Bubble growth and rise in soft sediments
The mechanics of uncemented soft sediments during bubble growth are not widely understood and no rheological model has found wide acceptance. We offer definitive evidence on the mode of bubble formation in the form of X-ray computed tomographic images and comparison with theory. Natural and injected...
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2005
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ftsouthampton:oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:16338 2023-07-30T04:04:55+02:00 Bubble growth and rise in soft sediments Boudreau, Bernard P. Algar, Chris Johnson, Bruce D. Croudace, Ian Reed, Allen Furukawa, Yoko Dorgan, Kelley M. Jumars, Peter A. Grader, Abraham S. Gardiner, Bruce S. 2005 https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/16338/ unknown Boudreau, Bernard P., Algar, Chris, Johnson, Bruce D., Croudace, Ian, Reed, Allen, Furukawa, Yoko, Dorgan, Kelley M., Jumars, Peter A., Grader, Abraham S. and Gardiner, Bruce S. (2005) Bubble growth and rise in soft sediments. Geology, 33 (6), 517-520. (doi:10.1130/G21259.1 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G21259.1>). Article PeerReviewed 2005 ftsouthampton https://doi.org/10.1130/G21259.1 2023-07-09T20:33:46Z The mechanics of uncemented soft sediments during bubble growth are not widely understood and no rheological model has found wide acceptance. We offer definitive evidence on the mode of bubble formation in the form of X-ray computed tomographic images and comparison with theory. Natural and injected bubbles in muddy cohesive sediments are shown to be highly eccentric oblate spheroids (disks) that grow either by fracturing the sediment or by reopening preexisting fractures. In contrast, bubbles in soft sandy sediment tend to be spherical, suggesting that sand acts fluidly or plastically in response to growth stresses. We also present bubble-rise results from gelatin, a mechanically similar but transparent medium, that suggest that initial rise is also accomplished by fracture. Given that muddy sediments are elastic and yield by fracture, it becomes much easier to explain physically related phenomena such as seafloor pockmark formation, animal burrowing, and gas buildup during methane hydrate melting. Article in Journal/Newspaper Methane hydrate University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton Geology 33 6 517 |
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University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton |
op_collection_id |
ftsouthampton |
language |
unknown |
description |
The mechanics of uncemented soft sediments during bubble growth are not widely understood and no rheological model has found wide acceptance. We offer definitive evidence on the mode of bubble formation in the form of X-ray computed tomographic images and comparison with theory. Natural and injected bubbles in muddy cohesive sediments are shown to be highly eccentric oblate spheroids (disks) that grow either by fracturing the sediment or by reopening preexisting fractures. In contrast, bubbles in soft sandy sediment tend to be spherical, suggesting that sand acts fluidly or plastically in response to growth stresses. We also present bubble-rise results from gelatin, a mechanically similar but transparent medium, that suggest that initial rise is also accomplished by fracture. Given that muddy sediments are elastic and yield by fracture, it becomes much easier to explain physically related phenomena such as seafloor pockmark formation, animal burrowing, and gas buildup during methane hydrate melting. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Boudreau, Bernard P. Algar, Chris Johnson, Bruce D. Croudace, Ian Reed, Allen Furukawa, Yoko Dorgan, Kelley M. Jumars, Peter A. Grader, Abraham S. Gardiner, Bruce S. |
spellingShingle |
Boudreau, Bernard P. Algar, Chris Johnson, Bruce D. Croudace, Ian Reed, Allen Furukawa, Yoko Dorgan, Kelley M. Jumars, Peter A. Grader, Abraham S. Gardiner, Bruce S. Bubble growth and rise in soft sediments |
author_facet |
Boudreau, Bernard P. Algar, Chris Johnson, Bruce D. Croudace, Ian Reed, Allen Furukawa, Yoko Dorgan, Kelley M. Jumars, Peter A. Grader, Abraham S. Gardiner, Bruce S. |
author_sort |
Boudreau, Bernard P. |
title |
Bubble growth and rise in soft sediments |
title_short |
Bubble growth and rise in soft sediments |
title_full |
Bubble growth and rise in soft sediments |
title_fullStr |
Bubble growth and rise in soft sediments |
title_full_unstemmed |
Bubble growth and rise in soft sediments |
title_sort |
bubble growth and rise in soft sediments |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/16338/ |
genre |
Methane hydrate |
genre_facet |
Methane hydrate |
op_relation |
Boudreau, Bernard P., Algar, Chris, Johnson, Bruce D., Croudace, Ian, Reed, Allen, Furukawa, Yoko, Dorgan, Kelley M., Jumars, Peter A., Grader, Abraham S. and Gardiner, Bruce S. (2005) Bubble growth and rise in soft sediments. Geology, 33 (6), 517-520. (doi:10.1130/G21259.1 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G21259.1>). |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1130/G21259.1 |
container_title |
Geology |
container_volume |
33 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
517 |
_version_ |
1772816551160840192 |