INVESTIGATION OF A CANYON SYSTEM OFF C?TE D’IVOIRE TO DETERMINE PRESENT DAY RISK OF SLOPE INSTABILITY FOR A FIELD DEVELOPMENT

摘要

Assessment of slope stability and seabed risk using individual disciplines can produce uncertain results becausernof generic solutions. The integration of disciplines allows a more robust solution and increases confidencernin the prediction of long-term risk levels ahead of detailed field design. The Baobab field lies on therncontinental slope offshore C?te d’Ivoire, West Africa, where a preliminary field layout within a complex canyonrnsystem led to considerable concern about the long-term integrity of the development. A coring programmernwas planned to establish the timing of slope failure and activity at the seafloor. Biostratigraphic andrnsedimentological analyses of the late Pleistocene and Holocene section added high value to the assessment ofrnthe stability of the slopes under the modern regime. They were particularly useful in assessing the influencernof the present-day bottom currents in terms of risk due to erosion and redeposition of seabed sediments.