A conceptual model for soils containing large gas bubbles

TLDR: In this article, the authors describe a conceptual model for soils containing large gas bubbles, where the cavities forming the bubble sites are fixed within the soil, so that gas drainage occurs only by the movement of dissolved gas.

Abstract: Offshore site investigations have indicated the presence of undissolved gas bubbles in the soils forming the sea-bed at various locations throughout the world. The gas bubbles are typically much larger than the normal void spaces, so they cannot be considered as occluded bubbles within the pore water which simply change the compressibility of the pore fluid. The effect of these large bubbles on the engineering properties of the soil must be understood if offshore construction is to take place in areas of gas-bearing sediments. This Paper describes a conceptual model for soils containing large gas bubbles. The model consists of a matrix of saturated soil surrounding isolated gas-filled cavities. The cavities forming the bubble sites are fixed within the soil, so that gas drainage occurs only by the movement of dissolved gas. The behaviour of the model is complicated by the processes of localized consolidation and bubble flooding. Des recherches conduites en mer ont indique qu'il y a partout dans le monde d...