A method to predict the group fissuring and faulting caused by regional groundwater decline

Rojas, Eduardo; Arzate, Jorge; Arroyo, M.

doi:10.1016/s0013-7952(01)00135-1

Cited by 57 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Earth fissures related to groundwater extraction have occurred in many areas in the world, such as Arizona and Nevada in the United States (Galloway et al 1999;Bell 1981), Mexico City and Queretaro in Mexico (Auvinet et al 2010;Rojas et al 2002), and the cities of Suzhou, Wuxi, and Changzhou (i.e., the Su-XiChang area or ''SXC area'') in China (Wu et al 2003). Earth fissures have caused damage to buildings, underground pipelines, and other infrastructure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms for earth fissure formation due to groundwater extraction in the Su-Xi-Chang area, China

Zhang

Wang

Yuan

et al. 2015

Bull Eng Geol Environ

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Excessive groundwater withdrawal has caused many earth fissures in the cities of Suzhou, Wuxi, and Changzhou (i.e., the Su-Xi-Chang area or ''SXC area'') in Jiangsu Province, China. The appearance of these fissures is closely associated with groundwater withdrawal both temporally and spatially. Based on field investigations, three models of the earth fissures in the SXC area were conceptualized. The changes in and distributions of normal and shear stress in hydrostratigraphic units due to groundwater extraction were analyzed numerically for each conceptualized model. Results from these numerical simulations indicated that geological conditions play a crucial role in the occurrence and distribution of earth fissures. Earth fissures are much more likely to initiate in areas where the depth of the bedrock below the ground surface is small, the thickness of the exploited aquifer unit changes abruptly, and the surface of the bedrock undulates dramatically. Earth fissures are also likely to occur in the vicinity of a distant restricted boundary. In addition, very stiff topsoil is more prone to cracking, and the locations of discharge wells also influence the occurrence of earth fissures.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms for earth fissure formation due to groundwater extraction in the Su-Xi-Chang area, China

Zhang

Wang

Yuan

et al. 2015

Bull Eng Geol Environ

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“…Therefore, the consolidation theory is applied to explain the land subsidence caused by groundwater depletion. One dimensional consolidation is generally used in literature (Bouwer 1977;Rojas et al 2002;Chen et al 2003) probably due to its simplicity and the fact that land subsidence caused by groundwater depletion generally occurs in large alluvial deltas, plains or basins (Xu et al 2008). Theoretically, the long term land subsidence in this context consists of three stages, namely elastic deformation, primary and secondary consolidations.…”

Section: Discussion and Conceptual Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large differential land subsidence and earth fissures in Jiangyin, China

et al. 2010

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Jiangyin County is in the infamous SuXi-Chang land subsidence area caused by excessive groundwater withdrawal in Jiangsu province, China. The maximum accumulated land subsidence reached 1,310 mm near the centre of the subsiding trough in 2006 in southern Jiangyin, and earth fissures of significant vertical offsets have been observed at Changjing, Hetang and Wenlin which form an arc towards the subsidence trough. An ancient Yangtze River course is found underlying and passing through the depression in southern Jiangyin, forming a local basin surrounded by outcropped bedrock ridges in the north and south. The Quaternary stratigraphy demonstrates significant heterogeneities in the basin; the second confined aquifer is much thicker and deeper and encapsulated inside the basin and absent above the ridges. The development of earth fissures along the ChangjingHetang-Wenlin arc might be a combination of an inward rotation of sediments due to a large differential subsidence, an inward movement driven by seepage force and a steeper slope along the south-eastern shoulder of the basin that facilitates the development of horizontal tensile strain and/ or shear strain necessary for fissuring. The land subsidence has slowed down and no new earth fissure zone has occurred in the area after the banning of deep groundwater extraction was enacted in 2001.

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“…Two mechanisms have been predominantly employed to explain the earth fissuring under this circumstance, namely, differential subsidence (Bouwer 1977;Holzer and Pampeyan 1981;Wang et al 2008a) and differential horizontal movement driven by hydraulic force (Lofgren 1978;Helm 1994), resulting from the consolidation of sediments in an aquifer system due to groundwater drawdown. Recently, to predict and simulate earth fissures, the consolidation and ground loss theories were employed to calculate the horizontal and vertical displacements of sediments over a sinusoidal basement to compute the land subsidence and location of earth fissuring (Rojas et al 2002), and four conceptual models were presented to simulate the earth fissuring under groundwater deletion involving in multi-factors of differential horizontal and vertical displacements, in situ stresses and preexisting structures (Sheng et al 2003).…”

Section: Discussion and Analysis Of Hetang Earth Fissurementioning

confidence: 99%

Earth fissures in Jiangsu Province, China and geological investigation of Hetang earth fissure

et al. 2009

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Earth fissures are a geohazard in Jiangsu Province, China. They can be caused by earthquakes and active faults, underground mining, groundwater extraction and landslides. In order to establish a provincial rehabilitation plan in Jiangsu, a range of monitoring programs, surveys, geological investigations and modeling have been implemented or planned. One of the focuses of the project is the land subsidence and earth fissures caused by excessive groundwater withdrawal in Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou (Su-Xi-Chang) area, southern Jiangsu Province. Hetang earth fissure within the Su-Xi-Chang area was first reported in 1995 and a series of investigation has been conducted since then. The site investigations and geophysical survey in 1997 have recognized the causative factor as the excessive groundwater drawdown coupled by the underlying bedrock ridge. An open trench excavation in 2007 and a plane strain analysis suggest that Hetang earth fissures may have cracked from the bedrock ridge to ground surface. Geological drilling in 2007 has further confirmed the existence and configuration of the ridge and extracted soil samples for laboratory tests to obtain soil parameters for numerical analyses and modeling of land subsidence and earth fissures in the Su-Xi-Chang area, Jiangsu, China. The laboratory tests are currently in progress and the result of numerical analyses and modeling is expected to be presented in the near future.

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A method to predict the group fissuring and faulting caused by regional groundwater decline

Cited by 57 publications

References 3 publications

Mechanisms for earth fissure formation due to groundwater extraction in the Su-Xi-Chang area, China

Mechanisms for earth fissure formation due to groundwater extraction in the Su-Xi-Chang area, China

Large differential land subsidence and earth fissures in Jiangyin, China

Earth fissures in Jiangsu Province, China and geological investigation of Hetang earth fissure

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