Quick clays in a changing climate

Research Project, 2025 – 2030

The risk posed by quick clays as a natural hazard in the Nordic countries is undisputed.Quick clays are a consequence of their environment.Their susceptibility to collapse, i.an irreversible transformation from solid to liquid is unique and a result of their formation in a changing geological environment.
The risk posed by quick clays as a natural hazard in the Nordic countries is undisputed. Quick clays are a consequence of their environment. Their susceptibility to collapse, i.e. an irreversible transformation from solid to liquid is unique and a result of their formation in a changing geological environment. Furthermore, environmental loads, such as intense rainfall or erosion, can trigger failure. The impact of climate change on the processes that affect quick clays, hence the potentially increased risk quick clays will pose to society is unknown. This project will study the mechanisms and time scales involved at particle scale that are affected by changes in temperature and infiltration of fresh water. A novel combination of particle level modelling and miniaturised thermal-hydro-mechanical experiments will for the first time unravel the unique mechanisms that make quick clays so hazardous and at the same time so special. The originality of the experiments is in the combination of X-ray based scattering and imaging methods to monitor the changes at the particle scale during the test.Ultimately, by resolving the fundamental mechanisms and environmental factors that govern the response in quick clays, we will be able to assess with more certainty if quick clays pose an increased risk in a changing climate. The latter answers a question that is of high importance among policy makers and infrastructure owners.