of about 25 C (77 F) . At the completion of the 30-day test duration, 

 the original tan sample color had changed to black at the two faces 

 in contact with the filter paper, and the filter paper itself was 

 somewhat decomposed. The sample gave off some hydrogen sulfide 

 odor. The undesirable end condition of this consolidation specimen 

 is believed due to the flourishing of anaerobic, sulfide-producing 

 bacteria at room temperatures, with the organic filter paper providing 

 the major food source. The specimen in the Anteus is sealed from 

 the atmosphere to permit backpressuring; thus the dissolved oxygen 

 in the water cannot be replenished, and the specimen becomes anaerobic. 



The second test was conducted in the Karol-Warner unit, without 

 backpressure, with the consolidometer in a walk-in refrigerator 

 whose temperature varied between 3.3 and 10 C (38 and 50°F respectively), 

 (The refrigerator controls have been repaired reducing the temperature 

 range to 1°C (2°F) for future testing.) This test differed from 

 the first in that the Karol-Warner specimen is not sealed, and 

 anaerobic bacterial growth was therefore somewhat retarded at the 

 specimen. Further growth retardation occurred due to the reduced 

 ambient temperature, from 25 C to 10 C. The load-increment ratio 

 for both tests was 1.0 (see Appendix for definition), and the time 

 duration of each increment was also maintained about the same, 

 24 hours. 



Natural Soil Test Results 



Volume Change Versus Pressure. The void ratio versus logarithm 

 of vertical effective stress curve, e-log a , for the tests on 

 natural sediments is presented in Figure 12. Void ratio is defined as 

 the volume of voids divided by the volume of solids. For the data 

 presented herein, the volume of voids was calculated from the measured 

 weight of water driven off, assuming 100% saturation; and the volume 

 of solids was calculated from the measured weight of dried solids, 

 including the weight of dried salt. Thus the void ratios herein are 

 too low by 3 to 4% because the salt component is included in the 

 solids phase rather than in the liquid phase. A correction technique 

 for the seawater effect on the calculated void ratios can be found 

 in Reference 30. 



The e-log a curves for the two natural sediment test specimens 

 appear much the same, suggesting (1) that the growth of anaerobic 

 bacteria in the Anteus test specimen, (2) that backpressuring of 

 this particular soil, and (3) that maintained differences in test 

 temperature probably do not have a significant influence on consolidation 

 of the calcareous ooze tested. Alternately, anaerobic growth, backpressuring, 

 and temperature may have compensating effects on the e-log Oy function 

 resulting in no net difference in consolidation response. (It is 

 possible that the 210 kPa (30 psi) backpressure was not sufficient 

 to dissolve all bubbles, but it is believed that more obvious behavioral 



