scholarly journals Land subsidence and aquifer compaction in Montgomery County, Texas, U.S.: 2000–2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuan Wang ◽  
Guoquan Wang ◽  
Brendan Cornelison ◽  
Hanlin Liu ◽  
Yan Bao
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Land Subsidence ◽  
Groundwater Level ◽  
Groundwater Withdrawal ◽  
Montgomery County ◽  
Mean Sea Level ◽  
Sediment Compaction

AbstractGroundwater-withdrawal-induced land subsidence has been a big concern in Montgomery County, Texas, U.S. since the 2000s. As of 2020, approximately half of the entire county is experiencing subsidence over 5 mm/year. This study aims to investigate ongoing land subsidence in Montgomery County using groundwater-level, extensometer, and GPS datasets. According to this study, land subsidence in Montgomery County since the mid-2000s is primarily contributed by sediment compaction in the Evangeline and Jasper aquifers; the compaction of Jasper aquifer contributes approximately one-third of the land subsidence since the mid-2000s; the pre-consolidation heads of the Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper aquifers in Montgomery County are close to each other, approximately 15–25 m below mean sea level; the virgin-compaction/head-decline ratio is approximately 1:250 in the Evangeline aquifer and 1:800 in the Jasper aquifer in central and southern Montgomery County. As of 2020, the Jasper groundwater-level altitude is approximately 20–40 m below the pre-consolidation head in the central and southern Montgomery County; the Evangeline groundwater-level altitude is about 40–60 m below the pre-consolidation head. Land subsidence will continue to occur as long as the groundwater-level altitude in either the Evangeline or the Jasper aquifer remains below the pre-consolidation head.

scholarly journals Groundwater Level Change Management on Control of Land Subsidence Supported by Borehole Extensometer Compaction Measurements in the Houston-Galveston Region, Texas

Geosciences ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Liu ◽  
Jiang Li ◽  
Zheng N. Fang
Keyword(s):  
Change Management ◽  
Land Subsidence ◽  
Groundwater Level ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Groundwater Withdrawal ◽  
Overburden Pressure ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Level Change ◽  
Aquifer Systems ◽  
Groundwater Level Change

As much as 3.05 m of land subsidence was observed in 1979 in the Houston-Galveston region as a result primarily of inelastic compaction of aquitards in the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers between 1937 and 1979. The preconsolidation pressure heads for aquitards within these two aquifers were continuously updated in response to lowering groundwater levels, which in turn was caused by continuously increasing groundwater withdrawal rates from 0.57 to 4.28 million m3/day. This land subsidence occurred without any management of changes in groundwater levels. However, the management of recovering groundwater levels from 1979 to 2000 successfully decreased inelastic compaction from about 40 mm/yr in the early 1980s to zero around 2000 through decreasing groundwater withdrawal rates from 4.3 to 3.0 million m3/day. The inelastic consolidation that had existed for about 63 years roughly from 1937 to 2000 caused a land subsidence hazard in this region. Some rebounding of the land surface was achieved from groundwater level recovering management. It is found in this paper that subsidence of 0.08 to 8.49 mm/yr owing to a pseudo-constant secondary consolidation rate emerged or tended to emerge at 13 borehole extensometer station locations while the groundwater levels in the two aquifers were being managed. It is considered to remain stable in trend since 2000. The subsidence due to the secondary consolidation is beyond the control of any groundwater level change management schemes because it is caused by geo-historical overburden pressure on the two aquifers. The compaction measurements collected from the 13 extensometers since 1971 not only successfully corroborate the need for groundwater level change management in controlling land subsidence but also yield the first empirical findings of the occurrence of secondary consolidation subsidence in the Quaternary and Tertiary aquifer systems in the Houston-Galveston region.

