EAGE Workshop on Dead Sea Sinkholes
Causes, Effects & Solutions
Field Guidebook
23 September 2012
- This field guidebook is sponsored by the Arab Center for Engineering Studies (ACES) -
www.eage.org
23-25 September 2012
Amman, Jordan
Prepared by:
Professor Najib Abou Karaki, Scientific President of Honor, Dean of the Faculty of Sciences,
University of Jordan
Dr Damien Closson, Signal and Image Centre, Royal Military Academy of Belgium
Acknowledgements:
Geert Janssen (Keller Grundbau GmbH), Honey Barba (EAGE) and colleagues for their
support throughout. This field guidebook is sponsored by the Arab Center for Engineering
Studies (ACES).
Cover: Jordan River entering the Dead Sea (3/19/2010, source: the Web)
2
This field book is sponsored by
the Arab Center for Engineering Studies (ACES)
Company Profile
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year 1983 as a geotechnical and materials testing engineering organization. Today, ACES
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3
Awards
ACES is proud to have been recognized for its commitment to quality and excellence
by winning each and every total quality and excellence recognition award in the markets
where it operates. Winning these distinguished and prestigious awards reflects our pursuit to
reach advanced levels of performance excellence through continuous improvements and has
aided in ACES being recognized as a benchmark of high quality services, management and
business excellence.
A selection of recent awards won by ACES includes:
•King Abdullah II Award for Excellence (2009)
Award in Service Sector (Small and Medium Size Organizations) - Amman, Jordan
•Best Accredited Laboratory (2007)
Accreditation Center - Dubai Municipality, Dubai, UAE
•Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award (2003 - 2004)
Quality Appreciation Certificate - Abu Dhabi, UAE
•Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award (2001 - 2002)
Quality Appreciation Certificate - Abu Dhabi, UAE
•King Abdullah II Award for Excellence (2000)
Award in Service Sector (Small and Medium Size Organizations) - Amman, Jordan
•Dubai Quality Award (2000)
Certificate of Appreciation - Dubai, UAE
Certificates & Accreditations
In its commitment to providing high quality services ACES has built its quality
management system in accordance with the requirements of ISO 9001-2008, ISO/IEC 170252005, ISO 14001-2004, OHSAS 18001-2007 and principles of business excellence.
4
5
Preface
This Field guide is prepared to give an overview of the environmental degradation related to
the Dead Sea level lowering along the Jordanian coastal zones. The guide follows the route
from Amman to Aqaba via the Dead Sea (route 40 until the Jordan valley, then route 65 until
Ghor Mazra’a). Seven stops have been selected to highlight the various facets of the problem,
to provide an overview of the geotechnical issues, to discuss on the expected trends, and the
relationship with the active tectonic setting. This survey will enrich the discussions and
presentations of the next two days (24-25 September 2012).
Environmental conditions along the Dead Sea coast
The Dead Sea is a hypersaline terminal lake located in a pull-apart basin, which is one of the
major components of the Jordan Dead Sea Transform fault system (Abou Karaki 1987). It is
the lowest place on Earth with an elevation of 426 m bMSL in 2012. Most of the Dead Sea
coastal areas are over complex faulted zones related to the Dead Sea pull-apart basin. This
zone is prone to earthquakes and soil liquefaction. Most of the area is characterized by highly
karstic and fractured rock formations that are genetically connected with faults. Karstic
conduits extend from the land into the sea, and the prevailing seaward-sloping rock strata. A
steep escarpment characterizes the morphology. The difference in the elevation between the
lake and the highlands to the East is more than 1210 m over a horizontal distance of 15 km.
Hot and sulphur springs can be found in many places. Due to the maximum level of the lake
at about 180m bMSL in the Pleistocene, marine/saline sediment deposits are the direct causes
of the observed high salinity of some springs adjacent to the shore.
The groundwater discharging along the Dead Sea escarpment shows a variety of chemical
compositions and Electrical Conductivity (EC) values (Salameh and Hammouri 2008). The
water discharges from different aquifers such as, Upper Cretaceous limestones, Lower
Cretaceous sandstones, Permo-Triassic limestones, sandstones and siltstones and Cambrian
Ordovician limestone and sandstones. From Wadi Ibn Hammad (southern Dead Sea)
northwards the groundwater chemistry starts to change gradually; the EC values increase to
1,500–2,000 µS/cm in Zara area (Middle Dead Sea) to 2,000–3,000 µS/cm in Zerka Ma’in
area (northern Dead Sea) and to 5,000–8,000 µS/cm further north in Suweimeh area.
Climate conditions range from semi-arid to arid. The average annual temperature is 24°C
(Figure 1). Precipitation varies from 100mm/yr in the north to 70mm/yr in the south. The
potential evaporation rate is about 2500mm/yr.
The vegetation is very sparse. Only briars and some brackish water tolerant plants (Tamarisk)
grow. The agriculture is limited on small fields of fruit-tree plantations and tomato fields.
6
Figure 1: A - Precipitation from 1990 to 2000. B – Temperature from 1990 to 2001. Data
from the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, south Shuna climate gauging station.
Causes of the Dead Sea level lowering
The Jordan River is the main tributary of the Dead Sea. For the Israelis, the Palestinians and
the Jordanians, its basin is of immense importance as they withdraw large percentages of their
fresh water from it. The exploitation of this limited resource is enmeshed in the complexities
of the Arab-Israeli conflicts. The stalemate remains as illustrated by the 2009-2011 feasibility
study of the Red Sea - Dead Sea Canal to pipe Red Sea water into the Dead Sea.
When the downward trajectory of the Dead Sea level was first noticed in the 1960s,
competition between the Arabs and the Israelis for scarce water resources was such that it led
to hostilities on a number of occasions.
After the 1967 war, the Israelis doubled their access to fresh water resources at the expense of
the Arabs. To partially compensate for the losses, the Jordanian Authorities implemented a
program to recover all waters available in their territory.
Since then, the Dead Sea level has been dropping at an increasing rate: from about 60 cm/yr
in the 1970s up to 1 m/yr in the 2000s. The magnitude of the shoreline withdrawal depends on
the local bathymetry. In 2012, it can reach several kilometers in the southern part. From about
the mid-1980s, sinkholes appeared more and more frequently over and around the emerged
mudflats and saltflats. Strong subsidence and landslides also affect some segments of the
coast. In the 1990s, the ground collapses started threatening and impeding the industrial
development of the Arab Potash Company. In 2012, several thousand sinkholes attest that the
degradation of the Dead Sea coast is worsening and that an early warning system should be
set up rapidly.
