Abstract
Su-Xi-Chang area is one of the typical regions in China which suffers from severe land subsidence. Various field monitoring records were integrated to study the characteristics and mechanisms of land subsidence in this region. The development of the land subsidence in this region shows a tight spatial and temporal correlation with the groundwater pumping. Based on the analysis of the field data, it is found that the deformation patterns of the hydrogeologic units are greatly related to the hydrogeologic properties and groundwater level variations. Some have an elastic behavior, others may have an elastic–plastic rheology. Hence, a 3D finite element numerical model considering the rheological properties of the soil was developed to simulate the groundwater level and land subsidence. Both hydraulic conductivity and specific storage were expected to vary with the porosity during the process of consolidation. Multiscale finite element method (MsFEM) was applied to solve the model during the period from 1996 to 2004. After calibrating the model with the observed groundwater level and subsidence data, the parameters of the multi-layers system were estimated. The calibrated model outputs fit reasonably well with the observed data. Consequently the model can be applied to predict groundwater level and land subsidence in future pumping scenarios. The model predictive results show that land subsidence rate can be controlled and even rebound may occur after the implementation of the groundwater exploitation prohibition.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express appreciation to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions The investigation has been financially supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China grants No. 40335045, 40702037 and the National Science Foundation for Distinguished Youth Scholar No. 40725010.
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254_2008_1419_MOESM3_ESM.tif
Map of the piezometric head (m asl) of the second confined aquifer as measured in Dec., 1995 and used as initial condition in the flow simulations (TIFF 516 kb)
254_2008_1419_MOESM4_ESM.tif
Map of the cumulative land subsidence (mm) as measured in Dec., 1995 and used as initial condition in the deformation simulations (TIFF 499 kb)
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Wu, JC., Shi, XQ., Ye, SJ. et al. Numerical simulation of land subsidence induced by groundwater overexploitation in Su-Xi-Chang area, China. Environ Geol 57, 1409–1421 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-008-1419-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-008-1419-5