INTRODUCTION The Civil Engineering Dept. of the U. of British Columbia was requested by Lockheed Offshore Petroleum Services Ltd. to perform laboratory tests on ocean bottom sediments taken from a depth of 1, 200 it in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia. The main purpose of the tests was to determine the stability and settlement of a pedestal base to be placed on the ocean bottom. A secondary purpose was to estimate the force required to lift the pedestal base from the seabed. SOIL SAMPLING Samples of the ocean bottom sediments were obtained by dropping a 12-ft long by 2-3/8-in. diameter gravity core sampler into the sediments. The sampler was weighted and was allowed to hit the bottom at considerable speed such that the whole sampler penetrated the sediments. During the first two sampling attempts, the core catcher placed at the bottom of the sampling tube seemed to prevent the soft material from entering the tube and only a small amount of material was recovered in the sampling shoe. During the third attempt, no core catcher was used, and 5½ft of sample was recovered. This third sample was used for all the tests described herein. The recovered sample was intact and appeared to be undisturbed. However, it should be realized that changes in water content could occur during retrieval of a sample through 1,200 ft to water. In addition, although the sample was sealed when taken to. the surface, water could redistribute. itself within the sample in the 2 days which elapsed prior to the testing of the material. DESCRIPTION OF THE MATERIAL The material is a very soft, greyish brown, silty clay containing 4 percent of organic matter by weight. Only carbonaceous materials were considered to be organic matter. The clay has a very high natural water content, an open flocculated structure and is highly compressible. The open flocculated structure is clearly visible in Figs. lA and IB as well as the numerous skeletal remains of diatoms. These figures are typical of scanning electron microscope photographs taken to evaluate the structure of the clay. The clay is highly sensitive, that is, its strength in the remolded state is very much less than that in the undisturbed state. It is also highly thixotropic; the clay quickly regains a portion of its original strength after remolding. LABORATORY TEST RESULTS The laboratory tests were performed on specimens cut from the 5½ ft length of sample.