Monitoring of subrosion induced mass changes by time-lapse gravity surveys

Two case studies from Germany

authored by: Gerald Gabriel, Martin Kobe, Adelheid Weise, Ludger Timmen
Abstract: Subrosion is a geological process, which occurs worldwide. In extreme cases, it leads to the development of collapse sinkholes, which can pose a severe hazard, especially in urban areas. Hence, concepts are required to monitor the processes, which are related to subrosion. In two case studies we show the feasibility and the success of an approach that combines repeated levelling and time-lapse gravity surveys in the subrosion-prone urban areas of Bad Frankenhausen and Hamburg-Flottbek in Germany. Over several years of observation, in which quarterly measurement campaigns were carried out, we found both evidence of ongoing subsidence and mass redistribution in the subsurface. Especially for the known sinkhole areas, a decrease of gravity in the order of up to 2 μGal·a-1 suggests ongoing underground leaching and mass loss at both locations. In the context of data processing, we successfully applied a correction of the effects of varying soil water content on the adjusted gravity differences using the global model GLDAS Noah.
Organisation(s): Institute of Geodesy
External Organisation(s): Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG)
Type: Conference contribution
Volume: 2019
Pages: 1-5
No. of pages: 5
Publication date: 2019
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Environmental Engineering, Geophysics, Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.3997/2214-4609.201902357 (Access: Closed)
: Details in the research portal "Research@Leibniz University"

BibTeX

@inproceedings{af972e44fbcc44fd812c8a85bcccfe2a,
title = "Monitoring of subrosion induced mass changes by time-lapse gravity surveys: Two case studies from Germany",
abstract = "Subrosion is a geological process, which occurs worldwide. In extreme cases, it leads to the development of collapse sinkholes, which can pose a severe hazard, especially in urban areas. Hence, concepts are required to monitor the processes, which are related to subrosion. In two case studies we show the feasibility and the success of an approach that combines repeated levelling and time-lapse gravity surveys in the subrosion-prone urban areas of Bad Frankenhausen and Hamburg-Flottbek in Germany. Over several years of observation, in which quarterly measurement campaigns were carried out, we found both evidence of ongoing subsidence and mass redistribution in the subsurface. Especially for the known sinkhole areas, a decrease of gravity in the order of up to 2 μGal·a-1 suggests ongoing underground leaching and mass loss at both locations. In the context of data processing, we successfully applied a correction of the effects of varying soil water content on the adjusted gravity differences using the global model GLDAS Noah.",
author = "Gerald Gabriel and Martin Kobe and Adelheid Weise and Ludger Timmen",
note = "Funding information: The work is part of the project SIMULTAN funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF, grant no. 03G0843A), which is gratefully acknowledged.; 25th European Meeting of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics, Held at Near Surface Geoscience Conference and Exhibition 2019, NSG 2019 ; Conference date: 08-09-2019 Through 12-09-2019",
year = "2019",
doi = "10.3997/2214-4609.201902357",
language = "English",
volume = "2019",
pages = "1--5",
booktitle = "Conference Proceedings",
publisher = "European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers, EAGE",
}