Engineering Geology

E n g i n e e r i n g G e o l o g y
structure may deform in order to adjust to the new stress conditions. In particular, the porosity
of the deposits concerned undergoes a reduction in volume, the surface manifestation of
which is subsidence. Subsidence occurs over a longer period of time than that taken for
abstraction. However, in aquifers composed of sand and/or gravel, the consolidation that
takes place due to the increase in effective pressure is more or less immediate.
The amount of subsidence that occurs is governed by the increase in effective pressure, the
thickness and compressibility of the deposits concerned, the length of time over which the
increased loading is applied, and possibly the rate and type of stress applied. For example,
the most noticeable subsidences in the Houston-Galveston region of Texas have occurred
where the declines in head have been largest and where the thickness of clay in the aquifer
system is greatest (Buckley et al., 2003). Furthermore, the ratio between maximum subsidence
and groundwater reservoir consolidation is related to the ratio between the depth of burial and
the lateral extent of the reservoir. In other words, small reservoirs that are deeply buried do not
give rise to noticeable subsidence, even if subjected to considerable consolidation. By contrast,
extremely large underground reservoirs may develop appreciable subsidence.
The rate at which consolidation occurs depends on the rate at which the pore water can drain
from the system that, in turn, is governed by its permeability. For instance, the low permeability
and high specific storage of aquitards and aquicludes under virgin stress conditions means
that the escape of water and resultant adjustment of pore water pressures is slow and timedependent.
Consequently, in fine-grained beds, the increase in stress that accompanies the
decline in head becomes effective only as rapidly as the pore water pressures are lowered
toward equilibrium with the pressures in adjacent aquifers. The time required to reach this
stage varies directly according to the specific storage and the square of the thickness of the
zone from which drainage is occurring and inversely according to the vertical permeability of
the aquitard. In fact, it may take months or years for fine-grained beds to adjust to increases
in stress. Moreover, the rate of consolidation of slow-draining aquitards reduces with time and
is usually small after a few years of loading. Maps showing the rates of subsidence, accurate
to a few millimetres per year, can be drawn for periods currently up to a decade long. For
example, Bell et al. (2002) reported using InSAR to investigate land subsidence in the
Las Vegas area, Nevada. They were able to show that subsidence was located within
four basins, each bounded by faults of Quaternary age.
In addition to being the most prominent effect in subsiding groundwater basins, surface fissuring
and faulting may develop suddenly and therefore pose a greater potential threat to surface
structures (Fig. 8.27). In the United States, such fissuring and faulting has occurred,
especially in the San Joaquin Valley, the Houston–Galveston region and in central Arizona.
These fissures, and more particularly the faults, frequently occur along the periphery of
the basin. The faults are high-angled normal faults, with the downthrow on the side towards
440