New Model Developed In The U.S. Promises To Predict Submarine Landslides And Protect Oil Rigs

Written by Fabio Lucas Carvalho

Published on 28/05/2025 at 16:58

plataformas de petróleo

Be the first to react!

Model Developed by Texas A&M Researchers Predicts Underwater Landslides and Helps Protect Offshore Structures Such As Oil Platforms.

Scientists from the United States announced an important breakthrough in predicting underwater landslides.

The innovation, developed by specialists at Texas A&M University, has the potential to protect oil platforms and other structures on the seabed, reducing serious geological risks that directly affect the energy sector.

Landslides Are a Real Threat to the Offshore Sector

Underwater landslides are among the most dangerous geological events in the marine environment. They involve the sudden displacement of large masses of sediment on the ocean floor, potentially destroying pipelines, anchors, cables, and compromising the entire structure of an offshore platform. In addition to material damage, these landslides can even trigger tsunamis.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Bayesian Model Integrates Data and Improves Predictions

Led by Professor Zenon Medina-Cetina from the civil and environmental engineering department, the Texas A&M team created a model that combines geological data with statistical techniques to predict the risk of landslides. The model uses a Bayesian approach, which allows for continuous refinement of predictions by integrating new data.

The process begins with the collection of information from the site, involving experts from different fields. Geophysicists, geologists, geomatics professionals, and geotechnical engineers work together, each contributing data that feeds the system. The order in which these specialists operate is essential to ensure the accuracy of the results.

Order of Data Affects the Safety of Platforms

According to Medina-Cetina, following the correct sequence in data collection and analysis is what ensures reliable predictions. He emphasizes that interrupting this sequence, whether due to time constraints or budget cuts, can compromise the entire modeling process.

“It is very important to start with the geophysicist, then bring in the geologist, and finally have the geomatics group working with the geotechnical engineers,” the professor stated. He compared the process to a child learning: you cannot run before you learn to walk.

The Bayesian model is structured so that each stage of the analysis is based on the previous one. This allows predictions to become more accurate over time. For companies operating offshore, this represents a strategic tool for assessing risks more safely.

Model Shows Benefits in Practice

With the application of the new approach, researchers claim it is possible to increase confidence in the data obtained and, thus, reduce uncertainties. This helps companies avoid losses and make more accurate decisions regarding the installation and maintenance of their underwater infrastructures.

The initiative demonstrates that integrating technical knowledge with statistical analysis can make a difference in preventing disasters in the offshore environment.

The study was published in the journal Landslides.

New Model Developed In The U.S. Promises To Predict Submarine Landslides And Protect Oil Rigs

Model Developed by Texas A&M Researchers Predicts Underwater Landslides and Helps Protect Offshore Structures Such As Oil Platforms.

Landslides Are a Real Threat to the Offshore Sector

Bayesian Model Integrates Data and Improves Predictions

Order of Data Affects the Safety of Platforms

Model Shows Benefits in Practice

A Chinese factory in Guangdong is assembling a humanoid robot every 30 minutes while Tesla, Figure, and Boston Dynamics still struggle to deliver 10 thousand per year.

In Niger, mud buildings have stood for ten generations while the world spends billions on concrete and steel, now African architects are proving at the Venice Biennale and in real projects that red earth can be the smartest and most sustainable building material of the 21st century.

Seven world powers including the US, China, and Russia are spending €22 billion on a reactor in the south of France that aims to confine plasma at 150 million degrees Celsius, ten times the temperature of the Sun’s core, using a magnetic field capable of lifting an entire aircraft carrier.

Secret chamber sealed 4,500 years ago found in the Pyramid of Khufu, and Hawass announces its opening to the world in 2026

With a wingspan of 152 meters, 76 tires, and a capacity to carry 1,270 tons, the Boeing Pelican was the giant “flying ship” that promised to cross oceans close to the water on an invisible air cushion beneath its wings.

A public school student single-handedly created a machine capable of treating water for up to 50 people using only solar energy. It was awarded third place at one of the most important science fairs in the world.

China has begun the second phase of energy assistance to Cuba with a 120 MW solar generation plan, and the first result is a photovoltaic park with batteries that regulates voltage, controls frequency, and provides local autonomy to an island suffocated by chronic blackouts.

