Seabed Slope Processes in Deep Water Continental Margin, Northwest Gulf of Mexico

墨西哥湾西北部深水大陆边缘海底斜坡过程

• 批准号: 9530370
• 负责人: Wayne Dunlap
• 金额: $ 37.36万
• 依托单位: Texas A&M Research Foundation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1996
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1996-09-15 至 2002-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9530370&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Seabed; Slope; Processes; Deep; Water

9530370 Dunlap Natural resources recovery, including offshore oil and gas is the most important economic activity in the United States Exclusive Economic Zone. Many technical constraints must be faced as the industry moves toward sites on the continental slope and rise where seabed processes are complex. The objective of this research project is to understand the fundamental linkages between engineering properties of slope sediments, environmental forcing functions, and downslope processes; and to develop the capability of predicting the range of seabed processes. The program is theoretical as well as an integrated combination of field, laboratory, and modeling efforts. A corridor 2000m wide by 100 nm long, of the seabed in the northwest Gulf of Mexico has been selected extending from water depths of 1000 to 3000m. This corridor encompasses a wide range of seabed processes including mass wasting and creep, faulting, diapirism, sediment flows, and related processes such as fluid expulsion and depressions (basins) associated with halokinesis. The field work during the first year entails two research cruise expeditions: the first to obtain detailed acoustic subbottom information and side-scan sonar seafloor images within the corridor and the second to obtain large-diameter undisturbed core samples to depths of 25 to 30m subbottom and to conduct in situ geotechnical tests. The comprehensive laboratory testing program focuses on determining the pertinent geotechnical properties and parameters necessary for the analysis/modeling portion of the research. Essentially all the instrumentation is available for the experimental studies. The laboratory program will include determination of constitutive models to characterize the engineering behavior of the various sediments from very slow deformations (creep), static stress strain properties, and flow properties. The material models and parameters will then be incorporated in available computer models to chara cterize and study the full range of seabed processes that are encountered within the corridor site. The expected result will be the ability to predict the range of seabed processes at work on the continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico. ***

包括海上石油和天然气在内的自然资源开采是美国专属经济区最重要的经济活动。随着该行业向海底过程复杂的大陆斜坡和高地转移，必须面临许多技术限制。本研究项目的目的是了解斜坡沉积物的工程特性、环境强迫功能和下坡过程之间的基本联系；并发展预测海底过程范围的能力。该计划是理论性的，也是现场、实验室和建模工作的综合结合。墨西哥湾西北部的海底走廊宽2000米，长100海里，水深1000米至3000米。这条走廊包含了范围广泛的海底过程，包括物质消耗和蠕变、断裂、底辟作用、沉积物流动以及与盐蚀作用相关的流体排出和洼地（盆地）等相关过程。第一年的实地工作包括两次研究巡航考察：第一次是在走廊内获得详细的海底声学信息和侧面扫描声纳海底图像，第二次是在海底25至30米深处获得大直径未受干扰的岩心样本，并进行现场岩土技术测试。综合实验室测试程序的重点是确定研究分析/建模部分所需的相关岩土特性和参数。基本上所有的仪器都可以用于实验研究。实验室项目将包括确定本构模型，以表征各种沉积物的工程行为，包括非常缓慢的变形（蠕变）、静态应力应变特性和流动特性。然后将把材料模型和参数纳入现有的计算机模型，以描述和研究在走廊场地内遇到的所有海底过程。预期的结果将是能够预测在墨西哥湾大陆斜坡上工作的海底过程的范围。＊＊＊