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Submarine landslide hazard in the Sines Contourite Drift, SW Iberia: slope instability analysis under static and transient conditions

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Abstract

The Sines Contourite Drift (SCD) is a plastered drift with terraced-like morphology, formed by the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) that emplaced in the Alentejo Margin, SW Iberia. The high (~ 27 cm/kyr) and variable sedimentation rates experienced since the Pleistocene resulted in low consolidation, and the development of excess pore pressure, which, associated with the seismicity in SW Iberia, offer significant conditions for slope instability in the SCD’s Late Pleistocene-Holocene muddy-contourite and hemipelagic sediments. Therefore, it is crucial to assess the susceptibility of the area to submarine landslide hazards. Slope instability is assessed both under static and transient conditions, based on the sediment mechanical properties, obtained through drained and undrained triaxial tests performed on sediment samples of three gravity cores (CO14-GC-2B, CO14-GC-3B, and CO14-GC-7B), respectively, retrieved at 1208-, 1280-, and 1425-m water depth (mwd). Those properties consist of internal friction angle (ϕ\({\prime}\)), with average values ranging between 28.5° and 35.1°; sediment unit weight (γ) that ranges from 16.9 to 18.1 kN/m3; and undrained shear strength (Su), ranging between 5.81 and 6.50 kPa. Cohesion (c\({\prime}\)) values are incipient and thus considered as 1 kPa in the modeling under static conditions. The analysis also accounts for the peak ground acceleration (PGA), determined according to the magnitude of seismicity recorded in the area. The SCD is prone to slope instability and collapse, especially in gradients > 5°, due to the sediment’s low consolidation, strength, and permeability. Seismicity greatly reduces the factor of safety (FS), promoting slope instability.

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Acknowledgements

This work was done in the scope of the MAGICLAND–MArine Geohazards InduCed by underwater LANDslides in the SW Iberian Margin (PTDC/CTA-GEO/30381/2017) project, funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal. The projects CONDRIBER (FCT-PTDC/GEO/4430/2012) and MOWER (CTM2012-39599-C03-03) are acknowledged for providing data, and inGravitas project (PID2022-138258OB-I00) is acknowledged as well. The authors also acknowledge funding by the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) I.P./MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC)–UIDB/50019/2020. The captain and crew of R/V Sarmiento de Gamboa and NRP/Gago Coutinho are acknowledged for their assistance during the MOWER and CONDRIBER cruises. Dina Vales, from IPMA, is thanked for making seismicity data available. Landmark Graphic Corporation is thanked due to Landmark University Grant Program. ESRI is thanked for the student license of ArcMap©. The authors from ICM-CSIC thank for the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S). The authors gratefully acknowledge the Editor, Professor James Goff and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions.

Funding

This work was supported by MAGICLAND—MArine Geohazards InduCed by underwater LANDslides in the SW Iberian Margin (PTDC/CTA-GEO/30381/2017) project, funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal. The projects CONDRIBER (FCT-PTDC/GEO/4430/2012) and MAGICLAND (PTDC/CTA-GEO/30381/2017) funded laboratory testing. The authors acknowledge funding by the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) I.P./MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC)—UIDB/50019/2020.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Dom Luiz, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016, Campo Grande, Lisbon, Portugal

    Manuel Teixeira, Cristina Roque, Rachid Omira, Fernando Marques & Pedro Terrinha

  2. IPMA – Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, Rua C do Aeroporto, 1749-077, Lisbon, Portugal

    Manuel Teixeira, Rachid Omira & Pedro Terrinha

  3. EMEPC – Estrutura de Missão para a Extensão da Plataforma Continental, Paço de Arcos, Portugal

    Cristina Roque

  4. Departamento de Geociências, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-052, Aveiro, Portugal

    Davide Gamboa

  5. Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (CESAM), Universidade de Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Davide Gamboa

  6. Continental Margins Group, Institut de Ciències del Mar, ICM-CSIC, Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003, Barcelona, Spain

    Gemma Ercilla & David Casas

  7. Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Salamanca, 37008, Salamanca, Spain

    Mariano Yenes

  8. Dpt. Xeociencias Mariñas e O. T., Facultade de Ciências do Mar, Universidade de Vigo, Avenida das Abelleiras S/N, 36910, Vigo, Spain

    Anxo Mena

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Contributions

MT: Manuscript conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing—original draft, Writing—review and editing. CR: Funding acquisition, writing—review and editing. RO: Funding acquisition, writing–review and editing. FM: Investigation, Methodology, writing—review and editing. DG: Investigation, writing—review and editing. PT: Writing—review and editing. GE: Writing—review and editing. MY: Methodology, writing—review and editing. AM: Writing—review and editing; DC: Writing—review and editing.

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Teixeira, M., Roque, C., Omira, R. et al. Submarine landslide hazard in the Sines Contourite Drift, SW Iberia: slope instability analysis under static and transient conditions. Nat Hazards 120, 3505–3531 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-023-06340-z

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