Hydrogeology of glaciated continental margins (Storfjorden, S Svalbard, Norway): Constraints from permeability and consolidation experiments

• Main Author: Llopart, Jaume
• Other Authors: Urgeles, Roger, Camerlenghi, Angelo, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España), Generalitat de Catalunya
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: Universidad de Barcelona 2011
• Subjects: Jaume; Norway; Svalbard; Storfjorden
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/131053; https://doi.org/10.13039/100005243; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100004837; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002809

Trabajo final presentado por Jaume Llopart Serra para el Master en Oceanografía y Gestión del Medio Marino de la Universitat de Barcelona (UB), realizado bajo la dirección del Dr. Roger Urgeles Esclasans del Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) y del Dr. Angelo Camerlenghi de la Universitat de Barcelona (UB).-- 30 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables Climate variations induce important stress changes in seafloor and sub-seafloor sediments of Polar Regions that can result in massive catastrophic slope failure events. These climate variations control glacial advances and retreats, which (a) cause significant load changes in the sedimentary column and redistribution of interstitial fluids and (b) induce a particular margin stratigraphic pattern and permeability architecture. A series of laboratory tests have been carried out to understand the compressibility and permeability characteristics of sediments from polar margins, and how burial affects these properties that control interstitial fluid flow and pore pressure build-up. The results are used together with margin stratigraphic models obtained from seismic reflection data, in basin analysis numerical models to understand focusing of fluids in glaciated continental margins and influence on timing and location of slope instabilities. The samples tested have shown that turbidites have higher initial hydraulic conductivity (1.2 x 10-7 m/s compared to 5.9 x 10-10 m/s) and compressibility (0.35 versus 0.19 than glacial debris flows. Both of these physical properties decrease with burial depth. Modelling shows that low porosities and hydraulic conductivities develop on the upper Quaternary sediments of the continental shelf and shelf break compared to the lower stratigraphic levels of the margin and lower continental slope and rise. The higher sedimentation rates around the shelf break due to progradation are responsible for fluid flow divergence, which affects the entire fluid flow pattern of the continental margin. In response to this, overpressure and low effective ...