Investigating land subsidence of transitional environments

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Zoccarato ◽  
Eugenia Parrella
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Land Subsidence ◽  
Test Duration ◽  
Large Contribution ◽  
Loading Test ◽  
Mean Sea Level ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Geomechanical Properties ◽  
Holocene Sediments ◽  
Transitional Environments

<p>Lagoons and deltas are characterized by the presence of transitional environments, such as low-lying plains or islands, salt marshes, and tidal flats with fundamental value in terms of biodiversity, recreational activities, and protection of inland territories from storms. The fate of these morphological landforms is severely threatened by the ongoing rise of the mean sea level (SLR) and land subsidence (LS). The loss of elevation relative to mean sea level, i.e. SLR plus LS, must be counterbalanced by accretion of inorganic sediments and biodegradation of organic matter. A large contribution to LS of transitional landforms is due to auto-compaction of the Holocene sediments. In fact, the large porosity and compressibility of these recent deposits, especially when the organic fraction is high, are responsible for a significant thickness reduction because of consolidation when new deposition occurs on the surface. SAR interferometry on deep-founded and surface radar scatterers, ground-based monitoring equipment (deep levelling benchmarks, SET, accretion traps), and a novel in-situ loading test have been used in the Venice Lagoon to distinguish between deep and shallow LS contributions, i.e. LS occurring below and above the Pleistocene / Holocene bound. After a review of the available dataset, the present contribution describes the modelling activities that are ongoing to understand the collected measurements. In particular, an advance coupled mixed finite-element poromechanical model is used to reproduce the loading test carried out on the Lazzaretto Nuovo marshland on summer 2019. With the aim of reliably characterize the geomechanical properties of the Holocene sediments of the tidal-marsh, a number of plastic tanks were filled with seawater, reaching a cumulative load of 40 kN applied on a 2.5´1.8 m<sup>2</sup> surface. Specific instrumentations were deployed before positioning the tanks to measure soil vertical displacement and pore overpressure at various depths below the load and distances from the load center. The numerical model uses linear piecewise polynomials and the lowest order Raviart–Thomas mixed space to represent the three-dimensional porous medium motion and the groundwater flow rate, respectively. The model is applied to the various loading and unloading phases that superpose to the tidal fluctuation of the lagoon level recorded over the 4-day test duration. The geomechanical properties thus derived constitute a significant advancement to understand the LS drivers in transitional environments and predict their resilience to SLR.    </p>

A GPS-based monitoring program of land subsidence due to groundwater withdrawal in Iran

2001 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 452-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Morteza Mousavi ◽  
Abolfazl Shamsai ◽  
M Hesham El Naggar ◽  
Mashallah Khamehchian
Keyword(s):  
Land Subsidence ◽  
Groundwater Level ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Mass Movement ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Groundwater Withdrawal ◽  
Water Wells ◽  
Global Positioning ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Rafsanjan Plain

Land subsidence, lowering of the land surface by mass movement, has been caused by human activities in many countries all over the world. The full economic impact of man-induced subsidence is large, yet difficult to estimate. Groundwater withdrawal is one of the most important causes of land subsidence that has caused extremely expensive damages to buildings, walls, roads, railroads, pipelines, and casings of the water wells. A necessary step to perform a proper analysis of land subsidence is to obtain accurate measurements of actual subsidence at certain intervals. The objective of this paper is to evaluate land subsidence using global positioning system (GPS) technique. One example of subsiding areas is the Rafsanjan plain, which has had the most subsidence in Iran. First, the latest situation of land subsidence in the Rafsanjan plain as well as the geological, hydrogeological conditions and groundwater utilization are explained. Next, the monitoring program and engineering works for its implementation are discussed. Finally, the results of two successive measurements carried out recently as the first attempt in Iran to monitor land subsidence by using GPS are presented and interpreted. Based on the results obtained, it was found that the relationship between the decline of groundwater level and land subsidence is not exactly or necessarily linear at every point. Also, the response of different points of the soil body within the plain would not be the same due to the groundwater withdrawal and the change in groundwater level. The ground behavior is influenced by many other factors such as the thickness of aquifer, soil structure, and interlaying manner of sublayers.Key words: land subsidence, groundwater, monitoring, GPS, Iran.

