On the consolidation state of sediments from the accretionary prism offshore Vancouver Island, North Cascadia Margin

Abstract

Sediment geotechnical properties are an important component of geohazard analyses and studies on submarine slope failures on continental margins. The northern Cascadia margin is a region of repeated subduction earthquakes and related geohazards including devastating tsunamis. Despite several drilling campaigns at this margin mostly for gas hydrate studies, sediment geotechnical properties are lacking to date. We therefore investigated a set of 20 half-round samples from four drill sites of Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 311 along a margin-perpendicular transect. Samples were analysed for Atterberg properties (liquid limit, plasticity limit, plasticity index) and consolidation state (pre-consolidation stress, over-consolidation ratio, initial void ratio and compression index). Results of these parameters are in good agreement with similar studies at the southern Cascadia margin from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 204 and are regarded robust, despite the long time-span between sample recovery in 2005 and our analyses. Individual results are interpreted at each of the drill sites and reflect the overall tectonic state of the location within the accretionary prism. An interplay of site-specific tectonic forcing, including thrust faulting, uplift, folding, and erosion appears to govern the depth-dependent consolidation state of the sediments.