Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


Thesis_final_6_28_2013.pdf (3.61 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

You've got that Sinking Feeling: Measuring Subsidence above Abandoned Underground Mines in Ohio, USA

Siemer, Kyle W
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1372439025

Abstract Details

2013, Master of Science, University of Toledo, Geology.
As a result of more than 200 years of underground coal mining, many urbanized areas throughout Ohio, USA, are susceptible to land subsidence. Approximately 6,000 abandoned underground mines (AUMs), with a footprint of roughly 800mi2 of undermined land, have been identified by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Geologic Hazards Division (ODNR GHD), with further estimates of as many as 8,000 AUMs beneath Ohio’s legacy coal mining region. Previously, efforts to monitor subsidence have been sparse or temporally discontinuous, leading to an incomplete understanding of how subsidence in these areas occurred. We apply a robust alternative to traditional land surveying using Persistent Scatterer (PS) radar interferometry, a refinement to traditional radar interferometry techniques. Wellston, OH, which continues to be an unstable AUM area based on subsidence damage claims, was investigated because the downtown area rests above several unstable ~100 year old room-and-pillar mines at an average depth of only 10 meters, overlain by a thin layer of unconsolidated material, a more significant unit of limestone, intermittent mudstone, and sandstone. Since 1993, 8 separate subsidence claims have been confirmed by state agencies in Wellston, which have cost more than $250,000. 18 ERS-1 and ERS-2 SAR images were acquired over Wellston, Ohio covering April 1992 and February 2000, and used to monitor subsidence over that time period. Resulting PS based displacement maps show ground movement for the town. In areas of higher numbers of damage claims at the surface, the movement is generally non-uniform. In areas with uniform ground movement, damage claims are minimal. As the time since abandonment of AUMs continues to increase, subsidence related damages are expected to increase, reinforcing the need for a predictive subsidence model. Using the georeferenced AUM maps, water well logs, and geologic information for Wellston, a multivariable GIS model was developed in order to predict areas at most risk to future subsidence hazards. Variables in the model included, (1) void space, (2) thickness of mine overburden (3) thickness of unconsolidated overburden, (4) presence or absence of pillars, and (5) proximity to mined out areas, (6) standard deviation of PS results. Results from the GIS model agree well with the current subsidence claims, and high magnitude subsidence determined via PS analysis
Richard Becker (Advisor)
Mark Camp (Committee Member)
Donald Stierman (Committee Member)
Geographic Information Science; Geology; Mining; Remote Sensing
SAR interferometry; Persistent scatterers; ERS-1/2; Mine subsidence; Remote sensing; GIS

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Siemer, K. W. (2013). You've got that Sinking Feeling: Measuring Subsidence above Abandoned Underground Mines in Ohio, USA [Master's thesis, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1372439025

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Siemer, Kyle. You've got that Sinking Feeling: Measuring Subsidence above Abandoned Underground Mines in Ohio, USA. 2013. University of Toledo, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1372439025.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Siemer, Kyle. "You've got that Sinking Feeling: Measuring Subsidence above Abandoned Underground Mines in Ohio, USA." Master's thesis, University of Toledo, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1372439025

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

toledo1372439025
576
© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Toledo and OhioLINK.