7
Table of Content
Arab Center for Engineering Studies (ACES)
3
Preface
6
Table of content
8
Introduction
9
STOP 1 [lat: 31.757604°; long: 35.581309°]: Sweimeh - Tamarisk groves area
13
STOP 2 [lat: 31.750137°; long: 35.591548°]: Sweimeh - Holiday Inn resort
19
STOP 3 [lat: 31.719465°; long: 35.589639°]: Wadi Mukheira - Marriott Hotel
21
STOP 4 [lat: 31.466469°; long: 35.572689°]: Wadi Mujib
23
STOP 5 [lat: 31.313456°; long: 35.530737°]: Ghor Al Haditha
26
STOP 6 [lat: 31.259864°; long: 35.401476°]: Arab Potash, dike 18
32
STOP 7 [lat: 31.358529°; long: 35.483978°]: Arab Potash, dike 19
37
Discussion
41
Conclusions
43
References
44
8
Introduction
The hyper-saline Dead Sea sits in a closed depression which straddles over Lebanon, Syria,
West Bank, Jordan, Israel, and Egypt. It is the deepest emerged place on Earth at 426 m below
the mean sea level (2012). Ordinarily, the terminal lake level fluctuates according to the rain
falling into the basin, especially in the northern mountainous parts (1200 mm/yr) where are
located the springs of the Jordan River, the main feeder. Over the Dead Sea surface, about 80
x 15 km, the rainfall is 70 mm/yr while the evaporation is 2 m/yr. The stability of these arid
conditions allowed for the development of an original salt karst in the gravely-muddy shores,
especially in the sub-horizontal salty-marls of the Lisan peninsula.
The Dead Sea margins have recorded the variations of the climate in the region, of the plate
tectonic activities along the Jordan – Dead Sea Transform faulted zone (Figure 2), and of the
humans’ proliferation.
Figure 2: the Dead Sea and the Jordan – Dead Sea Transform faulted zone (adapted from
http://exact-me.org/overview/p0809.pdf)
9
Climate and tectonics are slow variables acting on the hydro-geological system as
demonstrated by the reliable information on the Quaternary level fluctuations. However, in
2007, Salameh and Farajat have shown that, some 10 kyr ago, an important lava flow reduced
the size of the drainage basin from 157,000 km² to the present-day 43,000 km². This major
amputation led to a very rapid and significant lake level drop, from about -180 m to -390 m.
The anthropogenic factor had noticeably impacted on the Dead Sea water balance during the
20th century. From the 1950s onward, the lake level is rather determined by the
industrial/agricultural needs of the increasing population in Israel, Palestine and Jordan than
the rainfall. In 2012, about 16 M people living in and outside the Dead Sea drainage basin are
consuming 90% of the fresh waters that move toward the terminal lake. Only 60 years ago,
they were less than 2 M.
The water level is (nearly) continuously recorded since 1899. From 1900 to the mid-1930s, it
was around -392 m (Figure 3) before a 2 m drop happened. It coincided with a major
inflection in the curve of the basin population. From the 1940s to the mid-1950s, the level
stabilized at -395 m. In the 1950s, the Arabs and the Israelis embarked on a race to collect the
waters of the Jordan River. In 1955 the Johnston Unified Water Plan was adopted by Jordan,
Lebanon, Syria and Israel until the 1967 war. During that period of 12 years, a new sharp drop
in the Dead Sea level occurred. In the 1960s, the Israelis constructed the 85 km long National
Water Carrier to provide water to the populations living in the coastal plains along the
Mediterranean Sea and the northern Negev as well. In parallel, the Jordanians completed the
110 km long King Abdullah Canal (aka East Ghor Canal).
At the end of the 1960s, the level stabilizes at -399 m. Since then, the rate in the level drop is
increasing, ranging from 60 cm/yr in the 1970s up to 1 m/yr in the 2000s. Three events took
places in the opposite sense during the rainy winters of 1980, 1992 and 2003. The observed
increasing rate is a far consequence of the 1967 war: on the one hand, the Israelis occupied
the Golan Heights and Mt. Hermon, doubling their domestic water resources (Rogers 2004);
on the other hand, the Arabs lost a free access to the Jordan River. It led the Jordanian
authorities to conduct an extensive program of dams’ construction which has further
aggravated the shortage of water feeding the Dead Sea. In 1994, a new water allocation plan
was agreed as part of the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace, and in September 2002, at the United
Nations world summit, Israel and Jordan announced that they would join forces the build a
310 km long canal connecting the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. A two years feasibility study was
performed between 2009 and 2011 (Schittekat 2008; Halgand et al 2011). In 2012, the
realization of this canal is still hypothetical.
Even if an agreement was actually done between the stakeholders, a decade would be
necessary before the Dead Sea level starts to rise. In being optimistic, the surface shrinkage
will not end before (at least) the next two decades.
10
Figure 3: Dead Sea water level from 1900 to 2012 (Arab Potash Company). Between 19131927, gaps in the data collection exist. An environmental deterioration of the shore lands
matches the Dead Sea surface shrinkage throughout the widening of the coastal plain.
The lake level drop has undermined the stability of the geomorphic systems around the Dead
Sea and triggered a chain of reactions, impacting the coastal area in the form of extensive (up
to 3.5 km) exposure of mudflats/saltflats, exposure of steep slopes leading to landslides, and
rapid increase of areas affected by karst features such as sinkholes and uvalas (e.g. Closson
and Abou Karaki, 2009). The newly exposed zones are seepage surfaces. Various and
complicated erosion patterns are developing. Over time, channeling, gulling and head cut
migration are occurring. Intensive incision of streams and gullies is propagating upstream
towards the infrastructures, causing damages to the roads, bridges, earthen dikes, and the
hotels/recreation areas.
Seven stops (Table 1, Figure 4) have been selected to highlight the various facets of the
problem, to provide an overview of the geotechnical issues, to discuss on the expected trends,
and the relationship with the active tectonic setting. This survey will enrich the discussions
and presentations of the next two days (24-25 September).
11
Figure 4: location of the stops.
Table 1: Field trip time frame and the seven thematic stops
12
STOP 1 [lat: 31.757604°; long: 35.581309°] : Sweimeh - Tamarisk groves area
Figure 5 locates two hectometric landslides areas affecting the northern Dead Sea coast (white
arrowheads). The ribbon of light grey color corresponds to the lands that emerged between
1973 and 2000. Practically, Figure 5 illustrates the seaward displacement of the shoreline
three decades before the first landslide hit the coast. The upper and lower limits of this ribbon
are the contour lines of ~397m bMSL and ~416m bMSL (Closson and Abou Karaki, 2010).
