Abstract
The effects of marine and continental sedimentary environments and geological ages on the dynamic shear modulus ratio and damping ratio of the Quaternary sedimentary soils in the offshore areas of the Yellow Sea were analyzed by using a resonant column device (GCTS, USA). The results show the following: (1) The G max of various marine soils increases with the depth and shows a typical linear relationship. (2) The marine transgression has significantly different effects on the dynamic shear modulus ratio versus the shear strain amplitude curves (i.e., G / G max ~ γ a curves) and the damping ratio versus the shear strain amplitude curves (i.e., λ ~ γ a curves) of the different soil types in the offshore areas of the Yellow Sea. The effects of marine transgression were strong on clays, moderate on silty clays, and minor on silts. (3) The geological ages have noticeable effects on the G / G max ~ γ a curves of the tested marine silty clays, marine silts, and continental silty clays, but the effects of geological ages on the λ ~ γ a curves are minimal. The fitting parameters and recommended empirical equations of the G / G max ~ γ a and λ ~ γ a curves for each type of the tested soils (silty clay, clay, and silt) were obtained mirroring the effects of sedimentary environments and geological ages.
Highlights
The 21st century is widely considered to be the era of the ocean
The results (Table 2) revealed that there were many clayey soils in the shallow layers within 100 m of the surface, while the silt samples were mainly deposited in the Pleistocene, which is attributed to the fact that the seawater in the marine transgression carried a large amount of gravel soils from the rivers, lakes, and marine facies into the flat areas where separation and sedimentation took place
For Pleistocene clays, the G/Gmax ~ γa curves of the marine clays are higher than those of the continental clays, while the λ – γa curves of the marine clays are lower than those of the continental clays, which may be due to the higher strength of the clay crust formed during the marine transgression
Summary
The 21st century is widely considered to be the era of the ocean. All of the coastal countries have placed a higher priority on the ocean within their overall framework of national development. The offshore areas of the Yellow Sea contain a thick Quaternary sedimentary sequence, which is comprised of soft soils. These soils are mainly marine plains dominated by cohesive soils and saturated sandy soils. Feng et al used the resonance column test to evaluate the influence of confining pressure, mix ratio, curing age, and cement content on the dynamic characteristics of subsea sand-silt mixtures [16]. Few tests pay attention to the influence of sedimentary environment and geological age on the dynamic properties of soil, especially if they had significant impact on dynamic shear modulus ratios and damping ratios. The results of this study provide a scientific and theoretical basis to analyze seismic site effects for major engineering sites
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