Engineering geology approach to the effects of land subsidence in Mexico City

2012 ◽  
pp. 115-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariano Cerca ◽  
Dora Carreón-Freyre ◽  
Penélope López-Quiroz ◽  
Efraín Ovando-Shelley ◽  
Marie Pierre Doin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mexico City ◽  
Land Subsidence ◽  
Engineering Geology

Sentinel-1 InSAR survey to constrain subsidence-induced surface faulting and quantify its induced risk in major cities of central Mexico

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Cigna ◽  
Deodato Tapete
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
Land Subsidence ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Urban Infrastructure ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
Central Mexico ◽  
Groundwater Exploitation ◽  
Persistent Scatterers

<p>Several major cities in central Mexico suffer from aquifer depletion and land subsidence driven by overexploitation of groundwater resources to address increasing water demands for domestic, industrial and agricultural use. Ground settlement often combines with surface faulting, fracturing and cracking, causing damage to urban infrastructure, including private properties and public buildings, as well as transport infrastructure and utility networks. These impacts are very common and induce significant economic loss, thus representing a key topic of concern for inhabitants, authorities and stakeholders. This work provides an Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) 2014-2020 survey based on parallel processing of Sentinel-1 IW big data stacks within ESA’s Geohazards Exploitation Platform (GEP), using hosted on-demand services based on multi-temporal InSAR methods including Small BAseline Subset (SBAS) and Persistent Scatterers Interferometry (PSI). Surface faulting hazard is constrained based on differential settlement observations and the estimation of angular distortions that are produced on urban structures. The assessment of the E-W deformation field and computation of horizontal strain also allows the identification of hogging (tensile strain or extension) and sagging (compression) zones, where building cracks are more likely to develop at the highest and lowest elevations, respectively. Sentinel-1 observations agree with in-situ observations, static GPS surveying and continuous GNSS monitoring data. The distribution of field surveyed faults and fissures compared with maps of angular distortions and strain also enables the identification of areas with potentially yet-unmapped and incipient ground discontinuities. A methodology to embed such information into the process of surface faulting risk assessment for urban infrastructure is proposed and demonstrated for the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City [1], one of the fastest sinking cities globally (up to 40 cm/year subsidence rates), and the state of Aguascalientes [2], where a structurally-controlled fast subsidence process (over 10 cm/year rates) affects the namesake valley and capital city. The value of this research lies in the demonstration that InSAR data and their derived parameters are not only essential to constrain the deformation processes, but can also serve as a direct input into risk assessment to quantify (at least, as a lower bound) the percentage of properties and population at risk, and monitor how this percentage may change as land subsidence evolves.</p><p>[1] Cigna F., Tapete D. 2021. Present-day land subsidence rates, surface faulting hazard and risk in Mexico City with 2014–2020 Sentinel-1 IW InSAR. <em>Remote Sens. Environ.</em> 253, 1-19, doi:10.1016/j.rse.2020.112161</p><p>[2] Cigna F., Tapete D. 2021. Satellite InSAR survey of structurally-controlled land subsidence due to groundwater exploitation in the Aguascalientes Valley, Mexico. <em>Remote Sens. Environ.</em> 254, 1-23, doi:10.1016/j.rse.2020.112254</p>

scholarly journals Analysis of long-term land subsidence near Mexico City: Field investigations and predictive modeling

1999 ◽  
Vol 35 (11) ◽  
pp. 3327-3341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Ortega-Guerrero ◽  
David L. Rudolph ◽  
John A. Cherry
Keyword(s):  
Mexico City ◽  
Predictive Modeling ◽  
Land Subsidence ◽  
Field Investigations

The DRASTIC-Sg model: an extension to the DRASTIC approach for mapping groundwater vulnerability in aquifers subject to differential land subsidence, with application to Mexico City

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 1469-1485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Hernández-Espriú ◽  
J. Antonio Reyna-Gutiérrez ◽  
Emilio Sánchez-León ◽  
Enrique Cabral-Cano ◽  
Jaime Carrera-Hernández ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mexico City ◽  
Land Subsidence ◽  
Groundwater Vulnerability ◽  
Differential Land Subsidence

scholarly journals New information on regional subsidence and soil fracturing in Mexico City Valley

2015 ◽  
Vol 372 ◽  
pp. 39-44
Author(s):  
G. Auvinet ◽  
E. Méndez-Sánchez ◽  
M. Juárez-Camarena
Keyword(s):  
Mexico City ◽  
Land Subsidence ◽  
Ground Surface ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Light Detection And Ranging ◽  
Light Detection ◽  
Downtown Area ◽  
New Information ◽  
Cloud Of Points ◽  
Regional Land

Abstract. In this paper, updated information about regional subsidence in Mexico City downtown area is presented. Data obtained by R. Gayol in 1891, are compared with information obtained recently from surveys using the reference points of Sistema de Aguas de la Ciudad de México (2008) and on the elevation of a cloud of points on the ground surface determined using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology. In addition, this paper provides an overview of recent data obtained from systematic studies focused on understanding soil fracturing associated with regional land subsidence and mapping of areas susceptible to cracking in Mexico City Valley.

