Geomechanics of subsurface water withdrawal and injection

Abstract

Land subsidence and uplift, ground ruptures, and induced seismicity are the principal geomechanic effects of groundwater withdrawal and injection. The major environmental consequence of groundwater pumping is anthropogenic land subsidence. The first observation concerning land settlement linked to subsurface processes was made in 1926 by the American geologists Pratt and Johnson, who wrote that ''the cause of subsidence is to be found in the extensive extraction of fluid from beneath the affected area.'' Since then, impressive progress has been made in terms of: (a) recognizing the basic hydrologic and geomechanic principles underlying the occurrence; (b) measuring aquifer compaction and ground displacements, both vertical and horizontal; (c) modeling and predicting the past and future event; and (d) mitigating environmental impact through aquifer recharge and/or surface water injection. The first milestone in the theory of pumped aquifer consolidation was reached in 1923 by Terzaghi, who introduced the principle of ''effective intergranular stress.'' In the early 1970s, the emerging computer technology facilitated development of the first mathematical model of the subsidence of Venice, made by Gambolati and Freeze. Since then, the comprehension, measuring, and simulation of the occurrence have improved dramatically. More challenging today are the issues of ground ruptures and induced/ triggered seismicity, which call for a shift from the classical continuum approach to discontinuous mechanics. Although well known for decades, anthropogenic land subsidence is still threatening large urban centers and deltaic areas worldwide, such as Bangkok, Jakarta, and Mexico City, at rates in the order of 10 cm/yr.

Offshore Pumping Impacts Onshore Groundwater Resources and Land Subsidence

“…This study emphasizes that land subsidence may be caused by groundwater pumping dozens of kilometers away from the affected area. Groundwater depletion is one of the common causes of human‐induced land subsidence (Bakr, ; Galloway & Burbey, ; Gambolati et al, ; Gambolati & Teatini, ; Minderhoud et al, ; Teatini et al, ), and subsidence has been attributed to both onshore and offshore hydrocarbon production (e.g., Chaussard et al, ; Doornhof et al, ; Miandro et al, ; Morton & Bernier, ). We note that our calculated potential subsidence is simplified and does not take into account the transient nature of the process (e.g., Teatini et al, ) or spatially and temporally variable compressibilities, which were assumed constant within facies in this work.…”

Measuring Spatiotemporal Features of Land Subsidence, Groundwater Drawdown, and Compressible Layer Thickness in Beijing Plain, China

“…By comparing current observations and previous ones, land subsidence of the observation points were identified and then a cumulative land subsidence contour map was plotted. By 2013, the area where cumulative subsidence was greater than 100 mm reached 4942 km 2 . A, B, C, D, E, and F referred to typical funnel zones and their maximum values are shown in Table 1.…”

“…Regional land subsidence is a geological process occurring in a long-run equilibrium and inter-coordination between anthropogenic activity and the hydrogeological environment [1,2]. In most areas worldwide, compressible sediments are the material basis and it unbalances the starting point of land subsidence; groundwater drawdown is an inherent drive and its spatial diversity induces an uneven development process of land subsidence [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11].…”

Geophysics From Terrestrial Time‐Variable Gravity Measurements

“…Better understanding of subsidence processes and geomechanics (elastoplasticity, viscoelastoplasticity, pore volume change, pore pressure change, closing fractures, cavity collapse, and volume units that compact, stretch, and change shape) is paramount for mitigation procedures (Gambolati & Teatini, ; Showstack, ). Since 2000, we have monitored gravity in Jülich, a zone experiencing man‐induced subsidence caused by brown coal mining activity in the Lower Rhine Embayment, Germany (Van Camp et al, ).…”