Subsidence and uplift of Sidoarjo (East Java) due to the eruption of the Lusi mud volcano (2006–present)

Abstract

Global positioning system (GPS) and satellite-based InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) measurements of the subsidence and uplift of a populated area of Sidoarjo, East Java are due to the eruption of the Lusi mud volcano (2006–present). These data are the first direct quantitative measurements of deformation due to the growth of a mud volcano edifice. The GPS data were recorded over periods of a few hours to several months and show that between June 2006 and September 2007, the earth’s surface has been subsiding at rates of 0.1–4 cm/day. Maximum rates of subsidence occurred in an area 300–400 m to the northwest of the main mud volcano vent. Horizontal displacements were 0.03–0.9 cm/day and were also towards this area. In general uplifts of up to 0.09 cm/day were recorded in areas outside of the edifice. Changes in elevation measured using satellite imagery (InSAR technique) provide regional datasets of subsidence and uplift. They confirm that during the first year a roughly circular area was undergoing sag-like subsidence centered to the northwest of the main vent and that uplift was occurring 3–4 months after the initiation of the eruption due to the movement Watukosek fault system. Subsidence occurred due to the weight of mud and man-made dams and the collapse of the overburden due to removal of mud from the subsurface. Assuming constant rates of subsidence of 4 cm/day, then in the centre of the edifice there would be up to 44 m of subsidence in 3 years, and up to 16 m in 10 years. The mud volcano is now in a self-organizing state with new fluid conduits forming as a result of the collapse.