{"id":1305,"date":"2026-05-12T21:47:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T21:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/basic-hydrogeology-an-introduction-to-the-fundamentals-of-groundwater-science\/chapter\/land-subsidence\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T03:23:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T03:23:47","slug":"land-subsidence","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/basic-hydrogeology-an-introduction-to-the-fundamentals-of-groundwater-science\/chapter\/land-subsidence\/","title":{"raw":"15.5 Land Subsidence","rendered":"15.5 Land Subsidence"},"content":{"raw":"
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\r\n\r\nAs shown in Section 15, decreased pore fluid pressure in aquifers (i.e., decreased stress) results in strain that manifests as a reduction in thickness of the formation. In certain types of geologic environments, the changes in thickness can be significant, resulting in a reduction in the elevation of the ground surface called land subsidence<\/em>. A primary cause of land subsidence throughout the world is extensive removal of groundwater through pumping from water supply wells, and many metropolitan areas \u2013 including Jakarta, Bangkok, Houston, and Mexico City \u2013 have experienced land surface subsidence of up to tens of meters in many places. Numerous hazards and negative impacts are associated with subsidence. On a local scale, subsidence results in instability that can damage building foundations, utility lines, and pavements. On a regional scale, subsidence changes surface drainage patterns and makes flooding events more intense and damaging. Coastal areas experiencing subsidence are especially vulnerable to storm surges and other issues associated with rising sea levels. For many of these areas, the dependence upon groundwater for municipal, and other, water supplies makes it extremely difficult to mitigate subsidence. Much of the subsidence that occurred to date is non-recoverable, which means that the ground surface elevation lost to subsidence will never be reversed or restored.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nMore information on land subsidence can be found in Land Subsidence and its Mitigation<\/u><\/em><\/span><\/a>\u2197 by Gambolati and Teatini (2021), which is available from The Groundwater Project as a free download or to be read online.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"
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As shown in Section 15, decreased pore fluid pressure in aquifers (i.e., decreased stress) results in strain that manifests as a reduction in thickness of the formation. In certain types of geologic environments, the changes in thickness can be significant, resulting in a reduction in the elevation of the ground surface called land subsidence<\/em>. A primary cause of land subsidence throughout the world is extensive removal of groundwater through pumping from water supply wells, and many metropolitan areas \u2013 including Jakarta, Bangkok, Houston, and Mexico City \u2013 have experienced land surface subsidence of up to tens of meters in many places. Numerous hazards and negative impacts are associated with subsidence. On a local scale, subsidence results in instability that can damage building foundations, utility lines, and pavements. On a regional scale, subsidence changes surface drainage patterns and makes flooding events more intense and damaging. Coastal areas experiencing subsidence are especially vulnerable to storm surges and other issues associated with rising sea levels. For many of these areas, the dependence upon groundwater for municipal, and other, water supplies makes it extremely difficult to mitigate subsidence. Much of the subsidence that occurred to date is non-recoverable, which means that the ground surface elevation lost to subsidence will never be reversed or restored.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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More information on land subsidence can be found in Land Subsidence and its Mitigation<\/u><\/em><\/span><\/a>\u2197 by Gambolati and Teatini (2021), which is available from The Groundwater Project as a free download or to be read online.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"menu_order":67,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-1305","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":1510,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/basic-hydrogeology-an-introduction-to-the-fundamentals-of-groundwater-science\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/basic-hydrogeology-an-introduction-to-the-fundamentals-of-groundwater-science\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/basic-hydrogeology-an-introduction-to-the-fundamentals-of-groundwater-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/basic-hydrogeology-an-introduction-to-the-fundamentals-of-groundwater-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/basic-hydrogeology-an-introduction-to-the-fundamentals-of-groundwater-science\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1772,"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/basic-hydrogeology-an-introduction-to-the-fundamentals-of-groundwater-science\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1305\/revisions\/1772"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/basic-hydrogeology-an-introduction-to-the-fundamentals-of-groundwater-science\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/1510"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/basic-hydrogeology-an-introduction-to-the-fundamentals-of-groundwater-science\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1305\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/basic-hydrogeology-an-introduction-to-the-fundamentals-of-groundwater-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/basic-hydrogeology-an-introduction-to-the-fundamentals-of-groundwater-science\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=1305"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/basic-hydrogeology-an-introduction-to-the-fundamentals-of-groundwater-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=1305"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/basic-hydrogeology-an-introduction-to-the-fundamentals-of-groundwater-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=1305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}