The role of sediment compaction and groundwater withdrawal in local sea-level rise, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, USA

2018 ◽  
Vol 181 ◽  
pp. 30-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher S. Johnson ◽  
Kenneth G. Miller ◽  
James V. Browning ◽  
Robert E. Kopp ◽  
Nicole S. Khan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Jersey ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Groundwater Withdrawal ◽  
Sediment Compaction ◽  
Sandy Hook

scholarly journals New groundwater-level rise data from the Rhine-Meuse delta – implications for the reconstruction of Holocene relative mean sea-level rise and differential land-level movements

2007 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 333-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.J.A. Berendsen ◽  
B Makaske ◽  
O. van de Plassche ◽  
M.H.M van Ree ◽  
S. Das ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Groundwater Level ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Plain Water ◽  
Mean Sea Level ◽  
Ams Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Delta Plain ◽  
Aeolian Dunes

AbstractWe present new local groundwater-level rise data from two Late Glacial aeolian dunes, located near Barendrecht and Oud-Alblas in the western Rhine-Meuse delta. These data are based on AMS radiocarbon dating of terrestrial macrofossils, collected from the base of peat formed on the slopes of these dunes. This method avoids contamination of bulk peat samples by old soil carbon or younger rootlets and rhizomes, as well as the hardwater effect. The new data are used to assess the reliability of previously published groundwater-level index data based on conventional radiocarbon dating of bulk basal peat samples from the slopes of the Late Glacial aeolian dunes at Barendrecht, Hillegersberg, Bolnes and Wijngaarden, all located in the western Rhine-Meuse delta.Comparison of the new and published groundwater-level data shows no significant systematic difference between conventionally dated bulk peat samples and AMS-dated samples of terrestrial macrofossils. The new data from the dune at Barendrecht confirm the reliability of the younger than 6600 cal yr BP age-depth data from the dunes at Hillegersberg and near Bolnes. This result supports the validity of this part of the mean sea-level (MSL) curve for the western Netherlands. Consequently, the position of the groundwater-level curve for Flevoland (central Netherlands) below this MSL curve can most likely be attributed to differential land-level movement.The available data show that the groundwater-gradient effect in the western Rhine-Meuse delta became less than 5 cm/km after 6600 cal yr BP. Finally, temporal correlation between temporary increases in local groundwater-level rise with known shifts of river courses in the delta plain suggests, that avulsions can explain sudden local deviations from the trend in groundwater-level rise. A general conclusion of this study is that a complex relationship exists between sea level and local delta-plain water levels.

scholarly journals The Secondary Consolidation (Creep) due to Geohistorical Overburden Pressure in the Houston-Galveston Region, Texas

2020 ◽  
Vol 382 ◽  
pp. 315-320
Author(s):  
Yi Liu ◽  
Jiang Li ◽  
Zheng N. Fang ◽  
Mojtaba Rashvand ◽  
Tranell Griffin
Keyword(s):  
Land Subsidence ◽  
Groundwater Level ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Surface Subsidence ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Groundwater Withdrawal ◽  
Overburden Pressure ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Consolidation Rate ◽  
Primary Consolidation

Abstract. The combination of groundwater withdrawal, hydrocarbon extraction, salt-dome movement and faulting have caused widespread subsidence in the Houston-Galveston region (HGR). Subsidence results from primary consolidation consisting of inelastic (nonrecoverable) and elastic (recoverable) compaction caused by subsurface fluid withdrawal and secondary consolidation (creep) over time caused by overburden pressure. Subsidence in the HGR is monitored using borehole extensometers that were installed at 13 locations across Harris and Galveston counties between 1962 and 1980. By 1977, withdrawals from the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers resulted in groundwater-level declines of about 114 and 115 m relative to predevelopment water levels, respectively in parts of Harris County. By 1979, as much as 3 m of land subsidence was estimated to have occurred in localized areas of the HGR. Land subsidence can be hazardous in populated areas because it exacerbates the effects of storm surge and impedes storm-water runoff by decreasing land-surface elevations in areas where water accumulates. To assess aquifer compaction in response to changes in groundwater levels, a bulk land-surface subsidence rate is assumed to be the sum of the primary consolidation rate and the negligibly variable component of overburden pressure referred to as the “pseudo-constant secondary consolidation rate.” From 1931 to 1976, groundwater levels decreased as groundwater withdrawal rates increased from 0.57 to 4.3 million m3 d−1, causing pressure heads in aquitards the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers to continually decline. In response to reductions in groundwater withdrawal rates from 4.3 to 3.0 million m3 d−1 between 1976 and 2001, groundwater levels rebounded, decreasing inelastic compaction rates in some parts of the HGR from as much as about 40 mm yr−1 in the early 1980s to negligible amounts by 2000. Inelastic consolidation from about 1937 to 2000 contributed to land-surface subsidence and its associated effects. Land-surfaces have rebounded in localized areas of the HGR where groundwater levels rebounded significantly. Pseudo-constant secondary consolidation rates were computed at each of the 13 extensometers and ranged from 0.48 to 8.49 mm yr−1 in areas where groundwater levels in the two aquifers were stabilizing. This secondary consolidation subsidence is beyond the control of any groundwater-level management schemes because it is caused by geohistorical overburden pressure on the two aquifers.

