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J. Locat

Publications and source records attributed to J. Locat.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2009

Geomorphology, stability and mobility of the Currituck slide

Over the last 100,000??years, the U.S. Atlantic continental margin has experienced various types of mass movements some of which are believed to have taken place at times of low sea level. At one of these times of low sea level a significant trigger caused a major submarine mass movement off the coast of Virginia: the Currituck slide which is believed to have taken place between 24 and 50??ka ago. This slide removed a total volume of about 165??km 3 from this section of the continental slope. The departure zone still shows a very clean surface that dips at 4?? and is only covered by a thin veneer of postglacial sediment. Multibeam bathymetric and seismic survey data suggest that this slide took place along three failures surfaces. The morphology of the source area suggests that the sediments were already at least normally consolidated at the time of failure. The slide debris covers an area as much as 55??km wide that extends 180??km from the estimated toe of the original slope. The back analysis of slide initiation indicates that very high pore pressure, a strong earthquake, or both had to be generated to trigger slides on such a low failure plane angle. The shape of the failure plane, the fact that the surface is almost clear of any debris, and the mobility analysis, all support the argument that the slides took place nearly simultaneously. Potential causes for the generation of high pore pressures could be seepage forces from coastal aquifers, delta construction and related pore pressure generation due to the local sediment loading, gas hydrates, and earthquakes. This slide, and its origin, is a spectacular example of the potential threat that submarine mass movements can pose to the US Atlantic coast and underline the need to further assess the potential for the generation of such large slides, like the Grand Banks 1927 landslide of similar volume. ?? 2008 Elsevier B.V.

Marine Geology↗
USGS2008

Preliminary results of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission collaborative research program to assess tsunami hazard for nuclear power plants on the Atlantic and gulf coasts

In response to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC) initiated a long-term research program to improve understanding of tsunami hazard levels for nuclear facilities in the United States. For this effort, the US NRC organized a collaborative research program with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other key researchers for the purpose of assessing tsunami hazard on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States. The initial phase of this work consisted principally of collection, interpretation, and analysis of available offshore data and information. Necessarily, the US NRC research program includes both seismic- and landslide-based tsunamigenic sources in both the near and the far fields. The inclusion of tsunamigenic landslides, an important category of sources that impact tsunami hazard levels for the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts over the long time periods of interest to the US NRC is a key difference between this program and most other tsunami hazard assessment programs. Although only a few years old, this program is already producing results that both support current US NRC activities and look toward the long-term goal of probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment. This paper provides a summary of results from several areas of current research. An overview of the broader US NRC research program is provided in a companion paper in this conference.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2004

Numerical analysis of the mobility of the Palos Verdes debris avalanche, California, and its implication for the generation of tsunamis

Analysis of morphology, failure and post-failure stages of the Palos Verdes debris avalanche reveals that it may have triggered a significant tsunami wave. Our analysis of the failure itself indicates that the slope is stable under aseismic conditions but that a major earthquake (with a magnitude around 7) could have triggered the slide. A post-failure analysis, considering the debris avalanche as a bi-linear flow, shows that peak velocities of up to 45 m/s could have been reached and that the initial movement involved a mass of rock less than 10 km wide, 1 km long and about 50-80 m thick. Initial wave height estimates vary from 10 to 50 m. Tsunami waves propagating to the local shoreline would be significantly smaller. Such a range demonstrates our lack of proper knowledge of the transition from failure to post-failure behavior related to mass movements. Further investigations and analyses of terrestrial and submarine evidence are required for a proper hazard assessment related to tsunami generation in the Los Angeles area. ?? 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2002

The Saguenay Fjord, Quebec, Canada: Integrating marine geotechnical and geophysical data for spatial seismic slope stability and hazard assessment