Figure 5:
location map of
the two
hectometric
landslides
affecting the
northern Dead
Sea coast
(Suweimeh
area).
Background:
Landsat image
(2000). UTM,
WGS84,
coordinates in
kilometers. The
white line
corresponds to
Route 65.
Landslide n°1 (Figure 6) affects an area between elevations 400m bMSL (top) and 421 m
bMSL (toe). It is an active, retrogressive and enlarging landslide. Year after year, the surface
of rupture is extending in the direction opposite to the movement of the displaced material. Its
velocity is slow [~1.6m/yr] (Truden and Varnes 1996). While the upper part clearly shows
slumps landforms, the lower part is mostly characterized by earthflow deformations. The
higher springs-level was located at 406m bMSL in May 2008.
13
Figure 6: point of view towards the north. In the foreground, sapping and slipping landforms
characterize headward gully erosion; the background presents a complex landslide
combining slump and earthflow features (see Figure 7). The affected area shows several
amphitheatres, each one originated on a set of springs or in a place that concentrate(s/d)
groundwater.
Amphitheatres developed through backward erosion piping phenomenon. Water flows
through the pores of the soil. Erosion is caused only by intergranular flow causing excessive
seepage forces at an exit face. These seepage forces cause a boil condition or particle
detachment at an exit face.
In the upper part, slump is large and complex. Material moved as a unit with displacements
along curved slip planes. Tilted masses moved backward into the slope. Material of the toe
presents pancake-shaped zone of liquefied material. Slumps could occur over a saturated zone
~10-15m below. Investigations indicated a significant amount of water coming down with the
slide (Figure 7).
Figure 7: the upper part of the landslide presents rotational earthslides moving downhill with
minimal deformation along a concave failure plane. In the lower part, pancake-shaped zone
of liquefied material attest that earthflows move at varying rates depending on factors such as
slope angle and flow composition. The landslide contains numerous springs where welldeveloped vegetation exist. The area of the earthflows is completely devegetated.
14
The lower part is an earthflow. It is a thick, sticky fluid, probably flowing over a specific
layer of clay. Landform are characterized by a mass of broken and disrupted soil, and raised,
lumpy terrain (Figure 8).
Figure 8: looking from the toe towards the headscarp, details of the central area. The white
arrowhead indicates a pancake-shaped zone of liquefied material. Material kept soft and
lubricated by the water supply from the porous and permeable sediments.
Landslide n°1 developed in material consisting of thin-bedded, silty-clayed layers of a darkbrown to ochre color at the surface and a bright grey to black color within the sequences.
Single persistent limy or evaporitic white layers which occasionally show an orange-red to
russet color are intercalated. The whole formation is rich in organic material indicated by the
black color of the clay and the organic smell. Very significant is the appearance of
autochthonous grown halite-crystals. The salt-crystals appear as single crystals or are to be
found as accumulated crystals within a nest. This formation has a thickness of more than 20
meters and is terraced by the retreat of the Dead Sea. These successive beach erosion scarps
represent progressive levels of the Dead Sea drawdown. They are visible from the former
1960’ shoreline to the present coast. The single terrace steps have thickness of less than one
meter and further away from the present-day shoreline the thickness grows up to two meters.
The different height of the steps inform on the speed of retreat of the Dead Sea to the recent
water level.
15
Landslide n°2 is probably the first event of this kind along the Dead Sea coast. It dates back to
September 6th, 1999. It destroyed more than one hundred meters of a resthouse beach (Figure
9). Probably dreading the negative impact over the development of touristic resorts along the
coast, Jordanian Authorities minimized the significance of this incident and its causal factors
by suggesting that a sanitation problem was the triggering element: “Biltaji (Jordanian
Tourism Minister at that period) said the concerned authorities will deal with the landslide in
cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism. He said no one was at the resthouse when the
landslide occurred on Monday (6th September 1999) and no material damage was caused. He
said the resthouse was ordered closed due to its violation of public health safety rules. He
gave no further details. (…)” (Jordan Times, 1999).
It was a very rapid landslide [3m/min to 5m/sec] (Truden and Varnes 1996). During a decade,
it was inactive (Figure 10 A). However, one has to mention that a decametric sinkhole
appeared in 2003 over the main scarp. In May 2007, a wall built to hide this scarp partly
collapsed, letting visible seepage of brine (Figure 9B). In May 2008, three salty springs were
observed in the zone of accumulation.
The “Holiday Inn” was built from 2006 to 2009 at the same place of the destroyed “Social
Security” beach area (Figure 9). In May 2009, the front beach was totally destroyed by
sinkholes (Figure 11).
On August 11, 2012, a new landslide occurred (see Figure 12), destroying the front beach.
This event, expected for years, underlines the urgent need of an Early warning system.
Figure 9: collapse of the “Social Security” front beach, 9th September 1999. (Photo provided
by Pr. Najib Abou Karaki)
16
B
Figure 10: former “Social Security” front beach observed nine years later. Seepage was still
apparent and destroyed a wall.
17
Figure 11: Metric sinkholes destroyed the Holiday Inn front beach in May 2009 (Photo ©
Najib Abou Karaki)
Figure 12: Holiday Inn beach as seen in August 12, 2012. A tractor sliced into the lake. Its
roof is still visible (snapshot of a video taken by the owner and provided to Pr. Najib Abou
Karaki).
18
STOP 2 [lat: 31.750137°; long: 35.591548°]: Sweimeh - Holiday Inn resort
The base level of a river is the lowest point to which it can flow, often referred to as the
'mouth' of the river. For large rivers, sea level is usually the base level, but a large river or
lake is likewise the base level for tributary streams. Indeed, the Dead Sea is a terminal lake
since there is no outlet. Terminal lakes (or endorheic lakes) are bodies of water that do not
flow into the sea. All rivers and streams erode toward their “ultimate” base level. If a base
level is lowering constantly as it is the case of the Dead Sea, series of new base levels replaces
the past ones. As a result, the streams’ velocity increases, it leads to river bed erosion (Figure
13) and a gradient downstream from the past base level is increasing too.
Figure 13: Depth of entrenchment increases with distance from the receding base level.
