Performance des lieux d'enfouissement sanitaire de Laterrière et de Ste-Sophie, Québec, Canada

Ce travail décrit les caractéristiques hydrogéologiques et chimiques de deux lieux d'enfouissement de déchets municipaux localisés au Québec. Le site de Laterrière est en opération depuis 1971 dans une ancienne sablière. Sous les dépôts meubles, la topographie du sotte rocheux est marquée par une vallée qui forme une limite imperméable à l'aquifère de sable et impose un écoulement convergent de l'eau souterraine vers la rivière Chicoutimi. Le site de Ste-Sophie, en opération depuis 1976, repose sur une couche de 3,5 mètres de sables fins saturés recouvrant un lit d'argile marine. La surélévation de la nappe dans les déchets favorise un écoulement divergent vers le périmètre de la zone d'enfouissement.Un réseau de piézomètres installé en bordure des deux sites a permis pendant trente mois de prélever des échantillons d'eau et de les analyser. Dans chaque panache de contamination, l'alcalinité, les ions majeurs Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl¯, le fer, le manganèse, l'azote total et ammoniacal, les DCO et DBO5 montrent des concentrations généralement supérieures à celles de L'eau naturelle ambiante. A proximité des deux Lieux d'enfouissement, les teneurs en cadmium, chrome, nickel et plomb excèdent les normes québécoises de potabiLité de l'eau. Dans chaque cas, ta distribution des contaminants est surtout régie par le réseau d'écoulement. La dispersion hydrodynamique et les réactions géochimiques dans le sous-sol sont des processus importants d'atténuation des contaminants.This paper describes the hydrogeological and geochemical features of two sanitary landfill sites located in the Province of Quebec : Laterriere and Ste-Sophie. The main objective is to evaluate the leachate attenuation performance of each site. For this project, the Quebec Ministry of the Environment chose two sites with contrasting hydrogeological settings.The Laterriere landfill, in operation since 1971, covers an area of about 32 ha. The refuse is deposited in an old sandpit and the landfill boundary is located 400 meters away from the Chicoutimi River, 25 meters above the stream water level. The bedrock topography shows a valley under the landfill which acts an an impervious base for the sand aquifer and induces a convergent groundwater flow towards the river.The Ste-Sophie landfill covers an area of 48 ha and began operating in 1976. The refuse zone is located on flat ground 350 meters away from the Ruisseau-aux-Castors. The refuse is deposited on a 3.5 meter layer of fine sands nearly saturated overlying a marine clay bed. A water table mound is observed beneath the landfill, resulting in diverging low lines outward from the center of the Landfill.For each site, the occurence and migration of contaminants was investigated using networks of piezometers. Sampling was performed monthly over a period of thirty months and thirty parameters were analyzed on each sample. The analytical results were entered in a database and treated by statistical methods.The shape of each contamination plume is controlled mainly by the groundwater flow system. At Laterriere, the plume is restricted to a narrow path between the landfill and the river and inside a bedrock valley. This flow net has been simulated by a two-dimensional finite elements model. At Ste-Sophie, the divergence of flow lines due to groundwater mounding beneath the site causes dispersion of contaminants around the landfill. The use of an analytical solution shows that longitudinal dispersivity is a major process of contaminant migration.For the two landfills, the highest concentrations of contaminants occur directly beneath or close to the boundaries of the landfills. Total alkalinity, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl¯, iron, manganèse, total and ammoniacal nitrogen, chemical and biological oxygen demand (COD and BOD) are much above background levels throughout the plume. Sulfate is also a major contaminant at Ste-Sophie with concentration of 1100/mg/l. The concentrations of cadmium, chrome, nickel and lead exceed the drinking water standards near the two landfill sites but they decline rapidly in the direction of flow. At Laterriere, the decline in chloride concentration measured at the discharge point S-23 is about 85 % while the decline of reactive contaminants, such as iron and COD, is respectively 98 and 99.7 %.Finally, we discuss hydrogeological criteria for landfill site selection in Quebec

Sedimentology and kinematics of a large, retrogressive growth-fault system in Upper Carboniferous deltaic sediments, western Ireland