In 1996 a major flood occurred in the Saguenay region, Quebec, Canada, delivering several km3 of sediment to the Saguenay Fjord. Such sediments covered large areas of the, until then, largely contaminated fjord bottom, thus providing a natural capping layer. Recent swath bathymetry data have also shown that sediment landslides are widely present in the upper section of the Saguenay Fjord, and therefore, should a new event occur, it would probably expose the old contaminated sediments. Landslides in the Upper Saguenay Fjord are most probably due to earthquakes given its proximity to the Charlevoix seismic region and to that of the 1988 Saguenay earthquake. In consequence, this study tries to characterize the permanent ground deformations induced by different earthquake scenarios from which shallow sediment landslides could be triggered. The study follows a Newmark analysis in which, firstly, the seismic slope performance is assessed, secondly, the seismic hazard analyzed, and finally an evaluation of the seismic landslide hazard is made. The study is based on slope gradients obtained from EM1000 multibeam bathymetry data as well as water content and undrained shear strength measurements made in box and gravity cores. Ground motions integrating local site conditions were simulated using synthetic time histories. The study assumes the region of the 1988 Saguenay earthquake as the most likely source area for earthquakes capable of inducing large ground motions in the Upper Saguenay region. Accordingly, we have analyzed several shaking intensities to deduce that generalized sediment displacements will begin to occur when moment magnitudes exceed 6. Major displacements, failure, and subsequent landslides could occur only from earthquake moment magnitudes exceeding 6.75. ?? 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Marine Geology↗
USGS2002

Distinguishing sediment waves from slope failure deposits: Field examples, including the 'humboldt slide', and modelling results

Migrating sediment waves have been reported in a variety of marine settings, including submarine levee-fan systems, floors of fjords, and other basin or continental slope environments. Examination of such wave fields reveals nine diagnostic characteristics. When these characteristics are applied to several features previously attributed to submarine landslide deformation, they suggest that the features should most likely be reinterpreted as migrating sediment-wave fields. Sites that have been reinterpreted include the 'Humboldt slide' on the Eel River margin in northern California, the continental slope in the Gulf of Cadiz, the continental shelf off the Malaspina Glacier in the Gulf of Alaska, and the Adriatic shelf. A reassessment of all four features strongly suggests that numerous turbidity currents, separated by intervals of ambient hemipelagic sedimentation, deposited the wave fields over thousands of years. A numerical model of hyperpycnal discharge from the Eel River, for example, shows that under certain alongshore-current conditions, such events can produce turbidity currents that flow across the 'Humboldt slide', serving as the mechanism for the development of migrating sediment waves. Numerical experiments also demonstrate that where a series of turbidity currents flows across a rough seafloor (i.e. numerical steps), sediment waves can form and migrate upslope. Hemipelagic sedimentation between turbidity current events further facilitates the upslope migration of the sediment waves. Physical modelling of turbidity currents also confirms the formation and migration of seafloor bedforms. The morphologies of sediment waves generated both numerically and physically in the laboratory bear a strong resemblance to those observed in the field, including those that were previously described as submarine landslides.

Marine Geology↗
USGS2001

1D numerical model of muddy subaqueous and subaerial debris flows

A 1D numerical model of the downslope flow and deposition of muddy subaerial and subaqueous debris flows is presented. The model incorporates the Herschel-Bulkley and bilinear rheologies of viscoplastic fluid. The more familiar Bingham model is integrated into the Herschel-Bulkley rheological model. The conservation equations of mass and momentum of single-phase laminar debris flow are layer-integrated using the slender flow approximation. They are then expressed in a Lagrangian framework and solved numerically using an explicit finite difference scheme. Starting from a given initial shape, a debris flow is allowed to collapse and propagate over a specified topography. Comparison between the model predictions and laboratory experiments shows reasonable agreement. The model is used to study the effect of the ambient fluid density, initial shape of the failed mass, and rheological model on the simulated propagation of the front and runout characteristics of muddy debris flows. It is found that initial failure shape influence the front velocity but has little bearing on the final deposit shape. In the Bingham model, the excess of shear stress above the yield strength is proportional to the strain rate to the first power. This exponent is free to vary in the Herschel-Bulkley model. When it is set at a value lower than unity, the resulting final deposits are thicker and shorter than in the case of the Bingham rheology. The final deposit resulting from the bilinear model is longer and thinner than that from the Bingham model due to the fact that the debris flow is allowed to act as a Newtonian fluid at low shear rate in the bilinear model.

