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Environmental Geosciences (DEG)

Abstract

 

Methods for Estimating Associated Risks of Sinkhole Occurrences: A Demonstration Using Available Data from the Ruhr Valley Region of Germany

Ian Lerche1 and Christof Lempp2

1 Department of Geological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208
2 Institut fuer Geowissenschaften und Geiseltal Museum, University of Halle-Wittenberg, Domstrasse 5, D-00106 Halle (Saale),

Ian Lerche is Professor of Geology at the University of South Carolina. His current major research interests are in the fields of basin analysis, salt, economic risk, and environmental problems. He has published several hundred papers and more than a dozen books. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Levorsen Award of the AAPG. Currently, he sits on several editorial boards and is also technical editor of Energy Exploration & Exploitation.

Christof Lempp studied geology and palaeontology at Eberhard-Karls-University of Tuebingen, Germany from 1970 to 1975, and received his Ph.D. degree at University Tuebingen, Germany in 1979. His thesis concerned the weatherability of overconsolidated pelitic rocks and their use in road construction. From 1979 to 1994 he has served as scientist, lecturer, and Assistant Professor at University Fridericiana of Karlsruhe, Institute of Soil Mechanics and Rock Mechanics in the division of civil engineering, involved in such diverse projects as engineering geology and rock mechanics (mining, tunneling, deep drilling, etc.). From 1994 to 1995 he was, by proxy, Professor of Engineering Geology at Technical University of Berlin, Germany. Since 1995, he has served as Professor of Engineering Geology at Martin-Luther-University in Halle, Germany.


ABSTRACT

The generation of sinkholes in the Ruhr valley region in Germany is caused by many centuries of coal mining at various depths and, at the least, by residual underground open spaces that do not stay stable with time. Due to the unknown distribution of underground spaces and their undefined, decreasing stability with time, probability calculations provide a somewhat successful approach in order to obtain information about the risks of sinkhole generation and possible relations to structural, geological, mining, and other influences.

In this article, we demonstrate procedures and strategies for probabilistic calculations of sinkhole generation. In order to explain the basic steps of data organization and calculation, we provide an application of some of the quantitative methods, using an example from a local data set (sinkholes from a map of the Muddental region) combined with the corresponding structural geological map. This example illustrates the basic methods and clarifies the application of probabilistic methods. Due to the small database available, it was not possible to develop the results further, and thereby provide a final unequivocal classification of the dominant causes to understand the risks of sinkhole occurrences. Nevertheless, should further information be made accessible by the relevant authorities, one will be able to improve and statistically sharpen the arguments given here using the probabilistic methods, and so more clearly define the best possible correlations for estimation and prediction of sinkhole occurrences. The main point made, even with the limited data available to date, is that the methods provide powerful tools to help describe systematically the causes and risks of sinkhole occurrences. Current information from the Ruhr valley region would indicate that preventative methods are not being used on a routine basis; rather, postsinkhole occurrence filling with cement and renovation of badly damaged structures is the norm. It is to be hoped that the methods given in this article will soon be applied to help control the sinkhole problem and dangers.

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