In situpore‐pressure measurement in Mississippi delta front sediments

Abstract

A differential piezometer was used to monitor excess pore pressure in the soft clayey seafloor sediments of Block 28, South Pass, Mississippi delta, from September 1975 to March 1976. An ambient excess pore pressure of about 32 kPa was measured at a depth of 6.4 m below the mudline in a water depth of 19 m. Storm‐wave‐generated cyclic fluctuations of ± 4 kPa about the ambient were measured during Hurricane Eloise. Irregular, long‐period, small‐amplitude fluctuations in excess pore pressures persisted for 4 days following the storm. An effective stress analysis was made by using excess pore pressures; in situ field vane‐shear strength, t _fv, measurements; and laboratory wet unit weights measured by Lehigh and NOAA. The effective stress of the SEA‐SWAB site soil was calculated to be zero to a depth of about 6 m, below which it increased to 3.5 kPa at a depth of 15 m. Values of c´ = 4.6 kPa, ϕ´ = 56°, and T _FV/σ_vo(c/p) =0.1–0.2 were calculated, and it was concluded that these data do not represent the in situ condition of the soil because of the probability that the measured soil properties were affected by the presence of gas. However, it is clear that the soil is significantly underconsolidated.