Journal of Hydraulic Engineering↗
USGS1999

Regional variability of slope stability: Application to the Eel margin, California

Relative values of downslope driving forces and sediment resisting forces determine the locations of submarine slope failures. Both of these vary regionally, and their impact can be addressed when the data are organized in a Geographic Information System (GIS). The study area on the continental margin near the Eel River provides an excellent opportunity to apply GIS spatial analysis techniques for evaluation of slope stability. In this area, swath bathymetric mapping shows seafloor morphology and distribution of slope steepness in fine detail, and sediment analysis of over 70 box cores delineates the variability of sediment density near the seafloor surface. Based on the results of ten geotechnical studies of submarine study areas, we developed an algorithm that relates surface sediment density to the shear strength appropriate to the type of cyclic loading produced by an earthquake. Strength and stress normalization procedures provide results that are conceptually independent of subbottom depth. Results at depth are rigorously applicable if sediment lithology does not vary significantly and consolidation state can be estimated. Otherwise, the method applies only to shallow-seated slope failure. Regional density, slope, and level of anticipated seismic shaking information were combined in a GIS framework to yield a map that illustrates the relative stability of slopes in the face of seismically induced failure. When a measure of predicted relative slope stability is draped on an oblique view of swath bathymetry, a variation in this slope stability is observed on an otherwise smooth slope along the mid-slope region north of a plunging anticline. The section of slope containing diffuse, pockmarked gullies has a lower measure of stability than a separate section containing gullies that have sharper boundaries and somewhat steeper sides. Such an association suggests that our slope-stability analysis relates to the stability of the gully sides. The remainder of the study area shows few obvious indications of slope instability except for a feature that has become known as the 'Humboldt Slide,' but it is too deep-seated to be amenable to the slope-stability-prediction techniques presented herein. In general, few slope failures have been mapped in the Eel margin study area despite the high level of seismicity, the relatively high rates of sediment accumulation, and the extent of gas charging observed by others.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1996

Submarine landslides

Landslides are common on inclined areas of the seafloor, particularly in environments where weak geologic materials such as rapidly deposited, finegrained sediment or fractured rock are subjected to strong environmental stresses such as earthquakes, large storm waves, and high internal pore pressures. Submarine landslides can involve huge amounts of material and can move great distances: slide volumes as large as 20,000 km3 and runout distances in excess of 140 km have been reported. They occur at locations where the downslope component of stress exceeds the resisting stress, causing movement along one or several concave to planar rupture surfaces. Some recent slides that originated nearshore and retrogressed back across the shoreline were conspicuous by their direct impact on human life and activities. Most known slides, however, occurred far from land in prehistoric time and were discovered by noting distinct to subtle characteristics, such as headwall scarps and displaced sediment or rock masses, on acoustic-reflection profiles and side-scan sonar images. Submarine landslides can be analyzed using the same mechanics principles as are used for occurrences on land. However, some loading mechanisms are unique, for example, storm waves, and some, such as earthquakes, can have greater impact. The potential for limited-deformation landslides to transform into sediment flows that can travel exceedingly long distances is related to the density of the slope-forming material and the amount of shear strength that is lost when the slope fails.

Reviews of Geophysics↗
USGS1996

Sediment mass-flow processes on a depositional lobe, outer Mississippi Fan

SeaMARC 1A sidescan-sonar imagery and cores from the distal reaches of a depositional lobe on the Mississippi Fan show that channelized mass flow was the dominant mechanism for transport of silt and sand during the formation of this part of the fan. Sediments in these flows were rapidly deposited once outside of their confining channels. The mass flows most likely originated from slope failure at the head of the Mississippi Canyon or on the outer continental shelf and flowed approximately 500 km to the distal reaches of the fan, with debris flow being the dominant flow type.

Mississippi↗