Influence of bedrock water exploitation on land subsidence in Beijing

Land subsidence induced by excessive groundwater withdrawal has constituted a major environmental geological problem in Beijing’s plain areas. This paper selected Xiaotangshan and Houshayu areas as typical research areas. By analyzing the development and utilization of bedrock water, we carried out research on the land subsidence induced by bedrock water exploitation. A simplified elastic model was used to assess the amount of elastic deformation caused by bedrock water exploitation. The results showed that from 1974 to 2010, the total exploitation of Xiaotangshan geothermal field was about 94 million cubic meters and the exploitation led to about 1.02 cm elastic deformation; the exploitation of Xiaotangshan karst water reached 30 million cubic meters annually, causing an average annual deformation of about 0.32 cm. Approximate values of the Houshayu area was obtained through estimation, and the accumulated elastic deformation caused by Quaternary groundwater exploitation was about 1.09 cm in the period from 1961 to 2011.

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