Adrian F. Richards

Piezometer Probes for Assessing Effective Stress and Stability in Submarine Sediments

Multisensor piezometer probes were deployed at four different sites in the Mississippi Delta in water depths ranging from 13.5 to 43.6 m with sensor penetration depths of up to 15.6 meters. Absolute and differential pressure sensors were used to measure pore water pressure and excess pressures, respectively. The free water column pressure was measured with absolute pressure sensors. Pore pressures induced by probe insertion were determined as well as ambient excess pore pressures following the time-dependent decay of induced pressures. Significant differences in the pore pressures and related geotechnical properties were found between East Bay and Main Pass sediments. Generally higher probe insertion pressures and lower ambient excess pore pressures were characteristic of Main Pass compared to East Bay. Probe insertion pressures (Ui) were found to correlate well with the undrained shear strength (Su) of the sediments, indicating reasonably good agreement with the predicted relation: Ui = 6Su as suggested by an earlier study42. Using this relationship undrained shear strengths were calculated and compared with measured values.

In situ pore‐pressure measurement in Mississippi delta front sediments

Abstract A differential piezometer was used to monitor excess pore pressure in the soft clayey seafloor sediments of Block 28, South Pass, Mississippi delta, from September 1975 to March 1976. An ambient excess pore pressure of about 32 kPa was measured at a depth of 6.4 m below the mudline in a water depth of 19 m. Storm‐wave‐generated cyclic fluctuations of ± 4 kPa about the ambient were measured during Hurricane Eloise. Irregular, long‐period, small‐amplitude fluctuations in excess pore pressures persisted for 4 days following the storm. An effective stress analysis was made by using excess pore pressures; in situ field vane‐shear strength, t fv, measurements; and laboratory wet unit weights measured by Lehigh and NOAA. The effective stress of the SEA‐SWAB site soil was calculated to be zero to a depth of about 6 m, below which it increased to 3.5 kPa at a depth of 15 m. Values of c´ = 4.6 kPa, ϕ´ = 56°, and T FV/σvo(c/p) =0.1–0.2 were calculated, and it was concluded that these data do not represent t...

Improved in situ gamma-ray transmission densitometer for marine sediments

Abstract The first-generation University of Illinois gamma-ray transmission densitometer, designed for the in situ measurement of sediment bulk density, was modified by incorporating in the detector probe (1) an Americium-241 alpha particle pulser and an anti-walk gain stabilization control to maintain better temperature stability and (2) a small power supply and a IC preamplifier to eliminate the need for a high-voltage coaxial cable between the detector and external signal conditioning electronics package. This second-generation Lehigh University system has been successfully deployed since 1971 in routine use from ships and submersibles in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. Results are presented of system operations to (1) measure bulk density over the range of 1.2–1.8 Mg/m3 in the Hudson Canyon, (2) penetrate 1.9 m into the seafloor in the San Diego trough and, (3) be lowered to a water depth of 3.6 km in the Gulf of Mexico.

Excess pore pressure in Mississippi delta front sediments: Initial report

Abstract In September 1975, a differential piezometer probe was successfully implanted in the soft seafloor sediments of Block 28, South Pass, Mississippi Delta. The probe sensor is located approximately 6.4 m below the mudline in a water depth of 19 m, and has essentially continuously monitored excess pore pressure (the difference between sediment pore pressure and hydrostatic pressure at that depth) since installation. Excess pore pressure will be monitored until March 1976, when the probe will be recovered. Immediately after deployment, an excess pore pressure of 54 kPa was recorded. An ambient excess pore pressure of approximately 32 kPa remained after dissipation of that developed during probe installation. Because of the possible presence of gas in the sediments in this area, it is not known with certainty whether the measured excess pressure is pore water pressure, pore gas pressure, or some combination of the two. An excess pore pressure of about 32 ±4 kPa was monitored during Hurricane Eloise and...