Picture acquired in May, 2009. (Photo © Najib Abou Karaki)
Incision is a common response of alluvial channels that have been disturbed such that they
contain excess amounts of flow energy or stream power relative to the sediment load. Channel
incision results in higher and often steeper stream banks. If sufficient down cutting occurs,
stream banks can become susceptible to mass failure resulting in channel widening (Figure 14
& 15). Reaches of unstable banks can supply enormous quantities of sediment to the flow,
potentially damping rates and magnitudes of degradation depending on whether the bank
sediments are coarse-or fine-grained (Figure 13 & 18).
19
Figure 14: lateral widening by sliding. 1)
exposure of the sea bed and divergent flow
in channels,; 2) entrenchment with
widening by preference; 3) entrenchment
and appearance of tensile cracks; 4) deep
entrenchment and widening of tensile
cracks; 5) development of planar failure
planes; 6) and sliding. (Adapted from
Shapira et al., 2005).
Figure 15: lateral widening by toppling. 1)
exposure of the sea bed and divergent flow
in channels,; 2) entrenchment with
widening by preference; 3) development of
tensile cracks in high banks; 4) collapse of
bank; 5 & 6) toppling. (Adapted from
Shapira et al., 2005).
20
STOP 3 [lat: 31.719465°; long: 35.589639°]: Wadi Mukheira - Marriott Hotel
Base level is also significant for subsurface drainage. A drop in the base level is one of the
prerequisite for the formation of (salt) karst topography, i.e. a network of sinkholes (e.g.
Figure 16 & 17) and caverns that can develop as unsaturated groundwater (with respect to
salt) enlarges fissures (by solution) caused by e.g. an earthquake in sediments whose matrix is
filled with Dead Sea salt.
A
B
Figure 16: A. Former
Ambassador of
Belgium Marc
Schouttete de
Tervaeren and Prof.
Najib Abou Karaki are
posing next to a
decametric gravel hole
close to the Marriott
Hotel, April 2004.
Since 2010, this
sinkhole does not exist
anymore. It affected the
steep bank of an
ephemeral stream. B.
Same place view from a
different angle to see
the Marriott hotel.
White arrowheads
locate the opposite
steep bank. (Photo ©
Damien Closson).
21
The basements of the bridges of the Dead Sea Route 65 act as a hard layer of rock and thus
form a knick point or temporary base level (until it will be cut through by a receding waterfall
during flash flood events). This temporary base level becomes also the source of a “young”
stream (geologically speaking).
Figure 17: differential
compaction and cavities
of various sizes are
developing along many
segments of the coastal
zones. In Sweimeh, they
are revealed by failure
in new constructions.
October, 2011. (Photo
© Najib Abou Karaki)
With the Dead Sea level drop, it is higher and higher (1 m/yr) relative to the lake level. This
results in a high stream gradient. Erosion proceeds rapidly (Figure 18) due to the energy of the
rapidly moving water. The topography becomes rugged. Over the river banks, failure
development is related to shear stress of the flowing stream (undercutting and transport of
failed material).
Figure 18: Depth of
entrenchment increases
with distance from the
receding base level.
Picture acquired on
May, 2009. (Photo ©
Najib Abou Karaki)
22
STOP 4 [lat: 31.466469°; long: 35.572689°]: Wadi Mujib
A large part of Central Jordan is drained by the Wadi Mujib basin. This river developed a
canyon (fourth deepest in the World) through the Moab plateau, the eastern shoulder of the
Dead Sea Rift. Intense subsidence of the base level at the Dead Sea (pull-apart basin) is the
main cause for the high rate of Pliocene/Pleistocene fluvial incision. The Holocene fluvial
incision is stimulated by the drying of the climate characterized by a high variability of the
yearly precipitation amounts (mean: <=100 mm/year for the canyon and the E-SE of the
Mujib basin, while <350 mm/year over the plateau areas) and of the rainfall distribution that
is concentrated in a few events. During such events, surface runoff causes sheet- and gully
erosion over the affected areas. This results in mud streams through the canyon with a high
competence. The mouth of the Wadi Mujib was navigable with a flat-bottomed boat into the
1950s (Figure 19 & 20). In 2012, the river pours into the Dead Sea about 900 m to the west.
The current size of the delta is approximately 1200 m by 900 m (Figure 21).
Figure 19 & 20: Wadi Mujib Mouth in the
1950s (Champdor, 1958)
23
Figure 21: delta of the Wadi Mujib in early 2000s.
In the Wadi Mujib delta, the rates of incision are excessively high, almost equivalent as those
of the receding Dead Sea (Figure 22). The rates of widening are also very high. These are
fundamentally fast rates at this particular narrow location with respect to stability of the
bridge. This observation explains the damages recorded and the heavy works to control the
situation (Figure 23). For years, river bed incision and lateral widening by undercutting are
causing damages to the basement of the bridge.
Figure 22: magnitude of entrenchment with distance from shore, northern Dead Sea,
West Bank (Shapira et al., 2005).
24
Figure 23: a) lateral widening by
undercutting 1) exposure of the sea bed and
divergent flow in channels; 2) entrenchment
with widening by preference; 3) continued
entrenchment; 4) initial mechanism of lateral
widening, tension cracks occur, continued
vertical
entrenchment
and
initial
undercutting; 5) advanced undercutting,
widening of tensile cracks and formation of
overhanging cliffs; 6) block failure and
inclination. (Adapted from Shapira et al.,
2005).
b) Collapsed protection wall due to lateral widening by undercutting, 09/09/2007
(Photo © Damien Closson).
25
STOP 5 [lat: 31.313456°; long: 35.530737°]: Ghor Al Haditha
Sinkholes
At regional scale, Ghor Al Haditha occupies the northern part of a graben situated between
the Ed Dhira basin and the Lisan (Figure 24). It is crossed by a set of N-S trending faults:
Ghor Mazra’a, Ghor Safi, and West Dhira (Diabat, 2005). This graben is also crossed
obliquely by a set of NNE trending structural features, i.e. an alignment of sinkholes six
kilometers long, a major lineament over geological maps, topographic ruptures delineating a
sagging area at Birkat el Haj, and joints affecting the eastern side of the Lisan karstic zone.
Figure 24: Ghor Al Haditha
is confined between two N-S
trending left-lateral strikeslip faults. Faults and
lineaments have been
reproduced from 1:50,000
geological maps. Based on
the results of geophysical
surveys, Ghor Mazra’a and
Ghor Safi faults have been
extended seawards (Table
3). 1962 and 2006
shorelines delineate the
surface that appeared due to
the recent lowering of the
Dead Sea level. They derive
from satellite images. Ghor
Al Haditha is a plain with a
maximum elevation of 370m in its eastern part.
