A study of fundamental engineering characteristics of recent and Pleistocene marine sediments of Sabine Pass Area, Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

A study of the consolidation characteristics of the marine sediments from the Sabine Pass area of the continental shelf of northern Gulf of Mexico is presented herein. The laboratory consolidation tests were carried out using both the standard oedometer and the Anteus consolidometer. A relatively new method (X-ray Radiography) of determining the sample disturbance due to the sampling procedure was employed. In the course of this study, it was found that X-ray Radiography is a simple and accurate method of determining the degree of the sample disturbance, particularly when a soft sediment is encountered. The laboratory consolidation curve of certain clays of the area indicated that the region of maximum curvature of the classical laboratory recompression curve is a straight line. Subsequent study of the unusual configuration of the laboratory consolidation curves indicated that it is due to desiccation induced in the clay during eustatic lowerings of sea levels in the Pleistocene Epoch. A hypothesis is presented for the interpretation of the laboratory consolidation curves of desiccated clays. The results of the laboratory consolidation tests and the geological evidences of the areas confirmed the hypothesis. ...