5. These pelagic clay specimens were sensitive with the strength being 

 reduced by as much as a factor of 6 during remolding. Care is required 

 to prevent remolding during the installation of a structure. 



6. A distribution of short-term shear strength with depth can be esti- 

 mated through triaxial testing. The profile obtained from tests on 

 these pelagic clay samples indicates a very gradual increase of 

 strength with sub-bottom depth. 



7. The relatively high strength near the surface may retard the pene- 

 tration of direct penetrating anchors. However, since the strength in- 

 creases very gradually with depth, large penetrations are needed to 

 achieve a substantial holding capacity. It may be necessary to down- 

 grade the rated holding capacity of direct embedment anchors when used 

 in pelagic clay. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



The author acknowledges the efforts and skill of Mr. F. 0. 

 Lehnhardt of the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory in the performance 

 of the triaxial and consolidation testing. The box core samples were 

 provided by Deepsea Ventures, Inc., of Gloucester Point, Virginia. 



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