Review of continental shelf marine geotechnics: Distribution of soils, measurement of properties, and environmental hazards

Abstract Sands and silty sands are the predominant surficial soils of continental shelves. Cohesive fine‐grained soils are typical off the mouths of large rivers, near bays and estuaries, and in basins located on the shelf. The stratigraphy of shelf soils is very poorly known for most engineering purposes, except in the vicinity of the Mississippi Delta. Vibratory coring is the most common method of sampling shelf sands to depths of about 13 m; greater soil depths are sampled by borings often using drilling and wireline sampling tools. Employment of self‐contained or wireline static cone penetrometers to obtain in situ measurements of sands has not been as common in the United States as in Europe. Dynamic piston corers are the most common samplers in cohesive soils, but rotary and hydraulically activated incremental corers are becoming available for marine use. Self‐contained or wireline vane shear devices and static cone penetrometers are used for the in situ testing of cohesive soils, and the latter dev...

Site selection for offshore facilities

A simplified input-output process is used to describe the end-members of two methods of site selection: one in which the structure controls the site and the other in which the site controls the structure. Most site selection processes are combinations of these two methods. Factors ranging from atmospheric, oceanic, and seafloor conditions to marine biota, constructional, and political-demographic-geographic are tabulated to show the variety that may be considered in the site selection process. The bathymetric, geological-geophysical, and geotechnical components of siting surveys are reviewed, together with location control. The state-of-the-art of siting all kinds of structures on the continental margins and deepsea floor beyond the continental margin could be improved in almost all areas to increase the reliability of operations at sea and to decrease costs.

Standardization of Marine Geotechnics Symbols, Definitions, Units, and Test Procedures

The ONR Seminar-Workshop participants approved selected symbols taken from the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering source book of symbols and definitions. A synopsis of applicable SI units in marine geotechnics is made from the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the U. S. National Bureau of Standards guides; relevant conversion formulas from old metric and U. S. customary units to SI units are presented. ASTM tests and recommended test modifications applicable to marine soils are summarized. Commonly used non-ASTM-approved laboratory and field tests are listed, together with selected references to the literature describing each test. Recommendations are made for the effective use of symbols, definitions, units, and test procedures in marine geotechnics.

Comparison of sedimentation-compression curves obtained by nuclear and gravimetric methods for Wilkinson Basin, Gulf of Maine, sediments

Abstract Accurate measurements of bulk density are important in the construction of sedimentation-compression curves of water-saturated, fine-grained cohesive sediments for consolidation studies. The bulk density of five cores was measured nondestructively on a laboratory nuclear transmission densitometer and the water content, expressed as void ratio, was derived from an empirical relationship between bulk density and water content. Bulk density and water content measured destructively was determined every 10 cm for a comparison with the nuclear data. Agreement between nuclear and gravimetric methods was within ± 0.02 g/cm 3 for bulk density ranging from 1.2 to 1.4 g/cm 3 . Sedimentation-compression curves made using both methods were in generally good agreement. In the Wilkinson Basin, void ratio gradually decreases with increasing effective overburden pressure. This indicates that consolidation by dewatering the surficial sediments is normal and that the environmental conditions during deposition remained relatively constant.

Marine Slope Stability — A Geological Approach

On one hand, the literature of marine slope instability and marine slides is voluminous. Extensive bibliographies are given in the many papers comprising this volume. On the other hand, basic information available to geoscientists on how marine slides or slope instability can be investigated is widely scattered. This paper attempts to fill the gap by briefly discussing mthods for preliminary surveys, sampling, and analysis. Emphasis is placed on providing elementary information for geoscientists who might be starting geotechnical studies. More elegant or detailed treatments on this subject are available elsewhere in this volume and in the science and engineering literature.

Investigation of geotechnical and geochemical relationships by parameter cross‐correlation methods, oslofjorden and dramsfjorden, Norway

Abstract A cross‐correlation matrix was computer developed to investigate the statistical dependence of geotechnical properties on other properties as an aid to learning why such dependence exists. Linear correlation coefficients, based on 10,000 data values from borings in four major basins along the axis of the Oslofjorden, and one boring at the south end of the Dramsfjorden, are presented for 17 measured or calculated geotechnical and geochemical parameters. Confidence levels of 99 percent and 99.99 percent were calculated for all parameters, and causative and fortuitous relationships or linkages were investigated using regrouped matrices showing correlations significant at the 99.99 percent confidence level. A table summarizes parameters correlating in both fjords, only in the Oslofjorden, only in the Dramsfjorden, and in neither fjord. Generally, relationships were as expected. Examples of unexpected absence of correlations follow: In the Oslofjorden, the clay‐size fraction and the plastic limit corr...