Geotechnical profiling of deep-ocean sediments at the AFEN submarine slide complex
Geotechnical profiling of deep-ocean sediments at the AFEN submarine slide complex
The Atlantic Frontier Environmental Network (AFEN) submarine slide complex is located 95 km NW of the Shetland Islands, at a water depth of c. 1000 m. It is thought to have occurred some 2800 years ago. The slide complex is c. 4 km wide and 13 km in length, and lies on a shallow slope, between 0.7 and 2.5°. Previous sampling and laboratory testing of the very soft sediment has been limited, and did not penetrate the basal failure surface, nor the underlying sediments. This paper presents the first intensive geotechnical profiling of deep-sea sediments from the AFEN slide complex, carried out on core obtained during the July 2014 expedition of the R.V. Pelagia. Importantly, this core sampled through, and below, the failure surface of the AFEN slide, and was subjected to unusually closely spaced geotechnical testing using a range of index and classification testing techniques. These are shown to have great value, when taken together with standard sedimentological logging, in establishing ground profiles. From these data new mechanisms of triggering the long runout slope failure at AFEN are postulated, and explain how submarine slides here and elsewhere can have occurred on very shallow slopes, of the order of 1 – 2°.
148-157
Madhusudhan, B.N.
e139e3d3-2992-4579-b3f0-4eec3ddae98c
Clare, M.A.
b26da858-9c08-4784-aaa9-7092efcd94bd
Clayton, C.R.I.
8397d691-b35b-4d3f-a6d8-40678f233869
Hunt, J.E.
2e95b3c8-734f-4ade-8010-8ed32fe4fe5e
1 May 2017
Madhusudhan, B.N.
e139e3d3-2992-4579-b3f0-4eec3ddae98c
Clare, M.A.
b26da858-9c08-4784-aaa9-7092efcd94bd
Clayton, C.R.I.
8397d691-b35b-4d3f-a6d8-40678f233869
Hunt, J.E.
2e95b3c8-734f-4ade-8010-8ed32fe4fe5e
Madhusudhan, B.N., Clare, M.A., Clayton, C.R.I. and Hunt, J.E.
(2017)
Geotechnical profiling of deep-ocean sediments at the AFEN submarine slide complex.
Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 50 (2), .
(doi:10.1144/qjegh2016-057).
Abstract
The Atlantic Frontier Environmental Network (AFEN) submarine slide complex is located 95 km NW of the Shetland Islands, at a water depth of c. 1000 m. It is thought to have occurred some 2800 years ago. The slide complex is c. 4 km wide and 13 km in length, and lies on a shallow slope, between 0.7 and 2.5°. Previous sampling and laboratory testing of the very soft sediment has been limited, and did not penetrate the basal failure surface, nor the underlying sediments. This paper presents the first intensive geotechnical profiling of deep-sea sediments from the AFEN slide complex, carried out on core obtained during the July 2014 expedition of the R.V. Pelagia. Importantly, this core sampled through, and below, the failure surface of the AFEN slide, and was subjected to unusually closely spaced geotechnical testing using a range of index and classification testing techniques. These are shown to have great value, when taken together with standard sedimentological logging, in establishing ground profiles. From these data new mechanisms of triggering the long runout slope failure at AFEN are postulated, and explain how submarine slides here and elsewhere can have occurred on very shallow slopes, of the order of 1 – 2°.
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Accepted/In Press date: 23 January 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 31 March 2017
Published date: 1 May 2017
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Local EPrints ID: 412706
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/412706
ISSN: 1470-9236
PURE UUID: 92400634-8e2f-4196-bd2c-7a391f4ae252
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Date deposited: 26 Jul 2017 16:31
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:18
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Author:
M.A. Clare
Author:
J.E. Hunt
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