Geophysical Investigations of Quick-clay Slide Prone Areas

Quick clay is known to be a hazard in formally-glaciated coastal areas in, e.g., Norway, Sweden and Canada. The properties of quick clays are reviewed in order to find a suitable, integrated and multi-disciplinary approach to accurately identify the occurrence of quick clay and map their extent both vertically and laterally. As no single geophysical method yields optimal information, one should combine a variety of methods with geotechnical data for an in-depth quick clay assessment of a given site. Such integrated approach allows moving towards a 2D or pseudo-3D site characterization for quick clays. The integrated approach is applied in practice on two Norwegian quick-clay sites. The collected data and preliminary site characterization will illustrate the high diversity of quick-clay grounds as well as the complexity related to an integrated approach.