Articles | Volume 10, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1451-2019
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-10-1451-2019
Research article
 | 
30 Aug 2019
Research article |  | 30 Aug 2019

Sinkholes and uvalas in evaporite karst: spatio-temporal development with links to base-level fall on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea

Robert A. Watson, Eoghan P. Holohan, Djamil Al-Halbouni, Leila Saberi, Ali Sawarieh, Damien Closson, Hussam Alrshdan, Najib Abou Karaki, Christian Siebert, Thomas R. Walter, and Torsten Dahm

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Cited articles

Abelson, M., Baer, G., Shtivelman, V., Wachs, D., Raz, E., Crouvi, O., Kurzon, I., and Yechieli, Y.: Collapse-sinkholes and radar interferometry reveal neotectonics concealed within the Dead Sea basin, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, 2–5, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003GL017103, 2003. 
Abelson, M., Yechieli, Y., Baer, G., Lapid, G., Behar, N., Calvo, R., and Rosensaft, M.: Natural versus human control on subsurface salt dissolution and development of thousands of sinkholes along the Dead Sea coast, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 122, 1262–1277, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JF004219, 2017. 
Abou-Karaki, N., Fiaschi, S., and Closson, D.: Sustainable development and anthropogenic induced geomorphic hazards in subsiding areas, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 2295, 2282–2295, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4047, 2016. 
Al-Halbouni, D., Holohan, E. P., Saberi, L., Alrshdan, H., Sawarieh, A., Closson, D., Walter, T. R., and Dahm, T.: Sinkholes, subsidence and subrosion on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea as revealed by a close-range photogrammetric survey, Geomorphology, 285, 305–324, https://doi.org/10.1016/J.GEOMORPH.2017.02.006, 2017. 
Al-Halbouni, D., Holohan, E. P., Taheri, A., Schöpfer, M. P. J., Emam, S., and Dahm, T.: Geomechanical modelling of sinkhole development using distinct elements: model verification for a single void space and application to the Dead Sea area, Solid Earth, 9, 1341–1373, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-9-1341-2018, 2018. 
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Short summary
The fall of the Dead Sea level since the 1960s has provoked the formation of over 6000 sinkholes, a major hazard to local economy and infrastructure. In this context, we study the evolution of subsidence phenomena at three area scales at the Dead Sea’s eastern shore from 1967–2017. Our results yield the most detailed insights to date into the spatio-temporal development of sinkholes and larger depressions (uvalas) in an evaporite karst setting and emphasize a link to the falling Dead Sea level.