Liquefaction Potential Assessment of Pleistocene Beach Sands near Charleston, South Carolina
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 10
Abstract:
Liquefaction potential of four Pleistocene beach sand deposits in the Greater Charleston area, South Carolina, is assessed. The assessment is based on a review of 51 sites of conspicuous craterlets and horizontal ground displacement that occurred in beach sand deposits during the 1886 Charleston earthquake and an analysis of 82 seismic cone penetration tests with pore-pressure measurements. Of the 51 ground failure sites, 23 are associated with the Ten Mile Hill beds; 13 with the Wando Formation; 13 with the Silver Bluff terrace and younger deposits that lie adjacent to the harbor, rivers, and creeks; and two with the Ladson Formation. Liquefaction potential is analyzed using the seismic cone data with and without correction for age-related processes (diagenesis) and then expressed in terms of the liquefaction potential index (LPI). Probability curves are developed from the LPI calculations for different earthquake ground-shaking parameters. The probability curves for the Wando Formation overpredict liquefaction potential when no corrections for diagenesis are made. When corrections for diagenesis are made, the probability curves for all four sands generally agree with the observed field behavior.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Department of the Interior, under Grant No. 08HQGR0085. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the writers and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the United States Government. The support of the USGS is greatly appreciated. We thank the many individuals who assisted with SCPTu data collection, in particular, William M. Camp of S&ME and William B. Wright and Thomas J. Casey of WPC. We are indebted to Peter G. Chirico of USGS for providing the digital geologic map of the Greater Charleston area, and Stephen Moysey of Clemson University for assisting with the liquefaction probability regression analysis. Finally, we gratefully acknowledge the many helpful comments by the anonymous reviewers, which have greatly improved this paper.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 10 • October 2012
Pages: 1196 - 1208
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© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Jul 30, 2010
Accepted: Dec 14, 2011
Published online: Dec 17, 2011
Published in print: Oct 1, 2012
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