Earth fissures triggered by groundwater withdrawal and coupled by geological structures in Jiangsu Province,China |
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| Authors: | G Y Wang G You B Shi J Yu H Y Li K H Zong |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Geoscience, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China;(2) School of Science and Engineering, University of Ballarat, University Drive, Mt Helen, Ballarat, VIC, 3353, Australia;(3) Geological Survey of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing, 210018, China |
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| Abstract: | Earth fissures in Jiangsu Province, China have caused serious damages to properties, farmlands, and infrastructures and adversely
affected the local or regional economic development. Under the geological and environmental background in Jiangsu Province,
this paper presents the earth fissures caused by excessive groundwater withdrawal and coupled by distinctive geological structures
such as Ancient Yellow River Fault in Xuzhou karst area, and Ancient Yangtze River Course and bedrock hills in Suzhou, Wuxi,
and Changzhou area. Although all the earth fissures are triggered by groundwater exploitation, the characteristics are strongly
affected by the specific geological and hydrogeological settings. In particular, in the water-thirsty Xuzhou city, the cone
of depression caused by groundwater extraction enlarged nearly 20 times and the piezometric head of groundwater declined 17 m
over a decade. As groundwater is extracted from the shallowly buried karst strata in the Ancient Yellow River Fault zone,
the development of earth fissures is highly associated with the development of karstic cavities and sinkholes and their distribution
is controlled by the Ancient Yellow River Fault with all the 17 sinkholes on the fault. On the other hand, in the rapidly
developing Southern Jiangsu Province, groundwater is mainly pumped from the second confined aquifer in the Quaternary, which
is distributed neither homogeneously nor isotropically. The second confined aquifer comprises more than 50 m thick sand over
the Ancient Yangtze River Course, but this layer may completely miss on the riverbank and bedrock hills. With a typical drawdown
rate of 4–6 m per annum, the piezometric head of groundwater in the second confined aquifer has declined 76 m at Maocunyuan
since 1970s and 40 m at Changjing since mid-1980s, and a large land subsidence, e.g., 1,100 mm at Maocunyuan, is triggered.
Coupled with the dramatic change of the bedrock topography that was revealed through traditional geological drilling and modern
seismic reflection methods, the geological-structure-controlled differential settlement and earth fissures are phenomenal
in this area. |
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| Keywords: | Earth fissure Groundwater withdrawal Geological structure Jiangsu Land subsidence Sinkhole |
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