SEDIMENT COMPACTION IN DEEPWATER BASIN OF SOUTH CHINA SEA AND EFFECTING FACTORS

The stability of sediments is closely related to sediment compaction in deepwater basins. Facts suggest that uneven compaction of sediments may trigger serious geodisasters in deepwater, such as submarine landslides, shallow gas and shallow water flow, which may bring about serious impacts on the security of the drilling operation by leakages, blowouts, platform instability and even collapse. We analyzed in this paper the well-logging data of the ODP Leg 184 Sites 1144, 1146, 1148 and the IODP Leg 349 Sites U1431, U1432, U1433, U1435, and found the relationships between the normal compaction and the sediments composition, sedimentation rates and burial depth etc. Taking the deepwater basin of the South China Sea as examples. Established upon the research are the primary relationship of the coefficients of normal compaction and mudline porosity with depth in deepwater basin of the South China Sea. The results could be used as a reference for geohazards researches, especially for the overpressured geohazards in deepwater.