slope and rise can vary substantially both in composition and behavior over relatively short distances. To analyze the integrated behavior ofmore » such a continuum, the authors have selected the finite element method. The code being developed will initially include a numerical model proposed by other investigators. With the aid of the developed methodology, creep deformations can be studied for a number of field cases of interest.« less
The effects of grain size and density on compressional wave speed and attenuation are investigated for a clastic silica sand from a seabed study site south of Panama City, Florida, using an automated core logging device that allows for highly accurate, non‐destructive, fine‐scale measurements to be taken on unopened core sections. Measurements were conducted on relatively undisturbed cores obtained using a large‐diameter gravity corer, as well as on reconstituted sections containing sediment segregated into narrow grain size ranges. Findings indicate that whereas density is the primary physical sediment attribute controlling speed, attenuation at 500 kHz is primarily a function of grain size and grain structure. Sandy sediments, particularly those with narrow sorting, are susceptible to liquefaction, which can reduce attenuation dramatically.
Deeply weathered lava flows of oceanic basalt reflect the mode and sequence of volcanic deposition, parent mineralogy, and postdepositional erosional and weathering processes. In turn, these are controlled by geology, geography, and climate. One particular site on the Island of Hawaii has been the focus of study to gain a better understanding of complex residual soil deposits, particularly in connection with a need to characterize seismic strong-motion propagation through decomposed surface soil and rock sequences. Materials at the site range from fully weathered volcanic soils, sometimes with unusual mineralogy and plasticity properties, to saprolite, weathered rock, vesicular basalt, and hard rock. Seismic surveys were conducted to investigate the distribution of these materials at the study site. Laboratory tests focused on saprolite and vesicular rock as two materials that are seldom reported on and that remain poorly characterized, at least with regard to conditions found in Hawaii.
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