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Assessing Impacts of Land Subsidence in Victoria County, Texas, Using Geospatial Analysis

Muhammad Younas, Shuhab D. Khan, Muhammad Qasim and Younes Hamed (hamedhydro.tn@gmail.com)
Additional contact information
Muhammad Younas: Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Science and Research Building 1, University of Houston, 3507 Cullen Blvd, Room 312, Houston, TX 77204, USA
Shuhab D. Khan: Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Science and Research Building 1, University of Houston, 3507 Cullen Blvd, Room 312, Houston, TX 77204, USA
Muhammad Qasim: Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Science and Research Building 1, University of Houston, 3507 Cullen Blvd, Room 312, Houston, TX 77204, USA
Younes Hamed: Laboratory for the Application of Materials to the Environment, Water and Energy (LAM3E), Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gafsa, Gafsa 2112, Tunisia

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-20

Abstract: Land subsidence is an ongoing problem negatively affecting Victoria County along the Gulf Coast. Groundwater withdrawal and hydrocarbon extraction in the County are some of the known factors behind this geological hazard. In this study, we have used geospatial analysis and a conceptual model to evaluate land subsidence. A significant decline in the groundwater level in this area was noted from 2006 to 2016. The decline in the water level correlates with the major drought events along the Gulf Coast reported in earlier studies. These results are further corroborated by the emerging hotspot analysis performed on the groundwater data. This analysis divides the study area into intensifying, sporadic, and persistent hotspots in the northwest region and intensifying, persistent coldspots in the southeast region of Victoria County. Hydrocarbon production data show high oil and gas extraction from 2017 to 2021. There are a higher number of hydrocarbon production wells in the central and southern regions of the County than elsewhere. The conceptual models relate these events and suggest the existence of subsidence in the County, through which the water and hydrocarbon reservoirs in the study area may lose their reservoir characteristics due to sediment compaction.

Keywords: land subsidence; groundwater; optimized hotspot; emerging hotspot; conceptual model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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