Estimating the Subsidence Rate of Eyvanakey Plain and Analyzing the Role of Human Activities in its Occurrence

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• Amirali Abbaszadeh ¹
• Amir Safari ²
• Ali Ahmadabadi ²

¹ Ph.D student in geomorphology, University of Kharazmi, Tehran, Iran.

² Associate Professor in Geomorphology, University of Kharazmi, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/geoeh.2024.87559.1477

Abstract

Land subsidence is a significant hazard affecting many plains of Iran, including the Eyvanakey Plain in Semnan Province. The Eyvanakey Plain has a high potential for subsidence due to the influence of climate and topography. Given the importance of this issue, the present research aims to evaluate land subsidence in the Eyvanakey Plain and analyze the factors contributing to its occurrence.
In this study, Sentinel-1 radar images, Landsat satellite imagery, and data from piezometric wells in the region were utilized as primary research data. The key tools employed include GMT, ArcGIS, ENVI, and SPSS software. The study was conducted in two main phases: first, an assessment of land subsidence in the region from 2016 to 2022, and second, an analysis of the impact of groundwater depletion and land use changes on subsidence.
The results indicate that the study area experienced subsidence ranging from 28 to 533 mm over the six-year period, which is a significant amount. Spatial analysis of the subsidence reveals that the highest rates occurred in the southern parts of the Eyvanakey Plain. These areas also experienced an annual drop in groundwater levels of approximately 2 meters, highlighting groundwater depletion as one of the primary causes of subsidence.
Furthermore, based on the results, the extent of man-made areas and agricultural lands increased by 6.9 km² and 2.7 km², respectively, between 1992 and 2022. Given that the highest levels of subsidence were observed in these land use areas, the development of agricultural lands and man-made areas has been identified as the main cause of subsidence.

Keywords

• Land Subsidence
• Groundwater Depletion
• Eyvanakey Plain
• Land Use changes
• Sentinel-1 Radar Imagery
• Spatial Analysis

Main Subjects

• Land subsidence

©2024 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)

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