Geo-Database Development in Kansai Area of Japan and Its Application in Assessing Liquefaction Potential
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Geo-Database Development in Kansai Area of Japan and Its Application in Assessing Liquefaction Potential Koji Yamamoto Geo-Research Institute, Japan Mamoru Mimura Disaster Prevention Research Institute Kyoto University, Japan ABSTRACT The Committee for Geo-Database Information in Kansai Area of Japan has developed the geotechnical database (Geo-Database) for this area. The database development has focused in urban areas because of their social and economical importance. More than 30,000 borehole data were collected and digitized. Basically, the information including soil classification, gradation, NSPT values, and groundwater levels has been entered in the Geo-database. However, compression parameters, coefficients of permeability, strengths, elastic rigidity, etc. are not included due to difficulties associated with their availability. So far, the geo-databases for Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto have been developed, but for the surrounding areas efforts are underway. This paper introduces the geo-database for Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto cities, and describes their application such as in assessing ground liquefaction potential of an particular area. By using the geo-database, cross-sections of an area can be easily drawn over the computer screen, and soil parameters such as soil classification, gradation, the thickness of each ground stratum, groundwater level, NSPT values, etc. can also be readily known. The use was also made of the developed geo-database for assessing liquefaction potentials of urban areas of Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto. The validation of the results obtained was confirmed by comparing them with the actual records during the 1995 Hyogoken-Nambu Earthquake. The liquefaction prediction has also been carried out for Kyoto Basin considering an earthquake to be caused by the failure of faults as well as a huge interplate earthquake that is expectedly going to hit this area within 40 years. KEYWORDS: Urban Geo-Database, Hazard map, Liquefaction, Kansai area 1. INTRODUCTION Osaka Bay is the heart of Kansai economy surrounded by Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto and Nara, which are some of the major urban business centers in Japan. Figure 1 shows the development of metropolises around Osaka Bay of an oval shape (60, 30 km in size). This beautiful creation was shaped by the couple of rising of the surrounding mountains and precipitation of the base ground in the center of the bay. The seabed deposits of the Osaka Bay have been formed due to the soil supply from the rivers. Naturally, the soil properties for each area are strongly influenced by the sedimentation environment and the subsequent tectonic movement. For example, the seabed deposits of the Osaka Bay have been formed due to the soil supply from the rivers. Although it is common that the clay deposits formed under this environment should be normally consolidated, the Pleistocene clays in Osaka Bay exhibit slight overconsolidation with OCR of 1.2 to 1.5 in average. This apparent overconsolidation is thought not to arise from the mechanical reason but to be subjected to the effect of diagenesis, such as aging effect and/or development of cementation among clay particles. In the sense, the Pleistocene clay KYOTO deposited in Osaka Bay is so-called “quasi-overconsolidated clays” without definite mechanical overconsolidation history as seen for the post-glacial clays in North America and Europe. The subsoil condition of Kobe is slightly different from KOBE that of Osaka whereas those two cities are very close each other. As Rokko Mountains consisting of OSAKA mainly granite are located just behind the plains in Kobe, sandy materials of granite origin have been 大阪湾 NARA supplied, which results in having rich and thicker sand gravel strata in Kobe. Some of the same marine clay strata can also be seen in Kyoto. However, those Pleistocene clays found in Kyoto exhibit remarkable overconsolidation behavior because those clays underwent the definite Figure 1 A relief map of Kansai urban area history of mechanical overconsolidation due to the effect of upheaval and erosion. Compared to the subsoil condition in Osaka, the strata of Kyoto are much more complicated because Kyoto is a basin that has been formed associated with serious tectonic movement. Geotechnical database plays a significant role to investigate the regional subsoil conditions prior to detailed investigation. Geo-Database Information Committee in Kansai has developed the geotechnical database in Kansai area.