Subsidence of sinkholes in Wink, Texas from 2007 to 2011 detected by time-series InSAR analysis

Abstract

West Texas’ Permian Basin, where the Wink sinkholes are located, is underlain by evaporite rocks that have been exposed to the dissolution due to natural processes and/or anthropogenic activities. We used the time-series interferometric synthetic aperture radar technique to process 16 ALOS PALSAR images from 01/01/2007 to 02/27/2011 for inspecting ground stability. Our results clearly show that two major sinkholes (Wink Sinks 1, 2), formed in 1980 and 2002, are both still subsiding, but the maximum subsidence for the 4-year period (2007–2011) occurred over an area about 1 km northeast of Wink Sink 2. The peak subsidence rate reached ∼40 cm/year during 2007–2010 and rose to ∼50 cm/year after 2010 when the area was hit by a record drought. Continuous monitoring of the subsidence in the vicinity of the Wink sinkholes is required for preventing and mitigating catastrophic outcomes of long-term developing geohazards to the area’s oil production facilities, infrastructure, and human safety.

Keywords

• wink sinkholes
• insar
• time series insar