Numerical Study of Tsunami Generated by Multiple Submarine Slope Failures in Resurrection Bay, Alaska, during the MW 9.2 1964 Earthquake

2009 ◽  
Vol 166 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 131-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Suleimani ◽  
Roger Hansen ◽  
Peter J. Haeussler
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Study ◽  
Slope Failures ◽  
Submarine Slope

Submarine slope failure due to gas hydrate dissociation: a preliminary quantification

2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 314-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
M F Nixon ◽  
J LH Grozic
Keyword(s):  
Slope Stability ◽  
Gas Hydrates ◽  
Gas Hydrate ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Fluid Pressure ◽  
Slope Failures ◽  
Case Histories ◽  
Hydrate Dissociation ◽  
Methane Gas ◽  
Submarine Slope

Gas hydrates are icelike compounds composed of water and methane gas in very compact form. There is substantial evidence from case histories that links gas hydrate dissociation to submarine slope failures and other geohazards. Theoretical analyses have also shown that upon dissociation gas hydrates will cause an increase in fluid pressure and a reduction in effective stress and thus result in loss of the soil strength. This paper presents a preliminary quantification of the effects of gas hydrate dissociation through development of a pore-pressure model that was incorporated into one- and two-dimensional slope stability analyses. The ensuing numerical study investigated submarine slope stability through parametric studies and application to two important case histories and found that dissociation of even small amounts of hydrate can have a significant destabilizing effect. Yet whether gas hydrate dissociation can alone cause large-scale slope failures has still to be demonstrated as there are often many destabilizing processes; however, this research highlights the importance of assessing the effects of gas hydrate dissociation on the behaviour of submarine slopes.Key words: gas hydrates, slope stability, marine, offshore, methane gas, instability.

Gas hydrate/free gas migration pathways in submarine slope failures: East Indian Margin

2021 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jyothsna Palle ◽  
Satyavani Nittala ◽  
Kiranmai Samudrala
Keyword(s):  
Gas Hydrate ◽  
Gas Migration ◽  
Slope Failures ◽  
Free Gas ◽  
Submarine Slope ◽  
East Indian ◽  
Migration Pathways

Investigating the controls of submarine landslides and associated hazards in Pangnirtung Fiord, Eastern Baffin Island (Nunavut)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Sedore ◽  
Alexandre Normandeau ◽  
Vittorio Maselli
Keyword(s):  
High Latitude ◽  
Debris Flows ◽  
Slope Failure ◽  
Recurrence Time ◽  
High Recurrence Rate ◽  
Baffin Island ◽  
Submarine Landslides ◽  
Slope Failures ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Submarine Slope

<p>High-latitude fiords are susceptible to hazardous subaerial and submarine slope failures. Recent investigations have shown that past slope failures in fiords of Greenland and Alaska have generated devastating landslide induced tsunamis. Since coastal communities inhabit these high-latitude fiords, it is critical to understand the slope failure recurrence time, their distribution, potential triggers, and ability to generate tsunamis. In this study, we identified > 50 near-surface submarine landslides in Pangnirtung Fiord, eastern Baffin Island, Nunavut, using multibeam bathymetric and sub-bottom profiler data, along with sediment gravity-cores collected in 2019. Morphometric and morphological analyses, along with sedimentological analyses, were carried out on submarine landslide deposits to quantify their spatial and temporal distribution throughout the fiord and to evaluate the factors that may have triggered the slope failures.</p><p>Combining bathymetric with topographic data from unmanned aerial vehicle imagery, we found that most of these landslide deposits are relatively small (~ 0.08 km<sup>2</sup>) and are associated with outwash fans and steep fiord sidewalls. However, since most slope failure head scarps lie between the intertidal zone and ~30 m water depth, they could not be mapped, which makes it challenging to determine the triggers of the submarine slope failures. Radiocarbon dating reveals that most of these surficial landslide deposits are younger than 500 years old and that they were most likely triggered at different times. This finding highlights a high recurrence rate of slope failures within the fiord, suggesting that localised triggers are responsible for slope failures within the fiord, as opposed to widespread, seismically induced triggers which do not occur as frequently in the study area. In addition, the elongated morphology of the landslide deposits and the varying degrees of landslide deposit surface roughness supports localised point-source triggers. Since most landslides are associated with subaerial outwash fans and deltas, we suggest that triggers of these relatively frequent submarine landslides within Pangnirtung Fiord include rapid floodwater input, subaerial debris flows, and sea-ice loading during low tide.</p><p>This research shows that slope failures in a high-latitude fiord are affected by the interaction of numerous subaerial and submarine processes, leading us to speculate that a potential increase in the frequency of subaerial debris flows and river floods due to climate change may increase the recurrence of submarine landslides.<strong> </strong></p>

scholarly journals Late Cenozoic submarine slope failures in the southern North Sea – Evolution and controlling factors

2016 ◽  
Vol 75 ◽  
pp. 272-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hauke Thöle ◽  
Gesa Kuhlmann ◽  
Rüdiger Lutz ◽  
Christoph Gaedicke
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Controlling Factors ◽  
Late Cenozoic ◽  
Slope Failures ◽  
Submarine Slope ◽  
Southern North Sea

scholarly journals The influence of clay content on submarine slope failure: insights from laboratory experiments and numerical models

