The assessment of submarine slope instability in Baiyun Sag using gray clustering method

It is a significant task to evaluate the seafloor stability for the exploitation of marine resources and the construction of marine structures. This paper analyzes the impact factors of submarine slope instability using geological and geophysical data of the Baiyun Sag in the Pearl River Mouth Basin and builds the evaluation index system of submarine slope instability. The weight of each index is calculated by analytic hierarchy process method to weaken subjective effect. Gray clustering method is applied to estimate the risk of submarine slope instability in Baiyun Sag qualitatively and quantitatively. The assessment standard is divided into five grades, and the whitening function of each gray cluster is determined by the assessment scheme. The gray evaluation weight vector of each indicator is calculated by the table-dispatching method. The gray assessment value is estimated by making the gray assessment weight vector single value, and the gray grade is determined according to the maximum principle. The evaluation results show quantitatively that the risk grade of submarine slope instability in the Baiyun Sag is medium, and the gray clustering method is reasonable and feasible. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014