Formation mechanism of large subsidence sinkholes in the Lar valley in Iran

Messerklinger, S.

doi:10.1144/qjegh2012-062

Cited by 11 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…We first discuss two simple end members of a situation prone to collapse sinkhole generation (e.g. Panno et al, 2013;Messerklinger, 2014), a first case considering buoyancy only, and a second case assuming that part of the stresses are supported by a stronger elastic material.…”

Section: Simple Mechanical Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Münsterdorf sinkhole cluster: Void origin and mechanical failure

Kaufmann¹,

Romanov²,

Werban³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Abstract. Since 2004, collapse sinkholes occur on the sports field of Münsterdorf, a village north of Hamburg in Germany. The sinkholes, around 2–5 m in diameter and 3–5 m deep, develop in peri-glacial sand, which in around 20 m depth is underlain by cretaceous chalk. The chalk has been pushed up close to the surface by a salt diapir. The sinkhole formation initiated suddenly and occurs with a frequency of one every two years. We use a variety of geophysical results (e.g. gravity, electrical resistivity imaging, ground-penetrating radar) from previous field-work campaigns together with a new data set from direct-push based methods to infer mechanical and hydrological properties of the material beneath the sports field (peri-glacial sand, glacial marl, cretaceous chalk). Based on the derived material properties, we develop a mechanical model for the sinkhole collapse, starting from simple analytical considerations and then moving towards a three-dimensional distinct-element model explaining the sudden onset of collapse sinkholes for the sports field. The mechanical model supports our hypothesis that the sudden onset of sinkholes is triggered by changes in groundwater level.

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Section: Simple Mechanical Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Münsterdorf sinkhole cluster: Void origin and mechanical failure

Kaufmann¹,

Romanov²,

Werban³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…Water crisis is the primary cause of land subsidence (Ashraf et al, 2021). In Iran, due to the shortage of rainfall during the past few years and the decrease of water behind the dams, in order to supply water, it was necessary to draw water from the underground aquifers, which resulted in the loss of the underground water and the loosening of the soil and subsidence (Messerklinger, 2014). The reason for subsidence is that, in natural equilibrium, the hydraulic pressure of the groundwater in the pores of the aquifer supports some of the weight of the earth (Amin et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review on current status and challenging issues of land subsidence in Iran

Sadjadi¹

2022

10.5267/j.jfs

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Land subsidence in Iran is one of the environmental issues of recent years in Iran, which is mostly due to shortage of the groundwater resources. Iran is considered as the country with the most land subsidence. The amount of land subsidence in Iran is believed to be far more than the average of developed countries. Presently, over 300 plains of Iran are suffering from land subsidence and in some plains of Iran, the conditions have passed the subsidence and the ground has entered the critical stage of creating sinkholes. This paper presents an overview of the current status and challenging issues of land subsidence in Iran.

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“…Surface deformation and sinkhole development can be monitored by airborne lidar (e.g. Filin et al, 2011;Miao et al, 2013), photogrammetry (e.g. Lee et al, 2016;Al-Halbouni et al, 2017), and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) (e.g.…”

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confidence: 99%

Time-lapse gravity and levelling surveys reveal mass loss and ongoing subsidence in the urban subrosion-prone area of Bad Frankenhausen, Germany

et al. 2019

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Abstract. We present results of sophisticated, high-precision time-lapse gravity monitoring that was conducted over 4 years in Bad Frankenhausen (Germany). To our knowledge, this is the first successful attempt to monitor subrosion-induced mass changes in urban areas with repeated gravimetry. The method provides an approach to estimate the mass of dissolved rocks in the subsurface. Subrosion, i.e. leaching and transfer of soluble rocks, occurs worldwide. Mainly in urban areas, any resulting ground subsidence can cause severe damage, especially if catastrophic events, i.e. collapse sinkholes, occur. Monitoring strategies typically make use of established geodetic methods, such as levelling, and therefore focus on the associated deformation processes. In this study, we combine levelling and highly precise time-lapse gravity observations. Our investigation area is the urban area of Bad Frankenhausen in central Germany, which is prone to subrosion, as many subsidence and sinkhole features on the surface reveal. The city and the surrounding areas are underlain by soluble Permian deposits, which are continuously dissolved by meteoric water and groundwater in a strongly fractured environment. Between 2014 and 2018, a total of 17 high-precision time-lapse gravimetry and 18 levelling campaigns were carried out in quarterly intervals within a local monitoring network. This network covers historical sinkhole areas but also areas that are considered to be stable. Our results reveal ongoing subsidence of up to 30.4 mm a−1 locally, with distinct spatiotemporal variations. Furthermore, we observe a significant time-variable gravity decrease on the order of 8 µGal over 4 years at several measurement points. In the processing workflow, after the application of all required corrections and least squares adjustment to our gravity observations, a significant effect of varying soil water content on the adjusted gravity differences was figured out. Therefore, we place special focus on the correlation of these observations and the correction of the adjusted gravity differences for soil water variations using the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) Noah model to separate these effects from subrosion-induced gravity changes. Our investigations demonstrate the feasibility of high-precision time-lapse gravity monitoring in urban areas for sinkhole investigations. Although the observed rates of gravity decrease of 1–2 µGal a−1 are small, we suggest that it is significantly associated with subterranean mass loss due to subrosion processes. We discuss limitations and implications of our approach, as well as give a first quantitative estimation of mass transfer at different depths and for different densities of dissolved rocks.

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Formation mechanism of large subsidence sinkholes in the Lar valley in Iran

Cited by 11 publications

References 6 publications

The Münsterdorf sinkhole cluster: Void origin and mechanical failure

The Münsterdorf sinkhole cluster: Void origin and mechanical failure

Review on current status and challenging issues of land subsidence in Iran

Time-lapse gravity and levelling surveys reveal mass loss and ongoing subsidence in the urban subrosion-prone area of Bad Frankenhausen, Germany

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