Abstract
ABSTRACTThe Delaware Basin, an evaporite sequence spanning west Texas and southeast New Mexico, is well known for the mining of potassium salts, known as potash. Several companies operate mines in the region, primarily using room-and-pillar techniques. However, the region's karst topography is prone to ground subsidence and sinkhole development when triggered by anthropogenic activities. We explored a region of significant ground subsidence encompassing a potash mine. Incorporating synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from the advanced land-observing satellite (ALOS) and Sentinel-1A sensors, we used interferometric SAR techniques to detect a significant amount of subsidence located in several distinct areas from 2007 to 2011 and from January to November 2016. To investigate the origin of this subsidence, we considered potash mining by analysing the mine operator's production records. We observed a strong correlation between the total subsidence rate in our area and the potash production rate during 2007–2011. Furthermore, we observed a considerable amount of continuous subsidence during 2016, despite the mine operator suspending potash production on 6 May 2016. As such, the observed subsidence could result in deleterious consequences throughout the region if further action is not taken.
Highlights
Under the barren desert of the Delaware Basin southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico, large deposits of valuable mineral assets reside beneath layers of anhydrite, halite, sylvite, and other evaporite minerals (Barker and Austin 1993)
Used primarily in the production of plant fertilizers, potassium salts are primarily extracted in the Carlsbad potash mines using conventional room-and-pillar mining techniques, in which continuous boring machines grind underground deposits into small chunks, which are transported to potash mills on the surface (Austin 1980)
If natural surface water did flow into the water-soluble Salado Formation, the subsidence should accelerate during wet seasons and the temporal pattern of deformation should exhibit seasonal variations
Summary
In the last few decades, the region has become a centre for mining activities, for the extraction of potassium salts, including muriate of potash (KCl) and langbeinite (K2Mg2(SO4)3) (Barker et al 1996). Used primarily in the production of plant fertilizers, potassium salts are primarily extracted in the Carlsbad potash mines using conventional room-and-pillar mining techniques, in which continuous boring machines grind underground deposits into small chunks, which are transported to potash mills on the surface (Austin 1980). There, the ore is ground into powder, crystallized, and processed into commercially usable forms, such as fertilizer (Austin 1980). These mining techniques carry an impact on local geologic formations.
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