Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Dead Sea Tread See

Ever heard of those Dead Sea sinkholes?

Well, here's the science:

The Dead Sea sinkhole hazard: Geophysical assessment of salt dissolution and collapse

Abstract:

A geophysical approach is presented for analyzing processes of subsurface salt dissolution and associated sinkhole hazard along the Dead Sea. The implemented methods include Seismic Refraction (SRFR), Transient Electromagnetic Method (TEM), Electric Resistivity Tomography (ERT), and Ground Penetration Radar (GPR). The combination of these methods allows the delineation of the salt layer boundaries, estimating its porosity distribution, finding cavities within the salt layer, and identifying deformations in the overlying sediments. This approach is shown to be useful for anticipating the occurrence of specific sinkholes, as demonstrated on both shores of the Dead Sea. These sinkholes are observed mainly along the edge of a salt layer deposited during the latest Pleistocene, when Lake Lisan receded to later become the Dead Sea. This salt layer is dissolved by aggressive water flowing from adjacent and underlying aquifers which drain to the Dead Sea. Sinkhole formation is accelerating today due to the rapid fall of the Dead Sea levels during the last 30 years, caused by anthropogenic use of its water.

Be careful

^

2 comments:

Juniper in the Desert said...

Any way these sinkholes could be turned into something useful? Such as operating when mozlems cross from Jordan??

Anonymous said...

I was in Israel for Chanukah and we drove to Eilat and returned via the Dead Sea so we did see a few of them. We use salt domes for storing oil near Houston, Texas and this is what happens when one of those salt domes collapse and cause a sinkhole. It's rather spectacular footage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7KbDn5OGDM