Black dots indicate the
location of the sinkholes
that appeared between 1991
and 2008. The inventory is
based on repeated field
surveys, aerial photographs
and high resolution satellite
images interpretation.
26
The faults of the Dead Sea pull-apart basin are almost N-S oriented. However, the Jordan
Dead Sea transform faulted zones is NNE trending at continental scale. The direction N24°E
of the sinkholes lineament is compatible with one of the main structural direction in the
southern Dead Sea area. Major recent activity in this direction is given by the focal
mechanism of the mb=5.1 earthquake of 23 April 1979 (mechanism established by Arieh et al.
1982). This agreement supports a tectonic origin of the sinkholes alignment. It is interpreted
as a hidden fault. The damaged zone is 6000m long and about 600m wide.
In a recent past, results of geological and geophysical investigations revealed that sinkholes
are caused by large caverns in a buried salt layer (Bataneh et al, 2002). The development of
sinkholes is triggered by progressive lowering of the Dead Sea level. Different models
explaining the phenomenon have been developed. However, until now, no one explains the
sinkholes spatial distribution. The works carried out in Ghor Al Haditha suggest that the
spatial distribution of most sinkholes (and consequently caverns) is linked to underground
fractures caused by regional tectonic movements, one recent example of which is the 23rd
April 1979 earthquake.
Inside the lineament, sinkholes appeared in clusters separated by unaffected spaces. Based on
the shape of the clusters and the relative proximity between each collapses, thirteen minor
alignments have been individualized. Some of them suggest rotation of ground material while
the others described an en-echelon system. The sinkholes distribution at Ghor Al haditha
suggested that the activity of the West Dhira fault is relatively higher than the one of Ghor
Safi fault.
The monitoring and the mapping of sinkholes (Figure 25) from the beginning of the 1990s
provided information of sub-surface discontinuities related to the structural setting. In the
frame of an early warning system, such results could support the work of decision makers and
engineers in the economical development of the area.
Figure 25: example of metric sinkhole occurring in an interval of four months (Photo ©
Damien Closson)
27
Landslides
While landslides observed in Stops 1 & 2 occurred along the shore, those in the southern
Dead Sea appeared several hundred meters inland (Figure 26) but always in areas that were
covered by the Dead Sea four decades ago.
Figure 26: location map of two hectometric landslides affecting the southern Dead Sea coast.
The ribbon of light grey color corresponds to the lands that emerged from 1973 (~397m
bMSL) to 2000 (~416m bMSL). In 2008 the level is ~421m bMSL. Background: Landsat
image (2000). UTM, WGS84, coordinates in kilometers. The white line corresponds to the
Dead Sea main road.
Landslide n°3 is affected by sinkholes and strong subsidence since the end of the 1990s. It
appeared slowly at the toe of Wadi Mutayl alluvial fan between 1998 and 2003. It is always
active but slow (Truden and Varnes 1996), and its dynamic nature is attested by multiple
geomorphic features (Figure 27, 28 29, 30). The ground is made of fine/coarse-grained silica,
sand and pebble size gravel with thin intercalations of laminated marl.
28
In the sinkholes affecting the area, the gravels are visible in cross bearing graded bedding.
These deposits are characterized by a shallow aquifer which is one of the primary sources to
supply domestic, agriculture, and industrial water. The water in the alluvial aquifer has
historically been fresh and suitable for most potable uses.
Figure 27: the picture on the left shows a graben developed along the main scarp (coord.
UTM 741360; 3461250 – see Figure 28) and cutting the road between the salt factory and the
DS main road. On the right, the scheme shows a hypothetic cross-section with some elements
of explanation for the development of the landslide. (Photo & sketch © Damien Closson)
Figure 28: Ikonos image acquired in 2006 showing the landslide 3 area. Scarps are well
visible on the right side. Craters that punctuate this zone are indeed sinkholes. In May 2008,
multiple ground failures and collapses led to abandon the “Numeira mixed Salts & Mud
Company” (around 30 employees) to avoid incidents.
29
particularly thick layer of salt was found
some 25-30m in the underground
(Taqieddin et al 2000). This layer is
probably the same found in several places
along the western coast too and dated by
Yechieli et al. (1993) between 11,315 ± 80
and 8,440 ± 95 years BP (around
10000BP). This particular salt deposit
could result from a sudden reduction of the
Dead Sea watershed due to a volcanic
eruption (Salameh and Al-Farajat 2007).
Scheme [1999] illustrates the situation at
the end of the 1990s. Subsidence and
sinkholes can be explained by the
dissolution of the 10000 years old salt
layer by unsaturated water with respect to
salt.
Drastic
changes
in
the
hydrogeological setting are a consequence
of the rapid Dead Sea level (base level)
lowering. As a result, new springs appear
in unexpected places. They created well
apparent decametric amphitheaters few
years apart. The Numeira salt factory was
safe at that moment but the road
connecting the production site to the Dead
Sea main road was cut off by major cracks.
Figure 29: Scheme [Mid-1990s] presents
the panoramic view of the area until the
end of the 1990s. Elevation ranges from
395m bMSL at the Numeira salt factory to
410m bMSL over the mudflat. The
landscape is the one of the contact between
the alluvial fan of Wadi Mutayl and the
mudflat resulting of the DS level lowering.
Fresh water is present in the area and
allows the development of natural
vegetation along the margin of the alluvial
fan. The subsurface is essentially made of
alluviums, clay, and marl. During a survey
in the mid-1990s, in Ghor Al Haditha, a
Scheme [2009] shows that the affected
area grew bigger in the direction of the
salt factory while the very first failures
enlarge drastically. The strong subsidence
created a closed depression that is partly
filled with water coming from the two
springs. The lake grew up until an outlet
has naturally been created (at 410m
bMSL), probably after a phase of overflow
during winter 2004-2005. Lateral erosion
took place rapidly in this fragile
environment.
30
Figure
29:
Completely destroyed
Numeira
Salt
Factory, May 2009
(Photo © Damien
Closson)
Landslide n°4 is active but very slow (Truden and Varnes 1996). It developed inside a former
salt evaporation pond of the Arab Potash Company built at the end of the 1990. The dike of
this production unit (6.35 km long by 2.7 km maximum width) was set up over a wide wavecut platform that slowly emerged from the 1960s. The soft foundation is made of subhorizontal layers of laminated evaporites (gypsum, aragonite, calcite and anhydrite) and
mudstone. This saltpan was destroyed during filling operation in March 22, 2000. Radar
interferometry techniques applied to ERS satellite images have shown that the collapsed dike
segment (more than 1.6 km) was over a place suffering the strongest rate of subsidence for the
whole Dead Sea area (Closson et al 2003). In 2005, sinkholes and springs of brackish water
were found in the extension of the remaining dike.
