Land subsidence in the United States

All over the United States, people are dealing with the problem of land subsidence due to the withdrawal of ground water or the application of water at the land surface. This report focuses on the three principal processes causing land subsidence: the compaction of aquifer systems, the oxidation of organic soils, and the collapse of cavities in carbonate and evaporite rocks. The impacts of past and present land subsidence are illustrated, as well as the value of science in effectively limiting damages from land subsidence.