Surface deformation detection and attribution in the Mountain-Oasis-Desert Landscape in north Tianshan Mountains
ABSTRACTThe Mountain-Oasis-Desert System (MODS) is the fundamental landscape component within the vast arid region of Central Asia. Human activities and natural processes cause surface displacement in the MODS, resulting in geoenvironmental issues and hazards. However, surface displacement and its d...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2023-12-01
|
| Series: | GIScience & Remote Sensing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15481603.2023.2270814 |
| _version_ | 1797648445703454720 |
|---|---|
| author | Binbin Fan Geping Luo Olaf Hellwich Xuguo Shi Friday U. Ochege |
| author_facet | Binbin Fan Geping Luo Olaf Hellwich Xuguo Shi Friday U. Ochege |
| author_sort | Binbin Fan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACTThe Mountain-Oasis-Desert System (MODS) is the fundamental landscape component within the vast arid region of Central Asia. Human activities and natural processes cause surface displacement in the MODS, resulting in geoenvironmental issues and hazards. However, surface displacement and its driving mechanisms in the MODS are not understood. In this study, we used the time-series interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) method to detect deformation in the MODS in north Tianshan Mountain, Xinjiang and investigated its attribution from the geological conditions, groundwater level changes, and climate variability. The results along the vertical gradient indicate that decorrelation is severe in the high mountain areas with ice-marginal environments (over 3600 m above sea level (a.s.l.)) and the forest-covered mid-mountainous belt (1700–2800 m asl), rendering effective detection unfeasible. Dynamic characteristics are identified in subalpine areas with an elevation of 2800–3600 m asl, with maximum horizontal and vertical displacements of −80.2 mm/year and −58.6 mm/year, respectively. The seasonal acceleration is influenced by the combined effects of temperature and precipitation changes. We observed dense subsidence funnels and ground fissures associated with coal mining in the foreland hills (700–1700 m asl). Ground displacements here exceeded −50 mm/year two years after mining activities had ceased. Subsidence has expanded in the oases with elevations of less than 700 m asl, due to extensive groundwater extraction for agricultural irrigation. The correlation coefficient between groundwater level and displacement was 0.89 and 0.45 at wells in the agricultural and desert areas, respectively. The deformation exhibited seasonal variations associated with groundwater level. The deformation remains relatively stable in the surrounding oasis-affected desert areas, with weak fluctuations influenced by seasonal variations in groundwater level. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:32:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8d83095bdf774c3c8e103d46df21d715 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1548-1603 1943-7226 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:32:15Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | GIScience & Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-8d83095bdf774c3c8e103d46df21d7152023-10-27T03:43:55ZengTaylor & Francis GroupGIScience & Remote Sensing1548-16031943-72262023-12-0160110.1080/15481603.2023.2270814Surface deformation detection and attribution in the Mountain-Oasis-Desert Landscape in north Tianshan MountainsBinbin Fan0Geping Luo1Olaf Hellwich2Xuguo Shi3Friday U. Ochege4State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang, ChinaDepartment of Computer Vision & Remote Sensing, Technische Universität, Berlin, GermanySchool of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, Xinjiang, ChinaABSTRACTThe Mountain-Oasis-Desert System (MODS) is the fundamental landscape component within the vast arid region of Central Asia. Human activities and natural processes cause surface displacement in the MODS, resulting in geoenvironmental issues and hazards. However, surface displacement and its driving mechanisms in the MODS are not understood. In this study, we used the time-series interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) method to detect deformation in the MODS in north Tianshan Mountain, Xinjiang and investigated its attribution from the geological conditions, groundwater level changes, and climate variability. The results along the vertical gradient indicate that decorrelation is severe in the high mountain areas with ice-marginal environments (over 3600 m above sea level (a.s.l.)) and the forest-covered mid-mountainous belt (1700–2800 m asl), rendering effective detection unfeasible. Dynamic characteristics are identified in subalpine areas with an elevation of 2800–3600 m asl, with maximum horizontal and vertical displacements of −80.2 mm/year and −58.6 mm/year, respectively. The seasonal acceleration is influenced by the combined effects of temperature and precipitation changes. We observed dense subsidence funnels and ground fissures associated with coal mining in the foreland hills (700–1700 m asl). Ground displacements here exceeded −50 mm/year two years after mining activities had ceased. Subsidence has expanded in the oases with elevations of less than 700 m asl, due to extensive groundwater extraction for agricultural irrigation. The correlation coefficient between groundwater level and displacement was 0.89 and 0.45 at wells in the agricultural and desert areas, respectively. The deformation exhibited seasonal variations associated with groundwater level. The deformation remains relatively stable in the surrounding oasis-affected desert areas, with weak fluctuations influenced by seasonal variations in groundwater level.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15481603.2023.2270814Mountain-Oasis-DesertInSARdeformationmininggroundwater level |
| spellingShingle | Binbin Fan Geping Luo Olaf Hellwich Xuguo Shi Friday U. Ochege Surface deformation detection and attribution in the Mountain-Oasis-Desert Landscape in north Tianshan Mountains GIScience & Remote Sensing Mountain-Oasis-Desert InSAR deformation mining groundwater level |
| title | Surface deformation detection and attribution in the Mountain-Oasis-Desert Landscape in north Tianshan Mountains |
| title_full | Surface deformation detection and attribution in the Mountain-Oasis-Desert Landscape in north Tianshan Mountains |
| title_fullStr | Surface deformation detection and attribution in the Mountain-Oasis-Desert Landscape in north Tianshan Mountains |
| title_full_unstemmed | Surface deformation detection and attribution in the Mountain-Oasis-Desert Landscape in north Tianshan Mountains |
| title_short | Surface deformation detection and attribution in the Mountain-Oasis-Desert Landscape in north Tianshan Mountains |
| title_sort | surface deformation detection and attribution in the mountain oasis desert landscape in north tianshan mountains |
| topic | Mountain-Oasis-Desert InSAR deformation mining groundwater level |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15481603.2023.2270814 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT binbinfan surfacedeformationdetectionandattributioninthemountainoasisdesertlandscapeinnorthtianshanmountains AT gepingluo surfacedeformationdetectionandattributioninthemountainoasisdesertlandscapeinnorthtianshanmountains AT olafhellwich surfacedeformationdetectionandattributioninthemountainoasisdesertlandscapeinnorthtianshanmountains AT xuguoshi surfacedeformationdetectionandattributioninthemountainoasisdesertlandscapeinnorthtianshanmountains AT fridayuochege surfacedeformationdetectionandattributioninthemountainoasisdesertlandscapeinnorthtianshanmountains |