After the major incident of 2000, the whole remaining part of the dike recorded tens of
decimetric fractures and sinkholes of small extension (Closson 2005, closson et al 2007).
Decametric landslides affected the slope of a specific dike segment, two kilometers east of the
destroyed part, in a place where strong subsidence had also been recorded. These facts
attested that the geological causal factors at the origin of the dike collapse were always active.
In 2007, from interferograms created with Envisat images, it was shown that subsidence was
stronger than before in the northern part of the Lisan. By comparison with inteferograms
generated from ERS images, the area affected by subsidence was also wider than before and
encompassed the place occupied by landslide n°4.
In 2005, two dike failures 500m apart belonging to landslide n°4 were already apparent
(Closson 2005). The shape of the main scarp became clearly visible only from 2007. In its
present configuration, landslide n°4 is of the confined type, i.e. the upper part undergoes
relevant deformation whereas the toe is more or less stable.
31
STOP 6 [lat: 31.259864°; long: 35.401476°]: Arab Potash, dike 18
The Arab Potash Company and the Dead Sea sinkholes
The multi-facetted salt karst issue becomes more complex when tackling the problems faced
by the Arab Potash Company at the Lisan Peninsula. Here, collapses have a significant
economic impact (Closson, 2005). The Lisan is a massive salt layer situated between the east
and west coasts. The sub-horizontal Lisan gypsiferous marl deposits overcome the largest salt
diapir of the entire Dead Sea basin. Its top is about 120 m below the ground level (Al Zoubi
and Ten Brink, 2001). In the upper part, an original salt karst developed centuries before the
onset of sinkholes above mentioned (Closson et al., 2007).
Until 1978 the Dead Sea consisted of two sub-basins separated by the Lisan Peninsula and
connected by the Lynch Strait. Between 1978 and 1981, the southern basin and the Strait have
gradually emerged. Over the next 20 years, these areas were largely covered by salt
evaporation ponds. On the western coast, the Dead Sea Works built saltpans in the shallow
southern basin already in the 1960s with lot of technical difficulties leading to costly lawsuits
between the builders and the contractors. Nowadays, salts that settle to the bottom of these
saltpans cause a rise in water level of about 20 cm per year. The situation here is the reverse
of the northern basin one. Despite this, sinkholes also exist along the ancient shores. They
affect mainly the west coast. A single backfilled collapse was located during a survey in May
2005 near Safi, Jordan.
The lowering of the lake level discovered an abrasion platform up to 3 km-wide around the
Lisan peninsula. Arab Potash Company started planning saltpans over this gently inclined
virgin space already in the mid-1980s. In the 1990s, the Company built two major production
units over the western side of the Lisan: saltpans SP-0A and SP-0B (Table 2), both
encompassed by compacted earth dams over 10 meters high and numbered to 18 for SP-0A
and 19-20 for SP-0B (Figure 30).
Saltpan
#
Dike
#
Crest
(m)
Bottom
(m)
Length
(m)
Volume
(m3)
Building
(year)
Cost
(M $)
Repair (M $)
SP-0A
18
-392
-405 m
13000
95
1995-97
32
> 16 M $
-392
-400 to 407
38
(Djavid and
Mahammadi
2011)
19
SP-0B
20
8300
76
3297
1998-99
Table 2: main characteristics of Arab Potash Company saltpans covering the Lisan Peninsula
32
Figure 30:
Southern Dead
Sea area. Red
lines represent
two particular
sinkholes
lineaments
discussed in
the text.
Composition of
SRTM data,
Landsat image
1972/09/15,
and ISS027
Photographs
2011/03/30
Saltpan SP-0A/dike 18
In October 1992, three years before the building of SP-0A, a 1.6 km-long lineament gathering
about 70 sinkholes (Figure 31) appeared across a road that should have turned into the future
dike 18 (Taqieddin et, 2000; Knight 1993; Knill, 1993; Tapponnier, 1993). The perimeter of
SP-0A was modified accordingly to get around the hazardous zone. In 1995-1997, the
construction of the dike encountered serious difficulties in terms of the stability of
foundations and in 1997 a sinkhole even pierced the bottom of SP-0A. Nevertheless, the pond
entered in service that year. The collapse was located just a hundred meters of dike 18. A jetty
was built from the dike to the collapsed site in order to seal it (Closson et al., 2007). However,
since that time, fill in operations are carried out regularly and a road sign placed at the
entrance of the jetty still warns of falling into a sinkhole.
33
In 2001, the dike was seriously damaged and forced security engineers to empty SP-0A
almost entirely. The production unit went back to service only five years later, in September
2006, after the rehabilitation of its 13 km dike for 16 M $, half the price of the basin (Table 2).
However, field surveys carried out in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009 have shown that if
the rehabilitation work (consisting in the setting up of a wide seepage berm and the
enlargement of the dike itself) had actually increased the stability of the dike, they failed to
stop the cause of problems. Many cracks and backfilled sinkholes were located. Dike 18 is
constantly threatened by cracks and sinkholes (Abou Karaki et al. 2005; Closson et al., 2009).
For example, in the second half of July 2008, a 400 m long dike segment was enlarged to
increase its safety factor. In fact, its width has tripled since 1997. Finally, in early 2011, the
Arab Potash Company has launched a bid to fill natural underground cavities with cement and
thus protect a fragile segment of dike 18...
Figure 31: aerial view of the sinkholes in front of Arab Potash Company’s dike 18, 2010
(Modified photo, original © Eidi Levinne)
Sinkholes alignments complement the information related to the structural setting. The
lineament of Figure 31 displays the directions N 24 E and N 66 E. Results obtained with
spaceborne radar interferometric techniques have shown similar orientations in many places
in the Lynch Strait. This agreement supports the idea of a unique structure having about four
kilometers long, half kilometer width. Its zigzagging shape is characteristic of deformations
taking place between strike slip faults.
