TY - GEN
T1 - Imaging the ROOT cause of subsidence using Electrical Resistivity Tomography
AU - Jones, G. M.
AU - Cassidy, N. J.
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - Throughout the world, ground movement caused by moisture content variation in expansive clay soils is a major problem. In southern areas of the UK particularly, where major urban areas coincide with outcropping clay, subsidence and the resulting structural damage caused by clay shrinkage is at the forefront of both the public and insurers concerns. The principal cause of such damage however, has not only been attributed to expansive clays but more increasingly to the influence urban trees have in promoting clay subsidence through water uptake, especially during times of drought. At present the diagnosis of tree-induced subsidence (TIS) involves verifying clay desiccation via testing soil index properties (i.e. Atterberg Limits) and comparing soil water and strength profiles at points proximal and distal from the tree. These methods however, are costly, difficult, and sometimes unreliable and ultimately provide a very limited and often incomprehensive understanding of tree induced subsidence, especially in the long term. As part of an interdisciplinary study of this system, a geophysical approach is taken to bridge the knowledge gap by using Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) to provide a more comprehensive understanding and visualisation of the interactions between trees, moisture movement and volume change in clays.
AB - Throughout the world, ground movement caused by moisture content variation in expansive clay soils is a major problem. In southern areas of the UK particularly, where major urban areas coincide with outcropping clay, subsidence and the resulting structural damage caused by clay shrinkage is at the forefront of both the public and insurers concerns. The principal cause of such damage however, has not only been attributed to expansive clays but more increasingly to the influence urban trees have in promoting clay subsidence through water uptake, especially during times of drought. At present the diagnosis of tree-induced subsidence (TIS) involves verifying clay desiccation via testing soil index properties (i.e. Atterberg Limits) and comparing soil water and strength profiles at points proximal and distal from the tree. These methods however, are costly, difficult, and sometimes unreliable and ultimately provide a very limited and often incomprehensive understanding of tree induced subsidence, especially in the long term. As part of an interdisciplinary study of this system, a geophysical approach is taken to bridge the knowledge gap by using Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) to provide a more comprehensive understanding and visualisation of the interactions between trees, moisture movement and volume change in clays.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085773140&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3997/2214-4609.20146567
DO - 10.3997/2214-4609.20146567
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85085773140
SN - 9073781817
SN - 9789073781818
T3 - Near Surface 2007 - 13th European Meeting of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics
BT - Near Surface 2007 - 13th European Meeting of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics
PB - European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers, EAGE
T2 - 13th European Meeting of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics of the Near Surface Geoscience Division of EAGE, Near Surface 2007
Y2 - 3 September 2007 through 5 September 2007
ER -