The current practice for evaluating the liquefaction resistance of a sand deposit involves the use of correlations developed for terrigenous deposits. Because calcareous sediments behave differently than terrigenous materials, these existing correlations do not accurately predict behavioral responses of calcareous sediments. Natural cementation between particles further complicates the behavioral properties of this soil type. Triaxial cyclic strength testing of calcareous and silica sands was performed in conjunction with full-scale cone penetration tests performed in a calibration chamber. Relationships were derived between cyclic strength and relative density, tip resistance and relative density, and cyclic strength and tip resistance.
Concem over the seismic hazard in Hawaii has steadily increased over the last decade. Magnitude 6 earthquakes have been shown to have recurrence intervals of approximately 10 years (Furumoto et al., 1990). The probability of a major earthquake occurring prior to the year 2018 increases to 98% if a prior major earthquake has not been recorded by 2008 (Furumoto et al., 1990). Accordingly, knowledge of geographic areas where liquefaction may be a danger is of great interest to civil defense authorities, design engineers, property owners, etc. The 1993 earthquake in Guam, which produced considerable liquefaction damage in calcareous deposits, highlighted the importance of understanding and identifying the cyclic response and liquefaction characteristics of calcareous material. Penetration tests performed in the laboratory proved to be quite useful in developing blow count and material property correlations (Bazaraa, 1967; Seed and Idriss, 1971; Marcuson and Bieganousky, 1976; Tokimatsu and Yoshimi, 1984). However, these correlations apply primarily to terrigenous materials and do not necessarily hold true for calcareous material. Aging (natural cementation and interparticle bonding) and relative condition (very loose to very dense) consistency vary considerably within a few feet in a carbonate environment.
