Western USA land rising, because of groundwater usage

[bob10]

Just received a news feed from NBC, scientists monitoring the Earth's surface in California for earthquakes have discovered the surface of the Earth there has risen, much like when pressure is taken off a spring. They put it down to the fact 62 trillion [c] gallons of groundwater have been taken from wells , being dug to supply water to farmers since 2013. The wells are being dug deeper, to find what water is left. Makes you wonder what the consequences will be in the future. Bob

[PhilipA]

Usually land falls due to groundwater being taken.
You only have to walk around Bangkok to see shops and buildings up to a metre above the ground on their piles. They just add a couple of steps and extend the services.
The expressway around Klong Toey has big humps where the road has fallen but where the supports for the piers that hold up the overhead is at the original level.
Usually when groundwater is taken it is like a sponge which dries out and becomes smaller.
In Bangkok the water is delivered from the North but all the industry is in the East , and they take groundwater due to inadequate availability of town water.
Regards Philip A

[bob10]

Usually land falls due to groundwater being taken.
You only have to walk around Bangkok to see shops and buildings up to a metre above the ground on their piles. They just add a couple of steps and extend the services.
The expressway around Klong Toey has big humps where the road has fallen but where the supports for the piers that hold up the overhead is at the original level.
Usually when groundwater is taken it is like a sponge which dries out and becomes smaller.
In Bangkok the water is delivered from the North but all the industry is in the East , and they take groundwater due to inadequate availability of town water.
Regards Philip A


That's what I thought would happen too, but scientists have been monitoring the surface of California in regard to the earthquake threat, and their data collected has shown a rise in the earth, relative to the ground water usage, since 2013. Things are getting grim in California. Bob

[frantic]

What happens when you shift the weight on an iceberg?:twisted:

Which way is the plate sliding, reducing weight may have let it move more easily, hopefully, or worst case scenario is drying it out let it catch and it's just starting to flex up before releasing.:eek:
The southern section of the fault is due for a rupture as it has been 300 years since the last. Some believe in the next 10 years. This could be the , cause the compression , raising ground level until the release.

[Gerokent]

I bet there will be an international outpooring of disbelief and grief when the big one hits California. You think they would be starting to move the population to safer ground NOW, not after. Have they adopted an Ozzieism "she'll be right" :o

[JDNSW]

California is underlain by an active subduction zone, responsible for the Rocky Mountains. If these tectonic movements can lift a mountain range to that extent, I would have thought that any change due to ground water extraction would be masked.

Further, most of North America is still slowly rising due to isostasy after removal of the ice cap following the last glaciation.

John