Subsidence and sinkhole hazard assessment in the Southern Dead Sea area, Jordan

The Dead Sea area is increasingly facing serious subsidence and sinkhole hazards. On March 22, 2000, the dyke of a two-month old major salt evaporation pond, located along the shore of the Lisan Peninsula (Jordan), collapsed over almost two kilometers. The pond was set up over unstable new lands that have been progressively emerging during the last three decades. In one hour, 56 millions m³ of brine poured out into the northern, natural part of the Sea. Here, we present data suggesting that the drop of the water level, in conjunction with the particular tectonic setting of this area, is at least one of the factors that led to the disaster. We focused our study over the northern part of the Lisan Peninsula and Ghor Al Haditha which are two places undergoing the most intense deformations along the Jordanian Dead Sea coast. We used the results of a static high precision gravimetric survey to detect subsurface cavities in Ghor Al Haditha. We analyzed a interferometric digital terrain model of the recent emerged platform of the Lisan peninsula and interpreted radar differential interferograms contemporary with gravity measurements for the peninsula. We discuss the possibilities to detect, assess and monitor areas prone to collapse on the Jordanian side of the southern Dead Sea coast.