HGS Environmental & Engineering Group Dinner
Speaker Change for Tuesday E&E Meeting
We regret that our speaker for the Tuesday Jan. 15 Environmental & Engineering Dinner meeting is ill and will be unable to speak. We wish him well and plan to reschedule the talk at a later time.
The E&E Dinner will be presented at the previously announced time and place (Black Lab Pub, Churchill Room, 5:30 pm Tuesday Jan 15).
We are pleased to present a substitute speaker, Brandon Dugan, of Rice University, who will present "Shallow Water Flow and Seafloor Failure in the Ursa Basin, Northern Gulf of Mexico."
Abstract
Multi-channel seismic, log, and core data in the Ursa region (northern Gulf of Mexico) are used to identify mass transport complexes (MTCs or
slumps) in a deepwater system with shallow overpressure. In situ measurements and laboratory experiments constrain that overpressure begins near the seafloor and may approach 75% of the total overburden stress. We use forward models to understand the pressure in the system and to make predictions on how fluids pressure relates to MTCs The flow models are consistent with a flow-focusing (or centroid) model where rapid, asymmetrical loading of a permeable sand body by a low permeability mud yields downward drainage where overburden is thickest (Site U1324) and then lateral fluid migration causes increased pressures where overburden is thin (Site U1322). We also characterize the properties of the MTCs. The seismic signature of the MTCs is low amplitude, non-continuous, internal reflections; however their basal reflections are continuous and have high amplitudes. From log and core data, I interpret that the basal reflections are controlled by the sharp contrast between the high density MTCs and low density underlying sediment. Increased density and decreased porosity within the MTCs corresponds to increased resistivity and visual observations of increased shear deformation. We use this data to interpret that shear deformation increases from west (Site U1324) to east (Site U1322).
Speaker Biography
Brandon Dugan is an assistant professor of Earth Science at Rice University. His research focuses on basin-scale hydrogeology to understand overpressure development, slope stability, gas hydrates, and unconventional freshwater resources. Brandon has a bachelor's degree in geological engineering from the University of Minnesota and a doctorate in geosciences from Penn State University. As a Mendenhall postdoctoral fellow at the USGS, Brandon studied natural gas hydrates and shallow water flows. Brandon started his appointment at Rice University in January 2005 where he works with undergraduates and graduates studying marine geotechnical problems using field programs, laboratory experiments, and theory.
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