Simulation of a Submarine Landslide Using the Coupled Material Point Method

Exploring the submarine landslide is challenging due to the invisibility nature and the complex soil-water interaction and large deformation throughout its runout process. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ability of the coupled material point method (MPM) in modeling the soil flows under water. A sand-column collapse experiment is performed fully under water initially, with the results used to benchmark the MPM analysis. Thereafter, the whole failure process of a real submarine landslide in the South Mediterranean sea is simulated using MPM. The results show that MPM can be a reliable tool in capturing the postfailure behaviors of the submarine landslide. The failure mode of the landslide is flow-type, with an initial translational slide moving to a diffusive one eventually.