Fusion of Remote Sensing and Applied Geophysics for Sinkholes Identification in Tabular Middle Atlas of Morocco (the Causse of El Hajeb): Impact on the Protection of Water Resource

The Causse of El Hajeb belongs to the Tabular Middle Atlas (TMA), in which thousands of karst landforms have been identified. Among them, collapse dolines and dissolution sinkholes have been highlighted as a source of environmental risks and geo-hazards. In particular, such sinkholes have been linke...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Resources (Basel) 2020-04, Vol.9 (4), p.51
Main Authors: Muzirafuti, Anselme, Boualoul, Mustapha, Barreca, Giovanni, Allaoui, Abdelhamid, Bouikbane, Hmad, Lanza, Stefania, Crupi, Antonio, Randazzo, Giovanni
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Agricultural production
Applied geology
Aquifers
Basins
Carbonate rocks
Cavities
Climate change
Collapse
Detection
doline
dolomite
Earth Sciences
Electrical resistivity
electrical resistivity tomography
Environment and Society
Environmental Engineering
Environmental risk
Environmental Sciences
geo-hazards
Geologic depressions
Geological hazards
Geology
Geophysical methods
Geophysics
Global Changes
Groundwater
Health risks
Karst
Land cover
Land use
Landforms
Morphology
Polls & surveys
Precipitation
Property damage
Remote sensing
Risk management
Risk reduction
Sciences of the Universe
Sentinel-2
Sinkholes
Studies
Tomography
Water quality
Water resources
Water springs
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Summary:The Causse of El Hajeb belongs to the Tabular Middle Atlas (TMA), in which thousands of karst landforms have been identified. Among them, collapse dolines and dissolution sinkholes have been highlighted as a source of environmental risks and geo-hazards. In particular, such sinkholes have been linked to the degradation of water quality in water springs located in the junction of the TMA and Saïss basin. Furthermore, the developments of collapse dolines in agricultural and inhabited areas enhance the risk of life loss, injury, and property damage. Here, the lack of research on newly formed cavities has exacerbated the situation. The limited studies using remote sensing or geophysical methods to determine the degree of karstification and vulnerability of this environment fail to provide the spatial extent and depth location of individual karst cavities. In order to contribute to the effort of sinkhole risk reduction in TMA, we employed remote sensing and geophysical surveys to integrate electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and self-potential (SP) for subsurface characterization of four sinkholes identified in the Causse of El Hajeb. The results revealed the existence of sinkholes, both visible and non-accessible at the surface, in carbonate rocks. The sinkholes exhibited distinct morphologies, with depths reaching 35 m. Topography, geographic coordinates and land cover information extracted on remote sensing data demonstrated that these cavities were developed in depressions in which agricultural activities are regularly performed. The fusion of these methods benefits from remote sensing in geophysical surveys, particularly in acquisition, georeferencing, processing and interpretation of geophysical data. Furthermore, our proposed method allows identification of the protection perimeter required to minimize the risks posed by sinkholes.
ISSN:2079-9276
2079-9276
DOI:10.3390/resources9040051