A procedure for evaluating the susceptibility to natural and anthropogenic sinkholes

Parise, Mario

doi:10.1080/17499518.2015.1045002

Cited by 39 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…e.g. Kohl, 2001;Denizman, 2003;Caramanna et al, 2008;Closson et al, 2009;Parise and Lollino, 2011;Dahm et al, 2011;Dreybrodt, 2012;Gutierréz et al, 2014;Kotyrba, 2015;Parise, 2015). Sinkholes in particular are enclosed depressions of the soil/rock surface caused by subsurface chemical dissolution or subsurface mechanical erosion (Parise, 2010), termed subrosion in the following as in e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sinkholes, subsidence and subrosion on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea as revealed by a close-range photogrammetric survey

et al. 2017

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Ground subsidence and sinkhole collapse are phenomena affecting regions of karst geology worldwide. The rapid development of such phenomena around the Dead Sea in the last four decades poses a major geological hazard to the local population, agriculture and industry. Nonetheless many aspects of this hazard are still incompletely described and understood, especially on the eastern Dead Sea shore. In this work, we present a first low altitude (< 150 m above ground) aerial photogrammetric survey with a Helikite Balloon at the sinkhole area of Ghor Al-Haditha, Jordan. We provide a detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis of a new, high resolution digital surface model (5 cm px −1) and orthophoto of this area (2.1 km 2). We also outline the factors affecting the quality and accuracy of this approach. Our analysis reveals a kilometer-scale sinuous depression bound partly by flexure and partly by nontectonic faults. The estimated minimum volume loss of this subsided zone is 1.83 • 10 6 m 3 with an average subsidence rate of 0.21 m yr −1 over the last 25 years. Sinkholes in the surveyed area are localized mainly within this depression. The sinkholes are commonly elliptically shaped (mean eccentricity 1.31) and clustered (nearest neighbor ratio 0.69). Their morphologies and orientations depend on the type of sediment they form in: in mud, sinkholes have a low depth to diameter ratio (0.14) and a long-axis azimuth of NNE-NE. In alluvium, sinkholes have a higher ratio (0.4) and are orientated NNW-N. From field work, we identify actively evolving artesian springs and channelized, sediment-laden groundwater flows that appear locally in the main depression. Consequently, subrosion, i.e. subsurface mechanical erosion, is identified as a key physical process, in addition to dissolution, behind the subsidence and sinkhole hazard. Furthermore, satellite image analysis links the development of the sinuous depression and sinkhole formation at Ghor Al-Haditha to preferential groundwater flow paths along ancient and current wadi riverbeds.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sinkholes, subsidence and subrosion on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea as revealed by a close-range photogrammetric survey

et al. 2017

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“…The latter is due to slow dissolution (Smyth Jr., 1913;White and White, 1969;Beck, 1988;Martinez et al, 1998;Yechieli et al, 2002;Waltham et al, 2005;Gutiérrez et al, 2008Gutiérrez et al, , 2014. Sinkholes can cause damage to buildings and infrastructure and may even lead to lifethreatening situations if they occur, for example, in urban areas (Gutiérrez et al, 2014;Parise, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural analysis of S-wave seismics around an urban sinkhole: evidence of enhanced dissolution in a strike-slip fault zone

Wadas¹,

Tanner²,

Polom³

et al. 2017

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. In November 2010, a large sinkhole opened up in the urban area of Schmalkalden, Germany. To determine the key factors which benefited the development of this collapse structure and therefore the dissolution, we carried out several shear-wave reflection-seismic profiles around the sinkhole. In the seismic sections we see evidence of the Mesozoic tectonic movement in the form of a NW-SE striking, dextral strike-slip fault, known as the Heßleser Fault, which faulted and fractured the subsurface below the town. The strike-slip faulting created a zone of small blocks ( <100 m in size), around which steep-dipping normal faults, reverse faults and a dense fracture network serve as fluid pathways for the artesian-confined groundwater. The faults also acted as barriers for horizontal groundwater flow perpendicular to the fault planes. Instead groundwater flows along the faults which serve as conduits and forms cavities in the Permian deposits below ca. 60 m depth. Mass movements and the resulting cavities lead to the formation of sinkholes and dissolutioninduced depressions. Since the processes are still ongoing, the occurrence of a new sinkhole cannot be ruled out. This case study demonstrates how S-wave seismics can characterize a sinkhole and, together with geological information, can be used to study the processes that result in sinkhole formation, such as a near-surface fault zone located in soluble rocks. The more complex the fault geometry and interaction between faults, the more prone an area is to sinkhole occurrence.

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“…Accurate information on the time or 20 period of occurrence of the sinkholes is not available, and even the simple detection of the sinkholes was hampered by their small size and the remote location of the events. However, sinkholes represent a subtle and serious hazard in the Promontory, and in other karst areas (Parise and Gunn, 2007;Gutierrez et al, 2014;Parise, 2015;Parise et al, 2015), and establishing methods and procedures for their possible forecasting is of primary interest in karst environments. Based on the analysis of the 1-6 September 2014 Gargano rainfall period, we confirm that in the Promontory, and in similar karst areas, torrential 25 rainfall can trigger sinkholes, and we hypothesise that approaches based on the near-real-time monitoring of rainfall (e.g., the E-NEP algorithm) can be used to forecast the possible occurrence of rainfall-induced sinkholes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landslides, floods and sinkholes in a karst environment: the 1–6 September 2014 Gargano event, southern Italy

Martinotti¹,

Pisano²,

Marchesini³

et al. 2016

Preprint

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Abstract. In karst environments, heavy rainfall is known to cause multiple geo-hydrological hazards, including inundations, flash floods, landslides, and sinkholes. We studied a period of intense rainfall from 1 to 6 September 2014 in the Gargano Promontory, a karst landscape in Puglia, southern Italy. In the period, a sequence of torrential rainfall events caused severe damage, and claimed two fatalities, triggering different types of geo-hydrological hazards. The amount and accuracy of the geographical and the temporal information varied for the different hazards. The temporal information was most accurate for the inundation caused by a major river, less accurate for flash floods caused by minor torrents, and even less accurate for landslides. For sinkholes, only generic information on the period of occurrence of the failures was available. Our analysis revealed that in the Promontory, rainfall-driven geo-hydrological hazards occurred in response to extreme meteorological conditions, and that the karst landscape responded to the torrential rainfall with a threshold behaviour. We exploited the rainfall and the landslide information to design the new Ensemble – Non Exceedance Probability, E-NEP algorithm for the quantitative evaluation of the possible occurrence of rainfall-induced landslides, and of related geo-hydrological hazards. The ensemble of the metrics produced by the E-NEP algorithm provided better diagnostics than the single metrics often used for landslide forecasting, including rainfall duration, cumulated rainfall and rainfall intensity. We expect that the E-NEP algorithm will be useful for landslide early warning in karst areas and in other similar environments. We acknowledge that further tests are needed to evaluate the algorithm in different meteorological, geological, and physiographical settings.

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A procedure for evaluating the susceptibility to natural and anthropogenic sinkholes

Cited by 39 publications

References 53 publications

Sinkholes, subsidence and subrosion on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea as revealed by a close-range photogrammetric survey

Sinkholes, subsidence and subrosion on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea as revealed by a close-range photogrammetric survey

Structural analysis of S-wave seismics around an urban sinkhole: evidence of enhanced dissolution in a strike-slip fault zone

Landslides, floods and sinkholes in a karst environment: the 1–6 September 2014 Gargano event, southern Italy

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