FN Archimer Export Format
PT J
TI The 1979 Nice harbour catastrophe revisited: Trigger mechanism inferred from geotechnical measurements and numerical modelling
BT 
AF DAN, Gabriela
   SULTAN, Nabil
   SAVOYE, Bruno
AS 1:1,2;2:1;3:1;
FF 1:PDG-DOP-DCB-GM-LES;2:PDG-DOP-DCB-GM-LES;3:PDG-DOP-DCB-GM-LES;
C1 IFREMER, Dept Geosci Marines, Lab Environnm Sedimentaires, Plouzane, France.
   Univ Bretagne Occidentale, IUEM, CNRS, UMR 6538, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
C2 IFREMER, FRANCE
   UBO, FRANCE
SI BREST
SE PDG-DOP-DCB-GM-LES
IN WOS Ifremer jusqu'en 2018
   copubli-france
   copubli-univ-france
IF 1.975
TC 115
TU Centre national de la recherche scientifique
   Institut de recherche pour le développement
   Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer
   Service Hydrographique et Océanographique de la Marine
   Université de Bretagne Occidentale
   Université de Bretagne-Sud
UR https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2007/publication-3507.pdf
LA English
DT Article
CR ENVAR2
   ESCYAN 80-1- NICE
   GMO1
   MD 124 / GEOSCIENCES 2
   MONICYA
   SAME 1 ET 2
BO Unknown
   Le Suroît
   Marion Dufresne
   Le Noroit
DE ;Finite element method;Trigger mechanism;Slope stability;Nice 1979 event
AB In 1979, a catastrophic event occurred on the Nice continental slope (French Riviera) generating the lost of human lives and important material damages. Part of the new harbour constructed at the edge of the International Airport of Nice collapsed into the sea. The main aim of this work was 1) to present a review of facts and details related to the 1979 accident and a review of the geological setting, and 2) to evaluate the slope stability before and after the new harbour construction, by taking into account new available data such as sediment cores and piezocone CPTU data. The CPTU data were of great value to understand the origin of the 1979 event. They show the existence of a sensitive clay bed between 30 mbsf and 45 mbsf Under high deviatoric load a sensitive clay layer underwent an important creep, which dramatically decreased its resistance and caused the slope failure. This working hypothesis was supported by the good agreement between the maximum thickness of the failure surface and the depth of the sensitive clay layer. Slope stability assessment using the finite element model Femuslope show the metastable state of the Nice slope before the harbour extension. Numerical calculations demonstrated that creeping of the sensitive clay layer could be at the origin of the 1979 slide. In addition, the exceptionally heavy rainfall which occurred before the accident and consequently the seepage of fresh water probably induced the decrease of the effective stress and accelerated sediment creeping and triggered the Nice slope failure. A progressive and relatively long-term creeping failure scenario is in good agreement with the official report mentioning cracks, settlements, failures and embankment collapses occurred during land filling operations.
PY 2007
PD NOV
SO Marine Geology
SN 0025-3227
PU Elsevier
VL 245
IS 1-4
UT 000250952900003
BP 40
EP 64
DI 10.1016/j.margeo.2007.06.011
ID 3507
ER

EF