That Sinking Feeling

High and Dry ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
William M. Alley ◽  
Rosemarie Alley
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Management ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
Land Subsidence ◽  
Central Valley ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
Santa Clara Valley ◽  
Success Stories ◽  
The World ◽  
California's Central Valley ◽  
California’S Central Valley

Land subsidence from over pumping groundwater is a serious problem affecting many parts of the world. This chapter begins with Joseph Poland, the pioneer of land subsidence investigations. The chapter then discusses how drought combined with a lack of groundwater management led to renewed land subsidence in California’s Central Valley. Mexico City, which has one of the most serious urban land subsidence problems in the world, is also discussed. The chapter then moves to success stories in bringing subsidence under control, such as California’s Santa Clara Valley; Houston, Texas; and Bangkok, Thailand.

scholarly journals Mexico City land subsidence in 2014–2015 with Sentinel-1 IW TOPS: Results using the Intermittent SBAS (ISBAS) technique

2016 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 230-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Sowter ◽  
Moh. Bin Che Amat ◽  
Francesca Cigna ◽  
Stuart Marsh ◽  
Ahmed Athab ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mexico City ◽  
Land Subsidence

scholarly journals Land Subsidence risk maps and InSAR based angular distortion structural vulnerability assessment: an example in Mexico City

2020 ◽  
Vol 382 ◽  
pp. 583-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrique Fernández-Torres ◽  
Enrique Cabral-Cano ◽  
Dario Solano-Rojas ◽  
Emre Havazli ◽  
Luis Salazar-Tlaczani
Keyword(s):  
Mexico City ◽  
Land Subsidence ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
Ground Subsidence ◽  
Angular Distortion ◽  
Structural Vulnerability ◽  
Civil Structures ◽  
The City

Abstract. Land subsidence is a phenomenon present in several cities in central Mexico, and results from a combination of groundwater resources' overexploitation and the local stratigraphic nature. Furthermore, subsidence occurs inhomogeneously in space, producing differential vertical displacements, which affect both the natural media, as well as human-built structures. Subsidence associated structural-vulnerability assessments usually rely on direct field measurements to determine parameters such as angular distortion. However, the large areas in which land subsidence occurs (city-scale) in Mexico City hinders a direct quantification of differential displacements for all buildings and structures present in it. A Sentinel-1 based subsidence analysis shows that the highest velocities are located on the eastern sector of the city. This velocity map was used as the basis for a population density weighted land subsidence correlation analysis. Our Land Subsidence Risk assessment indicates that 15.43 % of the population of Mexico City live in intermediate, high and very-high risk zones which corresponds to 1 358 873 inhabitants. Therefore, a significant percentage of Mexico City's population is vulnerable to suffering damage in their housing structures due to land subsidence. Furthermore, the lower income inhabitants share a proportionally greater economic cost due to land subsidence and associated shallow faulting. The structural vulnerability analysis of the civil structures in the city was performed using angular distortion maps derived from the subsidence velocity gradient between October 2014–October 2017 period. These maps indicate that within this time window, ∼12 % of the total urbanized area in Mexico City had already exceeded a 0.002 radian angular distortion threshold; above which damage in civil structures is more likely to occur. In fact, more than 1 million people have already suffered damages in their houses due to the differential ground subsidence and the resulting structural angular distortion. With these results, we can evaluate correspondence between angular distortion map and critical infrastructure of the city, as a result, we found that between 0 % and 12.84 % of these buildings have undergone over 0.002 radian angular distortion.

scholarly journals Remotely triggered subsidence acceleration in Mexico City induced by the September 2017 <i>M</i><sub>w</sub> 7.1 Puebla and the <i>M</i><sub>w</sub> 8.2 Tehuantepec September 2017 earthquakes

2020 ◽  
Vol 382 ◽  
pp. 683-687
Author(s):  
Dario Solano-Rojas ◽  
Enrique Cabral-Cano ◽  
Enrique Fernández-Torres ◽  
Emre Havazli ◽  
Shimon Wdowinski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mexico City ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Land Subsidence ◽  
Earthquake Hazard ◽  
Earthquake Triggering ◽  
Future Scenario ◽  
Flooding Hazard ◽  
Hazard Assessments ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Large Earthquakes

Abstract. Mexico City, a large megacity with over 21 million inhabitants, is exposed to several hazards, including land subsidence, earthquakes, and flooding. Hazard assessments for each hazard type is typically treated separately and usually do not include considerations for any relations among the hazards. Our data makes it plausible for an earthquake triggering case that temporarily accelerated the subsidence rate in the metropolitan area as a result of the Mw 8.2 Tehuantepec and the Mw 7.1 Puebla, September 2017 earthquakes that affected Mexico City. Furthermore, the triggering effect induced rapid slip along previously developed shallow faults associated with subsidence. These results indicate that any future scenario of land subsidence should consider a potential triggering effect by large earthquakes. Similarly, earthquake hazard assessments should also consider potential impact on shallow faulting and fracturing associated with land subsidence.

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