Causes of Land Subsidence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia |
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| Authors: | Amin Ammar Bankher Khalid |
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| Institution: | (1) Faculty of Earth Sciences, King Abdul Aziz University, PO Box 1744, Jeddah, 21441, Saudi Arabia |
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| Abstract: | The occurrence of land subsidence in the Kingdom Saudi Arabia is either natural or man-made. Natural land subsidence occurs due to the development of subterranean voids by a solution of host rocks in carbonate and evaporite terrains, over many areas of Saudi Arabia. Man-induced land subsidence is either due to the removal of groundwater in the agricultural areas or to wetting of unstable soils. Therefore, earth fissures and a lowering of the ground surface in unconsolidated sediments took place in alluvial plains and volcanic vent terrains. Unstable soils include Sabkha soils and loess sediments. These types of soils occur in coastal plains, desert areas and volcanic terrains. When this soil is wetted either during agricultural activities, waste disposal or even during a rain storm, subsidence takes place due to either the removal of salts from the Sabkha soil or the rearrangement of soil particles in loess sediments. |
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| Keywords: | land subsidence karst salt diapers loess sediments Sabkha soil |
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