2020 ◽  
Vol 500 (1) ◽  
pp. 301-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. W. Silver ◽  
B. Dugan
Keyword(s):  
Pore Pressure ◽  
Slope Failure ◽  
Failure Modes ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Clay Content ◽  
Passive Margin ◽  
Slope Failures ◽  
Submarine Slope ◽  
Failure Evolution

AbstractSubmarine slope failures pose risks to coastlines because they can damage infrastructure and generate tsunamis. Passive margin slope failures represent the largest mass failures on Earth, yet we know little about their dynamics. While numerous studies characterize the lithology, structure, seismic attributes and geometry of failure deposits, we lack direct observations of failure evolution. Thus, we lack insight into the relationships between initial conditions, slope failure initiation and evolution, and final deposits. To investigate submarine slope failure dynamics in relation to initial conditions and to observe failure processes we performed physical experiments in a benchtop flume and produced numerical models. Submarine slope failures were induced under controlled pore pressure within sand–clay mixtures (0–5 wt% clay). Increased clay content corresponded to increased cohesion and pore pressure required for failure. Subsurface fractures and tensile cracks were only generated in experiments containing clay. Falling head tests showed a log-linear relation between hydraulic conductivity and clay content, which we used in our numerical models. Models of our experiments effectively simulate overpressure (pressure in excess of hydrostatic) and failure potential for (non)cohesive sediment mixtures. Overall our work shows the importance of clay in reducing permeability and increasing cohesion to create different failure modes due to overpressure.

Morphological characterization of submarine slope failures in a semi-enclosed fjord, Frobisher Bay, eastern Canadian Arctic

2018 ◽  
Vol 477 (1) ◽  
pp. 367-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Deering ◽  
Trevor Bell ◽  
Donald L. Forbes ◽  
Calvin Campbell ◽  
Evan Edinger
Keyword(s):  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Morphological Characterization ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Baffin Island ◽  
Slope Failures ◽  
Submarine Slope ◽  
Relative Chronology ◽  
Arctic Fjord ◽  
Eastern Canadian Arctic

AbstractSubmarine slope failures in the nearshore waters of SE Baffin Island, eastern Canadian Arctic, present a challenge to coastal and seabed development. Submarine slope failures are a known geohazard in fjords in Norway, Chile, Alaska, British Columbia and elsewhere, but have received little attention in the coastal waters of Arctic Canada. Over the past 6 years, there has been a rapid expansion of multibeam echosounder (MBES) mapping in Canadian Arctic fjords, leading to the discovery of many submarine slope failures. One area that has been mapped in detail is inner Frobisher Bay. This macrotidal, seasonally ice-covered, semi-enclosed embayment has a glacially scoured bed, ice-contact deposits, including recessional moraines, and stratified glaciomarine and post-glacial silts and clays with abundant dropstones. The prevalence of submarine slope failures in the inner bay (one per 20 km2) appears to be anomalous. To date, MBES mapping has imaged at least 246 failures, ranging in size from 0.007 to 2.1 km2 and all within the glaciomarine and post-glacial succession. Morphometric analysis of these features based on high-resolution MBES bathymetry provides an insight into their spatial distribution, relative chronology, triggers and flow characteristics; factors essential to understanding the mechanisms underlying their abundance in this Canadian Arctic fjord.

Influence of Salt Tectonics On Fault Displacements and Submarine Slope Failures from Algeria To Sardinia

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 318-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia A. Yeakley ◽  
Abdul Shakoor ◽  
William Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flows ◽  
Average Rate ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Turbidity Currents ◽  
Salt Tectonics ◽  
Slope Failures ◽  
Submarine Slope ◽  
Lateral Extent ◽  
Pipeline Route

ABSTRACT We used previously obtained marine geophysical and geotechnical data for the proposed Galsi pipeline route from Algeria to Sardinia to analyze the buried salt distribution, rates of fault displacements, and frequency and lateral extent of submarine slope failures. Crossing the convergent African/Nubian–European plate boundary, the southern section of the pipeline route traverses continental shelves and slopes of Algeria and Sardinia as well as the Algerian abyssal plain of the western Mediterranean. Deeply buried Messinian-aged salt is present throughout this area. Being less dense and more buoyant than the overburden sediment, the salt tends to flow upward to form diapiric structures that, in turn, result in the formation of faults and landslides in the overlying sediment. Measured offsets from seismic profiles of different resolutions were compared with predicted sediment age at depth of each offset, yielding an average rate of fault displacement of 1.5 cm/kiloyear (ky). The highest rates of displacement are along the Cagliari slope near Sardinia (2.5-2.7 cm/ky) and near the convergent plate boundary (2.3 cm/ky). Utilizing the same geophysical data, the frequency and lateral extent of submarine slope failures in the study area can also be linked to the distribution of salt and the influence of salt tectonics. Turbidity currents and hyperpycnal flows are present within the Algerian basin, whereas local debris flows, landslide runouts, and channelized debris flows are present along the Sardinian slope. The low sedimentation rates, determined in this study, suggest that the most recent slope failures related to salt tectonics occurred more than 12,000 years ago.

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