Growth faulting is a common feature of many deltaic environments and is vital in determining local sediment dispersal and accumulation, and hence in controlling the resultant sedimentary facies distribution and architecture. Growth faults occur on a range of scales, from a few centimetres to hundreds of metres, with the largest growth faults frequently being under-represented in outcrops that are often smaller than the scale of feature under investigation. This paper presents data from the exceptionally large outcrops of the Cliffs of Moher, western Ireland, where a growth-fault complex affects strata up to 60 m in thickness and extends laterally for 3 km. Study of this Namurian (Upper Carboniferous) growth-fault system enables the relationship between growth faulting and sedimentation to be detailed and permits reconstruction of the kinematic history of faulting. Growth faulting was initiated with the onset of sandstone deposition on a succession of silty mudstones that overlie a thin, marine shale. The decollement horizon developed at the top of the marine shale contact for the first nine faults, by which time aggradation in the hangingwall exceeded 60 m in thickness. After this time, failure planes developed at higher stratigraphic levels and were associated with smaller scale faults. The fault complex shows a dominantly landward retrogressive movement, in which only one fault was largely active at any one time. There is no evidence of compressional features at the base of the growth faults, thus suggesting open-ended slides, and the faults display both disintegrative and non-disintegrative structure. Thin-bedded, distal mouth bar facies dominate the hangingwall stratigraphy and, in the final stages of growth-fault movement, erosion of the crests of rollover structures resulted in the highest strata being restricted to the proximity of the fault. These upper erosion surfaces on the fault scarp developed erosive chutes that were cut parallel to flow and are downlapped by the distal hangingwall strata of younger growth faults

Utilization of lime for stabilizing soft clay soil of high organic content

This paper presents the results of geotechnical and mineralogical investigations on lime-treated soft clay soil from Idku City, Egypt, where high organic matters of about 14% exist. Lime was added in the order of 1, 3, 5 and 7% by weight and laboratory experiments after 7, 15, 30 and 60 days were conducted including the mineralogical and microstructural examinations, grain size analysis, plasticity limits, unconfined compressive tests, vane shear tests and oedometer tests. The results indicate that soft clay soil of high organic content of 14% can be stabilized satisfactorily with the addition of 7% lime. The results also demonstrate that the changes in the mineralogical contents and soil fabric of high organic lime-treated soft clay improve soil plasticity, strength and compressibility

Hydrodynamic modeling of tsunamis from the Currituck landslide

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Marine Geology 264 (2009): 41-52, doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2008.09.005.Tsunami generation from the Currituck landslide offshore North Carolina and propagation of waves toward the U.S. coastline are modeled based on recent geotechnical analysis of slide movement. A long and intermediate wave modeling package (COULWAVE) based on the non-linear Boussinesq equations are used to simulate the tsunami. This model includes procedures to incorporate bottom friction, wave breaking, and overland flow during runup. Potential tsunamis generated from the Currituck landslide are analyzed using four approaches: (1) tsunami wave history is calculated from several different scenarios indicated by geotechnical stability and mobility analyses; (2) a sensitivity analysis is conducted to determine the effects of both landslide failure duration during generation and bottom friction along the continental shelf during propagation; (3) wave history is calculated over a regional area to determine the propagation of energy oblique to the slide axis; and (4) a high-resolution 1D model is developed to accurately model wave breaking and the combined influence of nonlinearity and dispersion during nearshore propagation and runup. The primary source parameter that affects tsunami severity for this case study is landslide volume, with failure duration having a secondary influence. Bottom friction during propagation across the continental shelf has a strong influence on the attenuation of the tsunami during propagation. The high-resolution 1D model also indicates that the tsunami undergoes nonlinear fission prior to wave breaking, generating independent, short-period waves. Wave breaking occurs approximately 40–50 km offshore where a tsunami bore is formed that persists during runup. These analyses illustrate the complex nature of landslide tsunamis, necessitating the use of detailed landslide stability/mobility models and higher-order hydrodynamic models to determine their hazard.Research conducted by Lynett for this paper was partially supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (CBET- 0427014, CMMI-0619083)

Triggering mechanism and tsunamogenic potential of the Cape Fear Slide complex, U.S. Atlantic margin

