Evaluation of the submarine debris-flow hazard risks to planned subsea pipeline systems: a case study in the Qiongdongnan Basin, South China Sea

Mingquan Huang; Xuesheng Qian; Jingping Xu; Xuecheng Li

doi:10.1007/s13131-022-2123-0

Volume 42 Issue 5

May 2023

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Mingquan Huang, Xuesheng Qian, Jingping Xu, Xuecheng Li. Evaluation of the submarine debris-flow hazard risks to planned subsea pipeline systems: a case study in the Qiongdongnan Basin, South China Sea[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2023, 42(5): 139-153. doi: 10.1007/s13131-022-2123-0

Citation:

Mingquan Huang, Xuesheng Qian, Jingping Xu, Xuecheng Li. Evaluation of the submarine debris-flow hazard risks to planned subsea pipeline systems: a case study in the Qiongdongnan Basin, South China Sea[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2023, 42(5): 139-153. doi: 10.1007/s13131-022-2123-0

Citation:

Mingquan Huang, Xuesheng Qian, Jingping Xu, Xuecheng Li. Evaluation of the submarine debris-flow hazard risks to planned subsea pipeline systems: a case study in the Qiongdongnan Basin, South China Sea[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2023, 42(5): 139-153. doi: 10.1007/s13131-022-2123-0

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Evaluation of the submarine debris-flow hazard risks to planned subsea pipeline systems: a case study in the Qiongdongnan Basin, South China Sea

doi: 10.1007/s13131-022-2123-0

Mingquan Huang^{1, 2, 4, T},
Xuesheng Qian^{2, 3, T
,
,},
Jingping Xu^{2, 3},
Xuecheng Li⁴

1.
School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
2.
Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
3.
Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China
4.
China Offshore Fugro Geosolutions (Shenzhen) Corporation Limited, Shenzhen 518067, China

Funds: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 42106198 and 41720104001; the Key Special Project for Introduced Talents Team of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) under contract No. GML2019ZD0210.

More Information

Corresponding author: qianxs@sustech.edu.cn
Received Date: 2022-07-17
Accepted Date: 2022-09-28

Available Online: 2023-03-31

Publish Date: 2023-05-25

Abstract

Abstract

The ever-increasing deepwater oil and gas development in the Qiongdongnan Basin, South China Sea has initiated the need to evaluate submarine debris-flow hazard risks to seafloor infrastructures. This paper presents a case study on evaluating the debris-flow hazard risks to the planned pipeline systems in this region. We used a numerical model to perform simulations to support this quantitative evaluation. First, one relict failure interpreted across the development site was simulated. The back-analysis modeling was used to validate the applicability of the rheological parameters. Then, this model was applied to forecast the runout behaviors of future debris flows originating from the unstable upslope regions considered to be the most critical to the pipeline systems surrounding the Manifolds A and B. The model results showed that the potential debris-flow hazard risks rely on the location of structures and the selection of rheological parameters. For the Manifold B and connected pipeline systems, because of their remote distances away from unstable canyon flanks, the potential debris flows impose few risks. However, the pipeline systems around the Manifold A are exposed to significant hazard risks from future debris flows with selected rheological parameters. These results are beneficial for the design of a more resilient pipeline route in consideration of future debris-flow hazard risks.
- submarine debris flow,
- pipeline,
- manifold,
- hazard evaluation,
- route optimization,
- Qiongdongnan Basin

These authors contributed equally to this work and should be considered co-first authors.

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References(49)

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