Indeed, it is interesting to note the similarity between the tectonic pattern displayed in the
southern Lynch strait (Figure 31) and the one of the six kilometers long sinkholes lineament
in Ghor Al Haditha few kilometers eastward (Figure 24, 30). It had been shown that the
direction of the sinkholes distribution in Ghor Al Haditha is compatible with the fault plane
deduced from the focal mechanism of the most important instrumental earthquake located in
the Lisan area in the past decades: i.e. the Mb =5.1 (N 20 E ± ¬5 deg) earthquake of 23 April
1979. The focal mechanism had been established by Arieh et al, 1982.
34
It shows that the system mainly functions in left-lateral shear, NNE trending, with a normal
component (Figure 33). This focal mechanism can be considered as representative of all
mechanisms calculated on a fault plane compatible with the general direction of the Jordan Dead Sea Transform fault system for the east coast of the Dead Sea area.
By far, the lineament of sinkholes in Ghor Al Haditha is the longest alignment of collapses
that can be seen along the Dead Sea shore up to now. It gathers about 90% of the sinkholes
affecting the eastern coast. With its four kilometers length, the complex structure made of
sinkholes and subsidence affecting the Lynch strait is the second one in importance in the
whole Dead Sea area. Therefore this lineament is as relevant as the one of Ghor Al Haditha in
the understanding of the causal factor(s) at the origin of the sinkholes along the Dead Sea
shore.
Figure 32 compares the sinkholes areas of the Lynch strait and of Ghor Al Haditha. At a first
glance, the number of sinkholes affecting the Lynch strait is higher than the one of Ghor Al
Haditha. Indeed, the difference is probably not so important because Ghor Al Haditha is a
farming area and many sinkholes have been filled to avoid incidents. The missing information
is however confined inside the damaged zone.
The comparison at the same scale clearly shows that the features inside the ellipse (Figure 32)
have a distribution compatible with the one of the sinkholes lineament in Ghor Al Haditha. A
second remarkable similarity is the zigzagging shape along the lineaments.
Hence, based on these two main geometric characteristics, one can postulate that the causal
mechanism at the origin of the sinkholes and subsidence inside the ellipse could be the same
one as the one which produced the lineament of Ghor Al Haditha: i.e. the earthquake of 23
April 1979.
The U.S. Geological Survey provides Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) data about this event
located in the southern Dead Sea basin (Lat: 31.1910, Lon: 35.5290, Depth: 15 km). Figure 33
superimpose PGA values over a Landsat image depicting the landscape in 2002. The
sinkholes lineaments of the Lynch strait and of Ghor Al Haditha (and two epicenters of 13
April 2008) have been reproduced in order to get an overview of the situation. The main
affected zones (PGA = 0,18 and PGA = 0,16) are outside the area under the influence of the
Dead Sea lowering. The most remarkable feature in this zone is the salt collapse of Birkat el
Haj. The surface characterized by PGA = 0,12 encompasses new emerged lands and the
affected places represented by the two lineaments (white color) of the Lynch strait and of
Ghor al Haditha. It is also the area where the two epicenters are located.
Based on the global distribution of the sinkholes along the Dead Sea shore, if one considers
the surfaces characterized by PGA = 0,08 and 0,12, then more than 80% of the whole Dead
Sea sinkholes are collected. This observation supports the idea that the earthquake of 23 April
1979 is one of the elements that have noticeably contributed to the appearance of the Dead
Sea sinkholes and subsidence. The other elements are a specific salt layer at the origin of the
voids leading to ground collapses and the shifting of the Dead Sea water / fresh water
interface seaward.
35
Figure 32: comparison at the same scale of the distribution of sinkholes in the Lynch strait
area and in Ghor Al Haditha. The ellipse points the area having recorded the most important
deformation during a monitoring with ALOS Palsar images in 2007-2008.
Figure 33: shake map of the ML 5.1 earthquake, 23 April 1979. Peak Ground Acceleration
contours have been computed by the U.S. Geological Survey. The focal mechanism had been
established by Arieh et al, 1982. The locations of the two earthquakes of 13 April 2008 have
been provided by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre.
36
STOP 7 [lat: 31.358529°; long: 35.483978°]: Arab Potash, dike 19
Saltpan SP-0B/dike 19-20
The 38 M$ SP-0B production unit was built in 1998-99 and came into service in early 2000.
However, a kilometric segment of dike 19 collapsed during fill-in operation on March 22 at
around 4:30 PM and 56 million cubic meters of Dead Sea brine pumped during the last two
months poured out into the terminal lake in 30 minutes (Figure 34, 35).
Figure 34: Landsat acquired the 10/03/2000 and 03/04/2000, before and after the collapse
(22/03/2000) of Arab Potash Company’s dike 19.
37
Figure 35: dike 19 destroyed area (Photo © Damien Closson)
It is informative to note that legal proceedings ensued between Arab Potash and all parties
involved in the construction (Tabal, 2008). On 30 September 2003 the tribunal constituted in
accordance with the contract issued its Final Award, exonerating the builders from any
liability for the collapse and dismissing all of Arab Potash Company’s claims. On 16 October
2003, the Jordanian government which was major shareholder of Arab Potash sold nearly
one-half of its 52.883% interest in Arab Potash to a Canadian company. On 29 October 2003,
Arab Potash applied to the Jordanian Court of Appeal to have the Final Award annulled and
won. The builders appealed to the Jordanian Court of Cassation, which upheld the Court of
Appeal’s judgment on 16 January 2007. Then, the builders instituted a proceeding at the
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, the builders alleging that Arab
Potash Company has acted in violation of a specific bilateral agreement. On May 12, 2010,
the tribunal ordered “that the ongoing Jordanian court proceedings in relation to the Dike 19
dispute be immediately and unconditionally terminated, with no possibility to engage further
judicial proceedings in Jordan or elsewhere on the substance of the dispute” (International
Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes or ICSID, Case No. ARB/08/2).
In parallel to that legal proceedings, it is important to note that the ruins of the abandoned
dike 19 and 20 exhibit each year an increasing number of cracks, sinkholes and decametric to
hectometric landslides. Some fractures have become impassable by car without using a
footbridge. These damages show a growing instability that is consistent with the observations
performed elsewhere. But despite its costly setback, Arab Potash requested a “Comparative
Risk Analysis for Reconstruction of a Partially Failed Dike System” (Djavid and Mahammadi,
2011) in which the authors propose two alternatives for the reconstruction of the failed
facility…
38
Causes of the collapse
From a synthetic aperture radar differential interferometry (D-InSAR) technique applied to
the European Remote Sensing (ERS) satellite images, several authors have shown that at least
since 1992, the recent emerged platform surrounding the Lisan Peninsula is affected by
several kilometric subsidence features most probably fault-bounded (e.g. Closson et al., 2003).