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2007. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 8 (2007): Q12008, doi:10.1029/2007GC001722.Analysis of new multibeam bathymetry data and seismic Chirp data acquired over the Cape Fear Slide complex on the U.S. Atlantic margin suggests that at least 5 major submarine slides have likely occurred there within the past 30,000 years, indicating that repetitive, large-scale mass wasting and associated tsunamis may be more common in this area than previously believed. Gas hydrate deposits and associated free gas as well as salt tectonics have been implicated in previous studies as triggers for the major Cape Fear slide events. Analysis of the interaction of the gas hydrate phase boundary and the various generations of slides indicates that only the most landward slide likely intersected the phase boundary and inferred high gas pressures below it. For much of the region, we believe that displacement along a newly recognized normal fault led to upward migration of salt, oversteepening of slopes, and repeated slope failures. Using new constraints on slide morphology, we develop the first tsunami model for the Cape Fear Slide complex. Our results indicate that if the most seaward Cape Fear slide event occurred today, it could produce waves in excess of 2 m at the present-day 100 m bathymetric contour.Acquisition of new data was funded by NOAA Ocean Exploration grant NA03OAR4600100 to C.R., and we thank the National Science Foundation for contributing to transit costs for the ship

Sedimentology, stratigraphic context, and implications of Miocene intrashelf bottomset deposits, offshore New Jersey

Drilling of intrashelf Miocene clinothems onshore and offshore New Jersey has provided better understanding of their topset and foreset deposits, but the sedimentology and stratigraphy of their bottomset deposits have not been documented in detail. Three coreholes (Sites M27–M29), collected during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 313, intersect multiple bottomset deposits, and their analysis helps to refine sequence stratigraphic interpretations and process response models for intrashelf clinothems. At Site M29, the most downdip location, chronostratigraphically well-constrained bottomset deposits follow a repeated stratigraphic motif. Coarse-grained glauconitic quartz sand packages abruptly overlie deeply burrowed surfaces. Typically, these packages coarsen then fine upwards and pass upward into bioturbated siltstones. These coarse sand beds are amalgamated and poorly sorted and contain thin-walled shells, benthic foraminifera, and extrabasinal clasts, consistent with an interpretation of debrites. The sedimentology and mounded seismic character of these packages support interpretation as debrite-dominated lobe complexes. Farther updip, at Site M28, the same chronostratigraphic units are amalgamated, with the absence of bioturbated silts pointing to more erosion in proximal locations. Graded sandstones and dune-scale cross-bedding in the younger sequences in Site M28 indicate deposition from turbidity currents and channelization. The sharp base of each package is interpreted as a sequence boundary, with a period of erosion and sediment bypass evidenced by the burrowed surface, and the coarse-grained debritic and turbiditic deposits representing the lowstand systems tract. The overlying fine-grained deposits are interpreted as the combined transgressive and highstand systems tract deposits and contain the deepwater equivalent of the maximum flooding surface. The variety in thickness and grain-size trends in the coarse-grained bottomset packages point to an autogenic control, through compensational stacking of lobes and lobe complexes. However, the large-scale stratigraphic organization of the bottomset deposits and the coarse-grained immature extrabasinal and reworked glauconitic detritus point to external controls, likely a combination of relative sea-level fall and waxing-and-waning cycles of sediment supply. This study demonstrates that large amounts of sediment gravity-flow deposits can be generated in relatively shallow (~100–200 m deep) and low-gradient (~1°–4°) clinothems that prograded across a deep continental shelf. This physiography likely led to the dominance of debris flow deposits due to the short transport distance limiting transformation to low-concentration turbidity currents

Morphology of the Faial Island shelf (Azores): the interplay between volcanic, erosional, depositional, tectonic and mass-wasting processes

[1] The extents of volcanic island shelves result from surf erosion, which enlarges them, and volcanic progradation, which reduces them. However, mass‐wasting, tectonics and sediment deposition also contribute to their morphology. In order to assess the relative significance of these various processes, we have mapped in detail Faial Island's shelf in the Azores archipelago based on interpretation of geophysical and geological data. The nearshore substrates of the island, down to 30–50 m depth, are rocky and covered by volcaniclastic boulder deposits formed by surf action on now‐submerged lava flows. Below those depths, sandy and gravel volcaniclastic beds dominate, building clinoforms up to the shelf edge. In some sectors of the coast, prograding lava has narrowed the shelf, but, in contrast to nearby Pico Island, we find fewer submarine‐emplaced lavas on the shelf. In this island, we interpret the distance between the coastline and the shelf edge as almost entirely a result of a straightforward competition between surf erosion and lava progradation, in which erosion dominates. Therefore shelf width can be used as a proxy for coastline age as well as for wave energy exposure. The stratigraphy of shelf deposits in boomer seismic data is examined in detail to assess the roles of different sediment sources, accommodation space and wave exposure in creating these deposits. We also show evidence of mass‐wasting at the shelf edge and discuss the possible origins of slope instability. Finally, we discuss the contributing role of tectonics for the development of the shelf.publishe