While oil fields bury saltwater underground, a pilot in the US uses solar steam without electricity for desalination of hypersaline water and transforms Permian waste into a potential agricultural and industrial resource.

ENGIE, Vestas, and SENAI train 26 young people from the Médio São Francisco region and strengthen the workforce in the energy sector.

International bridge of R$ 214 million between Brazil and Argentina will be 950 meters long, feature customs complexes, and promises to replace slow ferry with a minutes-long crossing on the border Uruguay River by 2030.

Fuel price hikes lead the US to attempt diluting gasoline with ethanol, showing a different reality from Brazil, which has been using a 30% blend at gas stations for years.

While complete hospitals can take years between foundation, construction, and inauguration, Turkey erected an emergency hospital with 1,008 beds in 45 days at the former Atatürk Airport to tackle the pandemic.

New Model Developed In The U.S. Promises To Predict Submarine Landslides And Protect Oil Rigs

Model Developed by Texas A&M Researchers Predicts Underwater Landslides and Helps Protect Offshore Structures Such As Oil Platforms.

Landslides Are a Real Threat to the Offshore Sector

Bayesian Model Integrates Data and Improves Predictions

Order of Data Affects the Safety of Platforms

Model Shows Benefits in Practice

A Chinese factory in Guangdong is assembling a humanoid robot every 30 minutes while Tesla, Figure, and Boston Dynamics still struggle to deliver 10 thousand per year.

In Niger, mud buildings have stood for ten generations while the world spends billions on concrete and steel, now African architects are proving at the Venice Biennale and in real projects that red earth can be the smartest and most sustainable building material of the 21st century.

Seven world powers including the US, China, and Russia are spending €22 billion on a reactor in the south of France that aims to confine plasma at 150 million degrees Celsius, ten times the temperature of the Sun’s core, using a magnetic field capable of lifting an entire aircraft carrier.

Secret chamber sealed 4,500 years ago found in the Pyramid of Khufu, and Hawass announces its opening to the world in 2026

With a wingspan of 152 meters, 76 tires, and a capacity to carry 1,270 tons, the Boeing Pelican was the giant “flying ship” that promised to cross oceans close to the water on an invisible air cushion beneath its wings.

A public school student single-handedly created a machine capable of treating water for up to 50 people using only solar energy. It was awarded third place at one of the most important science fairs in the world.

China has begun the second phase of energy assistance to Cuba with a 120 MW solar generation plan, and the first result is a photovoltaic park with batteries that regulates voltage, controls frequency, and provides local autonomy to an island suffocated by chronic blackouts.

Earth is passing through the radioactive debris of an ancient supernova, and scientists have found frozen evidence in Antarctic ice with traces of iron-60 still falling on the planet.

American company deploys humanoid robots to work live for 8 hours and surprises by showing machines handling packages at an almost human pace while accelerating production on a global industrial scale

New outbreak on a cruise bound for Spain left more than 1.7 thousand people in quarantine in France after the death of a 92-year-old passenger, and French authorities ruled out a connection with the hantavirus that killed three people on another ship.

Ancient bones with cut marks show that humans from 1.6 million years ago chose the best cuts of meat and transported everything to safer locations.

Xiaomi surprises users and releases unexpected update for already “retired” phones

While oil fields bury saltwater underground, a pilot in the US uses solar steam without electricity for desalination of hypersaline water and transforms Permian waste into a potential agricultural and industrial resource.

ENGIE, Vestas, and SENAI train 26 young people from the Médio São Francisco region and strengthen the workforce in the energy sector.

International bridge of R$ 214 million between Brazil and Argentina will be 950 meters long, feature customs complexes, and promises to replace slow ferry with a minutes-long crossing on the border Uruguay River by 2030.

Fuel price hikes lead the US to attempt diluting gasoline with ethanol, showing a different reality from Brazil, which has been using a 30% blend at gas stations for years.

While complete hospitals can take years between foundation, construction, and inauguration, Turkey erected an emergency hospital with 1,008 beds in 45 days at the former Atatürk Airport to tackle the pandemic.