Relation of submarine landslide to hydrate occurrences in Baiyun Depression, South China Sea

Abstract

Submarine landslides have been observed in the Baiyun Depression of the South China Sea. The occurrence of hydrates below these landslides indicates that these slope instabilities may be closely related to the massive release of methane. In this study, we used a simple Monte-Carlo model to determine the first-order deformation pattern of a gravitationally destabilizing slope. The results show that a stress concentration occurs due to hydrate dissociation on the nearby glide surface and on top of a gas chimney structure. Upon the dissolution of the gas hydrate, slope failure occurs due to the excess pore pressure generated by the dissociation of the gas hydrates. When gas hydrates dissociate at shallow depths, the excess pore pressure generated can be greater than the total stress acting at those points, along with the forces that resist sliding. Initially, the failure occurs at the toe of the slope, then extends to the interior. Although our investigation focused only on the contribution of hydrate decomposition to submarine landslide, this process is also affected by both the slope material properties and topography.