A scientific hypothesis is proposed and preliminarily verified in this paper: under the driving of seepage flows, there might be a vertical migration of fine-grained soil particles from interior to surface of seabed, ...A scientific hypothesis is proposed and preliminarily verified in this paper: under the driving of seepage flows, there might be a vertical migration of fine-grained soil particles from interior to surface of seabed, which is defined as ‘sub-bottom sediment pump action' in this paper. Field experiments were performed twice on the intertidal flat of the Yellow River delta to study this process via both trapping the pumped materials and recording the pore pressures in the substrate. Experimental results are quite interesting as we did observe yellow slurry which is mainly composed of fine-grained soil particles appearing on the seabed surface; seepage gradients were also detected in the intertidal flat, under the action of tides and small wind waves. Preliminary conclusions are that ‘sediment pump' occurs when seepage force exceeds a certain threshold: firstly, it is big enough to disconnect the soil particles from the soil skeleton; secondly, the degree of seabed fluidization or bioturbation is big enough to provide preferred paths for the detached materials to migrate upwards. Then they would be firstly pumped from interior to the surface of seabed and then easily re-suspended into overlying water column. Influential factors of ‘sediment pump' are determined as hydrodynamics(wave energy), degree of consolidation, index of bioturbation(permeability) and content of fine-grained materials(sedimentary age). This new perspective of ‘sediment pump' may provide some implications for the mechanism interpretation of several unclear geological phenomena in the Yellow River delta area.展开更多
Sediment resuspension is commonly assumed to be eroded from the seabed surface by an excess bottom shear stress and evolves in layers from the top down. Although considerable investigations have argued the importance ...Sediment resuspension is commonly assumed to be eroded from the seabed surface by an excess bottom shear stress and evolves in layers from the top down. Although considerable investigations have argued the importance of wave-induced seabed fluidization in affecting the sediment resuspension, few studies have been able to reliably evaluate its quantitative contribution till now. Attempt is made to preliminarily quantify the contribution of fluidization to resuspension using a series of large-scale wave flume experiments. The experimental results indicated that fluidization of the sandy silts of the Huanghe Delta account for 52.5% and 66.8% of the total resuspension under model scales of 4/20 and 6/20（i.e., relative water depth： the ratio of wave height to water depth）, respectively. Some previously reported results obtained using the same flume and sediments are also summarized for a contrastive analysis, through which not only the positive correlation is confirmed, but also a parametric equation for depicting the relationship between the contribution of fluidization and the model scale is established. Finally, the contribution of fluidization is attributed to two physical mechanisms：（1） an attenuation of the erosion resistance of fluidized sediments in surface layers due to the disappearing of original cohesion and the uplifting effect resulting from upward seepage flows, and（2） seepage pumping of fines from the interior to the surface of fluidized seabed.展开更多
At present,there are few technologies applied to in situ observation of seabed deformation,among which the micro-electromechanical accelerometer-array(hereinafter referred to as accelerometers array)is a very advantag...At present,there are few technologies applied to in situ observation of seabed deformation,among which the micro-electromechanical accelerometer-array(hereinafter referred to as accelerometers array)is a very advantageous measurement method,with both commercial products and successful application cases.However,the coupling effect between accelerometer-array and sur-rounding soil and the linkage effect of accelerometer-array itself during the deformation may influence the accuracy and reliability of the measurement data.A simulation test chamber was designed and processed,and four groups of simulation tests were carried out to explore the coupling effect and linkage effect of accelerometer-array in the soil with different degree of consolidation.The results show that the accelerometer-array and the soil coupled well,and the coupling effect is positively correlated with the degree of soil consoli-dation.The ratio of accumulative deviation to soil lateral deformation is high at the initial stage of deformation(0-50 mm)and reduced with the continuous increase of deformation(>100 mm).In the process of liquefied soil deformation,the linkage effect of accelerometer array can be ignored,and is negatively correlated with the degree of soil consolidation.A concept to improve the measurement accu-racy of accelerometer-array in different seafloor failure deformation modes is proposed.The research results provide references for the modification of accelerometer-array and the improvement for other flexible rod-shaped deformation sensors.展开更多
