Land Subsidence and Groundwater Level Changes in the Dickenson – La Marque Area, Galveston County, Texas During the Past Two Decades

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dc.contributor.advisorWang, Guoquan
dc.contributor.committeeMemberWu, Jonny
dc.contributor.committeeMemberFernandez Diaz, Juan Carlos
dc.creatorDiBacco, Meghan E.
dc.creator.orcid0000-0003-0508-3725
dc.date.accessioned2021-08-04T02:54:12Z
dc.date.createdDecember 2020
dc.date.issued2020-12
dc.date.submittedDecember 2020
dc.date.updated2021-08-04T02:54:16Z
dc.description.abstractSubsidence has plagued the greater Houston Galveston area and prompted the creation of the Houston Galveston Subsidence District (HGSD). Subsidence in the cities of Dickenson and La Marque, in Galveston County, Texas, was extremely rapid (several centimeters per year) during the 1960s and 1970s but has declined to a rate of less than 5 mm per year since the 1990s as a result of the groundwater regulations enforced by HGSD. The United States Geological Survey (USGS), HGSD, National Geodetic Survey (NGS), and the University of Houston (UH) have been continuously monitoring land subsidence and groundwater levels in this area since the 1970s. This study investigated the long-period groundwater, extensometer, and GPS datasets and (1) delineated the regional groundwater heads, (2) studied the compaction and inflation of shallow aquifers, (3) studied the interaction of land subsidence and groundwater level changes in both short-term (days to seasonal) and long-term (several years to a decade), and (4) assessed the effectiveness of the groundwater regulations in the study area. According to this study, the ongoing subsidence rate derived from GPS observations in the area is below 5 mm per year. The regional preconsolidation heads of the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers are approximately at 30 meters below the land surface. The results of this study provide essential information for future urban development, utilization of groundwater resources, and the minimization of urban geological hazards, and guidelines for slowing and finally ceasing the ongoing moderate (a few millimeters per year) to rapid (a few centimeters per year) subsidence that is occurring in the western and northern parts of the Houston metropolitan region.
dc.description.departmentEarth and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of
dc.format.digitalOriginborn digital
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10657/7990
dc.language.isoeng
dc.rightsThe author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).
dc.subjectGPS
dc.subjectSubsidence
dc.subjectHouston
dc.subjectTexas
dc.subjectGroundwater
dc.subjectHoustonNet
dc.subjectCompaction
dc.subjectAquifer Deformation
dc.subjectGeology
dc.titleLand Subsidence and Groundwater Level Changes in the Dickenson – La Marque Area, Galveston County, Texas During the Past Two Decades
dc.type.dcmiText
dc.type.genreThesis
local.embargo.lift2022-12-01
local.embargo.terms2022-12-01
thesis.degree.collegeCollege of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
thesis.degree.departmentEarth and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of
thesis.degree.disciplineGeophysics
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Houston
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science

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