Evaluation of the Risk of Marine Slope Instability: A Pseudo-3D Approach for Application to Large Areas

This article presents a methodology developed to evaluate the instability of submarine slopes that extend over a large area. Special attention was paid to (1) the complex geometry (bathymetry) and the expanse of the slope, (2) the heterogeneity of the sediment, and (3) the distribution of the pore pressure. The safety factor was considered as a spatially varying quantity. The General Formulation (GLE, Fredlund and Krahn 1977), which fully satisfies equilibrium conditions, was used for evaluating the stability of the marine slope. The submarine slope failure, which occurred on 16 October 1979 during the construction of the new Nice airport, was studied in order to test the developed model. Geotechnical parameters were taken from experimental tests carried out by IFREMER on 19 cores extracted at different depths (from 27 m to 1300 m) (Cochonat, Bourillet, and Savoye, 1993; Mulder et al., 1994). Many scenarios were proposed in order to explain the cause of the Nice slope failure (Habib, 1994). In this article, two of those scenarios were tested. Simulation results are presented and discussed.     

Detection of free gas and gas hydrate based on 3D seismic data and cone penetration testing: An example from the Nigerian Continental Slope

We present a new method to characterize free gas, gas hydrates and carbonate concretions occurrence which are considered as high-risk factors for sub-sea developments in the Niger delta. This method is based on the combination of 3D seismic data to the geotechnical site characterizations using piezocone CPTU tests (Cone Penetration Test with additional measurement of the pore water pressure). A special processing of the 3D seismic data has enabled the determination of the interval compressional velocity. Using the effective-medium theory, velocity anomalies (negative and positive) within the first 15 m were translated in gas hydrate and free gas distribution. The calibration of the P wave velocity anomalies was done thanks to in-situ geotechnical testing carried out during two oceanographic surveys (2003 and 2004). Comparison between in-situ testing, recovered cores and the prediction of the gas and the gas hydrate distribution based on the compressional wave velocity have shown that 3D seismic data is a valuable tool to identify heterogeneous areas but the use of the piezocone was essential to discriminate between gas hydrate occurrences and carbonate concretions' presence. Furthermore, in-situ compressional wave velocity (V_p) measurements have clearly demonstrated what it was suspected from the 3D seismic data, the co-existence in the study area between gas hydrate and free gas.     

Stationary spatially modulated fourier transform spectro-radiometer

Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing - A stationary, compact, spatially modulated Fourier Transform spectro-radiometer based on triangular, common path Sagnac interferometer has been...     

Structure and stratigraphy of Rumbli and Panjar areas of Kashmir and Pakistan with the aid of GIS

The project area lies in the southern part of the Hazara Kashmir syntaxis. The Hazara Kashmir syntaxis is an antiformal structure. The project area includes Rumbli, Namb, Chatrora, Chachan, Panjar, Barathian and Utrinna areas of Rawalpindi and Sudhnoti districts. The southeastern limb of the Hazara Kashmir syntaxis is imbricated along Punjal thrust, Main Boundary thrust and Riasi fault. The Jhelum fault truncates the western limb of Hazara Kashmir syntaxis. The core of syntaxis comprises of Himalayan molasse deposits. These molasse deposits represent the part of cover sequence of Indian plate. These Himalayan molasse deposits include the Early to Middle Miocene Kamlial Formation, Middle to Late Miocene Chinji Formation, Late Miocene Nagri Formation and Late Miocene Dhok Pathan Formation. The area is highly deformed resulting folds and faults. The major folds in the project area are the Panjar anticline, Barathian syncline, Barathian anticline, Rumbli anticline, Chatrora antiformal syncline and Namb syncline. The folds are either northwest-southeast trending or southwestnortheast trending. The folds are asymmetric, open, and gentle and close in nature. The folds are southwest, northeast or southeast vergent. The Jhelum fault truncates the northeast and northwest trending structures. The folds and faults are the result of northeastsouthwest or northwest-southeast Himalayan compression.     

