Analogue model of ground ruptures due to groundwater pumping in an aquifer above a bedrock ridge

Abstract

We report preliminary results of physical experiments of rupture occurrence and propagation associated with land subsidence driven by groundwater pumping and compare our analogue model results with corresponding previously reported numerical results. In particular, we aim to test the development of tensile stresses above a bedrock ridge that forms the base of an aquifer system. The experiment reproduces the main deformation and ruptures observed in field cases and in the numerical analysis.