scholarly journals Mid-Holocene water-level changes in the lower Rhine-Meuse delta (western Netherlands): implications for the reconstruction of relative mean sea-level rise, palaeoriver-gradients and coastal evolution

2010 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. van de Plassche ◽  
B. Makaske ◽  
W.Z. Hoek ◽  
M. Konert ◽  
J. van der Plicht
Keyword(s):  
Water Level ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Groundwater Level ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Mean Sea Level ◽  
Index Data ◽  
Paired Samples ◽  
Aeolian Dunes ◽  
Lower Rhine

AbstractWe present a revised relative mean sea-level (MSL) curve for the Rhine-Meuse delta, western Netherlands, for the period 7900-5300 cal yr BP. The revision is based on a series of new and previously unpublished local groundwater-level index data from buried Late Glacial aeolian dunes in the lower Rhine-Meuse delta, and reinterpretation of existing data.The new index data consist of (AMS and conventional) radiocarbon dates of samples, collected from the base of peat formed on dune slopes, near Vlaardingen (21 index points), Hillegersberg (one index point), and Hardinxveld-Giessendam (10 index points). The Vlaardingen data represent the coast-nearest Rhine-Meuse delta local water-level record, which therefore is highly indicative for sea-level change. Pollen and macrofossil analysis, and dating of paired samples was carried out to assess the reliability of the groundwater-level index data.The revision of the MSL curve involves: (1) a significant (0 to >1 m) upward adjustment for the period 7900-7300 cal yr BP; (2) a downward adjustment of <0.25 m for the period 6650-5300 cal yr BP. The new data indirectly support the reliability of the part of the curve for the period 7300-6650 cal yr BP. A longitudinally fairly uniform river gradient of 2.5-3.0 cm/km in the lower Rhine-Meuse delta during the period 6650-5600 cal yr BP can be inferred from the data sets. A significant river gradient extended further towards the coastline than previously thought and it may be that also the revised MSL curve reflects river-gradient effects. An increased floodbasin effect (stronger intra-coastal tidal damping) seems to have developed in the lower Rhine-Meuse delta in de period 7500-6600 cal yr BP, and was probably a complex response to a major avulsion of the Rhine.

Note on Selection of Coordinate Systems for Geodynamics

1975 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 395-407
Author(s):  
S. Henriksen
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
The Other ◽  
Coordinate Systems ◽  
Mean Sea Level ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The One ◽  
Static Systems ◽  
Selection Of

The first question to be answered, in seeking coordinate systems for geodynamics, is: what is geodynamics? The answer is, of course, that geodynamics is that part of geophysics which is concerned with movements of the Earth, as opposed to geostatics which is the physics of the stationary Earth. But as far as we know, there is no stationary Earth – epur sic monere. So geodynamics is actually coextensive with geophysics, and coordinate systems suitable for the one should be suitable for the other. At the present time, there are not many coordinate systems, if any, that can be identified with a static Earth. Certainly the only coordinate of aeronomic (atmospheric) interest is the height, and this is usually either as geodynamic height or as pressure. In oceanology, the most important coordinate is depth, and this, like heights in the atmosphere, is expressed as metric depth from mean sea level, as geodynamic depth, or as pressure. Only for the earth do we find “static” systems in use, ana even here there is real question as to whether the systems are dynamic or static. So it would seem that our answer to the question, of what kind, of coordinate systems are we seeking, must be that we are looking for the same systems as are used in geophysics, and these systems are dynamic in nature already – that is, their definition involvestime.

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