基金jointly supported by five projects which are respectively funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.41402253,41272316,41372287)the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China(Nos.2014M561963,2016T90653)
文摘A scientific hypothesis is proposed and preliminarily verified in this paper: under the driving of seepage flows, there might be a vertical migration of fine-grained soil particles from interior to surface of seabed, which is defined as ‘sub-bottom sediment pump action' in this paper. Field experiments were performed twice on the intertidal flat of the Yellow River delta to study this process via both trapping the pumped materials and recording the pore pressures in the substrate. Experimental results are quite interesting as we did observe yellow slurry which is mainly composed of fine-grained soil particles appearing on the seabed surface; seepage gradients were also detected in the intertidal flat, under the action of tides and small wind waves. Preliminary conclusions are that ‘sediment pump' occurs when seepage force exceeds a certain threshold: firstly, it is big enough to disconnect the soil particles from the soil skeleton; secondly, the degree of seabed fluidization or bioturbation is big enough to provide preferred paths for the detached materials to migrate upwards. Then they would be firstly pumped from interior to the surface of seabed and then easily re-suspended into overlying water column. Influential factors of ‘sediment pump' are determined as hydrodynamics(wave energy), degree of consolidation, index of bioturbation(permeability) and content of fine-grained materials(sedimentary age). This new perspective of ‘sediment pump' may provide some implications for the mechanism interpretation of several unclear geological phenomena in the Yellow River delta area.
基金The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41272316 and 41372287the Joint Fund of NSFC and Marine Science Research Centers of Shandong Province of China under contract No.U1606401the Key Research and Development Program of Shandong Province of China under contract No.2016ZDJS09A03
文摘Sediment resuspension is commonly assumed to be eroded from the seabed surface by an excess bottom shear stress and evolves in layers from the top down. Although considerable investigations have argued the importance of wave-induced seabed fluidization in affecting the sediment resuspension, few studies have been able to reliably evaluate its quantitative contribution till now. Attempt is made to preliminarily quantify the contribution of fluidization to resuspension using a series of large-scale wave flume experiments. The experimental results indicated that fluidization of the sandy silts of the Huanghe Delta account for 52.5% and 66.8% of the total resuspension under model scales of 4/20 and 6/20（i.e., relative water depth： the ratio of wave height to water depth）, respectively. Some previously reported results obtained using the same flume and sediments are also summarized for a contrastive analysis, through which not only the positive correlation is confirmed, but also a parametric equation for depicting the relationship between the contribution of fluidization and the model scale is established. Finally, the contribution of fluidization is attributed to two physical mechanisms：（1） an attenuation of the erosion resistance of fluidized sediments in surface layers due to the disappearing of original cohesion and the uplifting effect resulting from upward seepage flows, and（2） seepage pumping of fines from the interior to the surface of fluidized seabed.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.42022052,42107207)the Shan-dong Provincial Natural Science Foundation(Nos.ZR2020QD067,ZR2020YQ29)the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China(No.2019M662474).
文摘At present,there are few technologies applied to in situ observation of seabed deformation,among which the micro-electromechanical accelerometer-array(hereinafter referred to as accelerometers array)is a very advantageous measurement method,with both commercial products and successful application cases.However,the coupling effect between accelerometer-array and sur-rounding soil and the linkage effect of accelerometer-array itself during the deformation may influence the accuracy and reliability of the measurement data.A simulation test chamber was designed and processed,and four groups of simulation tests were carried out to explore the coupling effect and linkage effect of accelerometer-array in the soil with different degree of consolidation.The results show that the accelerometer-array and the soil coupled well,and the coupling effect is positively correlated with the degree of soil consoli-dation.The ratio of accumulative deviation to soil lateral deformation is high at the initial stage of deformation(0-50 mm)and reduced with the continuous increase of deformation(>100 mm).In the process of liquefied soil deformation,the linkage effect of accelerometer array can be ignored,and is negatively correlated with the degree of soil consolidation.A concept to improve the measurement accu-racy of accelerometer-array in different seafloor failure deformation modes is proposed.The research results provide references for the modification of accelerometer-array and the improvement for other flexible rod-shaped deformation sensors.