[1], [2], [3] For the development of the database, urban area has been focused because of its social, economical importance. More than 30,000 borehole data was collected and digitized. In the present paper, the Geo-databases for Kansai urban area, such as Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto are introduced. Cross-sectional view of the required underground can be easily drawn on PC together with various soil properties such as classification, gradation, the thickness of each layer, ground water level, NSPT values and so on. The regional geotechnical characteristics can easily be grasped by the distribution of those soil properties. Sedimentation environment and the tectonic movement are very important to realize the present shape of the ground. The Geo-database can provide sufficient and helpful information. As for the geotechnical disasters due to earthquake, liquefaction is one of the best known and symbolic. Then, the application of the Geo-database to assessment of liquefaction potential for urban areas is explained. The simplified procedure based on the NSPT values is used to evaluate the liquefaction potential for Kobe area and the calculated results are validated by comparing with the actual records of liquefaction occurrence due to the 1995 Hyogoken-Nambu Earthquake. The method is extended to apply to predict the liquefaction potential of Kyoto Basin. Geotechnical hazard maps both for Kobe and Kyoto are shown in terms of the distribution of the critical acceleration for the occurrence of liquefaction. Based on those performances, the usefulness of the Geo-database and its applicability to geotechnical engineering and disaster mitigation engineering are discussed. 2. INVESTIGATION OF SUBSOIL CONDITION BASED ON THE GEO-DATABASE 2.1 Kobe and the adjacent area [2] A representative cross-sectional view of subsurface ground for Kobe and the adjacent area is shown in Figure 2 drawn by the Geo-database. The selected area is from the west of Kobe to Kanzaki River, the border between Osaka and Hyogo Prefecture. As the Rokko Mountains are located just behind the plains with a distance of 1.5 to 2.5 km, alluvial fans and deltaic plains have been formed in the narrow Nagata-Wadamisaki Chuo Higashinada Mukogawa W . E 20 Miya R. Shuku R. Ikuta R. Muko R. Ashiya R. Ishiya R. Suminoe R. Myohoji R Nagata gravels Ogi sands Kanzaki R. 0 Ma13 Ma12 Ma12 Ma12 -50 Elevation (OPm) Nishinomiya Ashiya Amagasaki Kobe -100 E 0 5000 W (m) Figure 2 Cross-sectional view of subsurface ground in Kobe and the adjacent area Figure 3 Distribution of the thickness of upper sand layer area between mountains and coastal line in this area. On the basis of the geological characteristics, the area can be divided into 4 regions (Nagata - Wada, Chuo, Higashinada and Mukogawa from west to east).[2], [4] In Nagata -Wada region, coarse gravel beds are distributed at shallowest part underlain by the Holocene clay (Ma 13) along the coast. These gravel beds are thought to be Holocene origin and formed by tidal current. On the back of this sand bank by Nagata gravels, back marsh is extended with peat and organic materials. The kind of soft soils existing in back marsh possibly causes amplifying the seismic waves due to earthquake. In fact, high concentration of building damage was investigated during the 1995 Hyogoken-Nambu Earthquake in accord with the distribution of the back marsh. Holocene non-marine sand and gravel are developed in Chuo region. The typical marine clay layers such as Ma13 or Pleistocene clay (Ma 12) can only be found near shore and offshore because the talus materials carried from mountainous area by the rivers prevented those marine clays from extending into inland. The distribution of sand dune deposits called Ogi sands is characteristic in Higashinada region. This sand dune is underlain by the Holocene clay (Ma13) and thought to be also Holocene origin. The strata in Mukogawa region is the most similar to those in subsurface at Osaka Bay. Pleistocene clay layer (Ma 12) is thick and continuous overlain by the firm gravel layer that is normally used as a bearing stratum for buildings in Osaka. Holocene clay layer (Ma 13) is also continuous, but the thickness of both marine clay layers decreases towards west. It is because the effect of Rokko Mountains supplying much sandy and gravelly materials becomes significant as approaching Kobe area. Regional characteristics of subsoil can be definitely understood by showing the distribution of geotechnical information. Figure 3 shows the thickness of upper sandy deposits that were extracted from the borehole data in the Geo-database. A due consideration for the occurrence of liquefaction is required for those sandy deposits with NSPT value of less than 40. Relatively rich sandy strata exist both in Mukogawa and Higashinada regions with a thickness of 10m. The latter one is natural “Ogi sands” stated before. The western part of the area, such as Chuo and Nagata-Wada regions, has thinner sandy layers because the gravel become predominant in those regions due to sufficient supply of granite from Rokko Mountains. Soil types and their NSPT values in the depth of 5 to 10 meters are illustrated in Figure 4. It is interesting that Ogi sands are relatively firm with the NSPT value of about 20 to 25 while sandy deposits in Mukogawa region are weaker. There is a definite tendency that the weaker sand deposits exist near the coast and NSPT values on the mountainside are relatively high.