The two highest active deformation fields were observed along the northern part of the Lisan
Peninsula (Figure 36). The widest structure coincides geographically with the collapsed zone
of Salt Evaporation Pond dike 19 in March 22, 2000. Four years after this incident, field
observations have confirmed the very high instability of this area. Indeed, the remaining dyke
has been strongly affected by continuing subsidence as supported by decimetric cracks crosscutting perpendicularly the whole dyke, metric road collapses that could be related to
sinkholes and decametric landslides affecting numerous segments of the saltpan. Almost all
features are placed, precisely, in the most vulnerable parts that have been previously mapped
with space geodetic techniques. Moreover, according to the safety engineers of the APC,
these fractures appeared months to years after the rapid emptying of the pond. Consequently,
they are not related to the decompression or the likely isostatic movement directly posterior to
the incident.
Figure 36: geographic coincidence between strong subsidence features and dike 19 collapse
(from Closson et al, 2003).
39
In 2011-2012, Sarmap (Gold Sponsor) performed a global processing of all archived data
acquired over the Lisan peninsula. In Figure 37 are presented partial results dedicated to the
mapping of the strain fields associated with damages to dikes 19 and 20.
Practically, the localization of dikes failures collected during various surveys have been
compared in a geographical information system with a database of the average velocity of the
ground calculated from 60 radar images acquired between June 1992 and June 2010 (ERS 1,
ERS 2, and Envisat). The movements have been determined by differential radar
interferometry techniques – “SBAS” module of Sarscape software (Sarmap SA, 2010 – Gold
Sponsor).
The computation of the average velocity, acceleration, and vertical displacements with a
density of 2800 measurements/km² describe precisely and accurately the karst dynamics. This
approach is suitable to dike safety (Figure 37). Several fissured zones in kilometric
embankment dams of the Arab Potash solar evaporation system have been identified owing to
the detection of subsidence related to salty marls consolidation and uplift linked to artesian
water pressure. Also evidenced are diverse uplift and subsidence features in relation with the
tectonics of the underlying diapir.
Figure 37: evaluation of the results of the feasibility study [Djavid M. and Mohammadi
(2011) Comparative Risk Analysis for Reconstruction of a Partially failed Dike System,
PPSDC, 16, 3, 130-143] in light of the last twenty years subsidence history computed with
SBAS approach.
40
Discussion
The diachronic analysis of the ground deformations in specific sites (e.g. Closson et al 2011)
led to the hypothesis that the land degradation is related to the rate at which the underground
water is flowing toward the lake to compensate for the lowering (see also Salameh and ElNaser, 1999). Figure 38 does not indicate the type of media in which the water is flowing.
Hence, the sketches should be adapted from a place to another along the coast. Three identical
sets of three simplified sketches highlight various facets of the coastal degradation from the
1990s to present.
The water level drop is increasing, passing from 60-80 cm/yr at the beginning of the 1990s to
more than 1 m/yr at present. Observations done in several places along the coast led to the
assumption that the position of the interface between fresh/saline waters is moving seawards
while the water table is pushed above the Dead Sea level, creating a seepage surface. Arrows
of various sizes depict the speeds at which the water should move.
Figure 38: Conceptual model of the land degradation along the Dead Sea coast. Hypothesis
based on observations in Ghor Al Haditha and the Lisan Peninsula from 1992 to 2012.
41
The positions of the interface and of the water table in sketches “1990s” derives from
Salameh and El-Naser (2000). Sketches “2000s” results from observations of sinkholes and
springs below the lake level, at the beginning of the 2000s (e.g. Closson 2005; Closson et al.
2007; Closson and Abou Karaki 2009). Several studies of the sinkholes affecting the emerged
areas led to two explanatory models: dissolution of a specific salt layer and flushing model.
Applied to the submarine sinkholes, these models require unsaturated or fresh water
circulating below the Dead Sea level. Submarine sinkholes, as seen in Figure 39, illustrate that,
by an effect of communicating vessels, the lowering of the lake level induces a massive
displacement of the groundwater to compensate for that lowering. This problem had been
tackled and quantified by Salameh and El-Naser (1999). Sketches of the series “2000s” and
“2010s” also result from observations of seepage surfaces, showing that the water table is
pushed above the Dead Sea level.
Sketches “2010s” are supported by independent observations. Since about 2010, the number
of submarine sinkholes is increasing drastically. They can be easily detected over very high
resolution images (Closson et al. 2012) as shown in Figure 39.
Figure 39: subset
of a GeoEye
image acquired
on August 17th,
2011. The area is
located north of
Ghor Al Haditha.
The transparency
of the shallow
water allowed
the detection of
tens of
submarine
sinkholes.
Figure 39 supports the arrows of various sizes depicting the speeds at which the water is
moving. The sinkholes’ size is decreasing from the shoreline toward the sea. This illustrates
the gradient of speed. Less energy is available close to the interface for the development of
sinkholes because the fresh water cannot circulate at high speed. In Figure 4, the interface is
situated about one hundred meters seawards.
42
The interpretation of past high resolution images and aerial photographs have shown that such
clusters of sinkholes were absent between 1999 and 2006 (based on the available data) and
probably before. This argument also support the dynamic of the system depicted in Figure 38.
The last argument supporting the conceptual model (Figure 38) is based on the evolution of
the diameters of the sinkholes. At Ghor Al Haditha, the size of the sinkholes is increasing
drastically (Figure 40). Until the mid-2000s, the sinkholes of Ghor Al Haditha were
systematically refilled to allow agriculture. During the last 7 years, the number and the size of
the sinkholes increased (e.g from 18 m to 153 m). This fact support the idea that more energy
is available to create bigger cavities that moves upward to generate wider sinkholes.
Figure 40: subset
of a WorldView 2
image acquired
December 15th
2011. The areas
of
Ghor
Al
Haditha affected
before mid-2000s
do not present
evidence
of
sinkholes.
Conclusions
The degradation of the Dead Sea coastal environment is characterized by series of successive
steps as depicted in Figure 38. Items such as the size of the sinkholes, their number, and their
location are key factors to assess regularly. They are indicators of the energy mobilized for
the deterioration of the land. Regarding an early warning system to manage the human
activities is such an environment, techniques such as spaceborne radar interferometry and
airborne Lidar are suited. The integration of these data into a geographic information system
and their diachronic analysis are an effective ways to reveal system’s trends to dissipate
energy through erosion-degradation processes.
43
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