Southern Oscillation simulation in the OSU coupled upper ocean-atmosphere GCM

The Southern Oscillation is a major component in the interannual variations of global climate. The Oregon State University global climate model, with a dynamically interactive upper ocean, reproduces in qualitatively correct fashion some of the major characteristics of the Southern Oscillation. This model simulates the observed anti-correlation of annually averaged sea-level pressure (SLP) between the eastern Pacific and the Indonesian region, the primary atmospheric signal of the Southern Oscillation. In the composite of the simulated warm events positive sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies expand eastward towards South America from the tropical western Pacific during the first half of the calendar year. The SST anomalies develop in conjunction with eastward mixed layer current anomalies in the tropical Pacific. In the late summer and early fall anomalously warm water near South America develops and moves westward to merge with the central Pacific anomalies. This lagged development in the eastern Pacific is analogous to the evolution of the 1982/83 and 1986/87 El Ninos. The temperature of the thermocline layer also increases, with the slope of the equatorial Pacific thermocline decreasing in response to the relaxation of the surface forcing. Enhanced precipitation occurs in the mid-Pacific while in the Indian and Australian monsoon regions a deficit occurs. The peak of the warm phase occurs in late northern fall/early winter, somewhat earlier than during observed El Ninos. The cold phase of the Southern Oscillation, enhancement of the zonal circulation, evolves in a fashion similar to the warm phase with the signs of the anomalies reversed, similar to observations. Occurrence of Southern Oscillation in this coarse resolution GCM indicates that high resolution ocean waves do not play a crucial role in the generation of this phenomenon as suggested by Pacific basin models. These results also show that ocean-atmosphere global climate models are useful tools for investigation of time dependent changes on the interannual timescale in addition to their hitherto accepted use for studying equilibrium properties of climate.     

The role of sedimentation rate and permeability in the slope stability of the formerly glaciated Norwegian continental margin: the Storegga slide model

Despite the gently dipping slopes (ca 1°), large-scale submarine slope failures have occurred on the mid-Norwegian continental margin (Storegga, Sklinnadjupet, Traenadjupet), suggesting the presence of special conditions predisposing to failure in this formerly glaciated margin. With a volume estimated between 2,400 and 3,200 km³ and an affected area of approximately 95,000 km², the Storegga slide represents one of the largest and best-studied submarine slides of Holocene age known worldwide. Finite element modeling of slope failure indicates that a large (6.5 < Ms < 7.0) seismic triggering mechanism would not be sufficient to cause failure at more than 110 m below the seabed as observed for the slip planes at Storegga (northern sidewall). This implies that other factors (e.g., liquefaction, strain softening, gas charging, rapid burial) are needed to explain the occurrence of the Storegga slide with a deep surface of failure. In this paper, we discuss the importance of the compaction effect of rapidly accumulated sediments in the slide area. During compaction, sediment grains reorganize themselves, thereby, expelling pore water. Consequently, depending on sedimentation rate and permeability, excess pore pressures might result beneath less permeable sediments. Our modeling and cross-checking illustrate how excess pore pressure generation due to high sedimentation rate could explain the development of layers of weakness, and thus, how such a large slide might have been initiated in deep sediments. Using the highest sedimentation rate estimated in the area (36 and 27 m/kyr between 16.2 and 15 kyr BP), 1D modeling shows excess pore pressure values of around 200 kPa at a depth of 100 m below the seafloor 15 kyr BP and 60 kPa at a depth of 100 m at the time of the slide (8 kyr BP). Excess pore pressure apparently drastically reduced the resistance of the sediment (incomplete consolidation). In addition, 2D modeling shows that permeability anisotropies can significantly affect the lateral extent of excess pore pressure dissipation, affecting, that way, normally consolidated sediments far from the excess pore pressure initiation area.     

Leachability of trace elements from two stabilized low lime Indian fly ashes

Fly ash is a waste by-product obtained from the burning of coal by thermal power plants for generating electricity. When bulk quantities are involved, in order to arrest the fugitive dust, it is stored wet rather than dry. Fly ash contains trace concentrations of heavy metals and other substances in sufficient quantities to be able to leach out over a period of time. In this study an attempt was made to study the leachabilities of a few selected trace metals: Cd, Cu, Cr, Mn, Pb and Zn from two different types of class F fly ashes. Emphasis is also laid on developing an alternative in order to arrest the relative leachabilities of heavy metals after amending them with suitable additives. A standard laboratory leaching test for combustion residues has been employed to study the leachabilities of these trace elements as a function of liquid to solid ratio and pH. The leachability tests were conducted on powdered fly ash samples before and after amending them suitably with the matrices lime and gypsum; they were compacted to their respective proctor densities and cured for periods of 28 and 180 days. A marked reduction in the relative leachabilities of the trace elements was observed to be present at the end of 28 days. These relative leachability values further reduced marginally when tests were performed at the end of 180 days.