Portal de Lorca
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Although the center of the depressed region corresponds to the Lorca municipality, the extent of the surface is about 690 square kilometers and includes the towns of Puerto Lumbreras, Totana and Alhama de Murcia
Since 1995, the area of ​​the municipality of Lorca Murcia has sunk more than 1.5 meters, according to research conducted by the National Research Council (CSIC) and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
The data place it as one of the regions fastest sinks in the world and first in Europe.
The findings, published in the journal Geology, get rid of images from the ERS and Envisat European Space Agency.
"Their analysis has identified the land topographic changes with a resolution millimeter and its temporal evolution," explained CSIC researcher at the Institute of Geosciences, responsible for research, Jose Fernandez.
The subsidence rate is 10 inches a year, however, the phenomenon has evolved steadily, but responds to periods of drought.
The hydrological shortage stage took place between 1992 and 1995 caused an acceleration of the collapse that ended with a decline rate of 15 centimeters per year between 1996 and 1997.
Subsequently, the sinking speed decelerated exponentially over eight years to reach the initial level recorded between 1992 and 1995.
Fernandez said: "The decrease in water reserves reduces the internal pressure of the aquifer, which causes the materials are compacted and lose volume."
It is this loss of volume that causes the depression in the ground surface.
Although the center of the depressed region corresponds to the Lorca municipality, the extent of the surface is about 690 square kilometers and includes the towns of Puerto Lumbreras, Totana and Alhama de Murcia.
According to the co-author, Paul Gonzalez, "it is a very fertile plain which has developed a strong agricultural sector in recent decades, associated with an increase in water demand."
"The steady decline in groundwater reserves recorded during the last decades shows that the exploitation of groundwater is much higher than the natural recharge," says Gonzalez.
Consequences of the earthquake
The results of the work, which describes the mechanical behavior of the aquifer, can help improve the management of water resources and have applications in the security of the building.
In addition, the research team, in collaboration with the University of Western Ontario (Canada) and the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy, is studying the seismic event that occurred in the town of Murcia on 11 May that will reveal the rupture process and seismic energy release in the fault responsible.
Paul J.
Gonzalez and Jose Fernandez.
Drought-driven transient aquifer imaged using multitemporal satellite Compaction radar interferometry.
Geology.
DOI: 10.1130/G31900.1
Source: CSIC
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