Evaluation of the Effect of Pore Water Saturation with Gas on the Physical Properties of Fine Coherent (Clay) Soils by Mixing with Zeolites

The method of preparing artificial samples (paste) of fine clay with a given gas saturation is described. It consists in mixing zeolites presaturated with gas with bottom sediments. Modeling the gas saturation of the bottom sediments collected in the Krasnoyarsk subaqueous landslide area, Lake Baikal, made it possible to estimate the contribution of the gas component to the change in their strength characteristics. The inverse dependence between the concentration of free “bubble” gas in the bottom sediments of Lake Baikal water area and their strength characteristics and the structure of the voids is established. The proposed method allows modeling of gas saturation of the study samples of fine clays in order to study changes in their physicomechanical properties and can be used in geological exploration for hydrocarbons in shelf conditions, as well as in engineering and geological surveys to assess the bearing capacity of soils when the gas saturation of bottom sediments changes.