Non-Invasive Methodological Approach to Detect and Characterize High-Risk Sinkholes in Urban Cover Evaporite Karst: Integrated Reflection Seismics, PS-InSAR, Leveling, 3D-GPR and Ancillary Data. A NE Italian Case Study

Abstract

Sinkholes linked to cover evaporite karst in urban environments still represent a challenge in terms of their clear identification and mapping considering the rehash and man-made structures. In the present research, we have proposed and tested a methodology to identify the subsiding features through an integrated and non-invasive multi-scale approach combining seismic reflection, PS-InSAR (PSI), leveling and full 3D Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), and thus overpassing the limits of each method. The analysis was conducted in a small village in the Alta Val Tagliamento Valley (Friuli Venezia Giulia region, NE Italy). Here, sinkholes have been reported for a long time as well as the hazards linked to their presence. Within past years, several houses have been demolished and at present many of them are damaged. The PSI investigation allowed the identification of an area with higher vertical velocities; seismic reflection imagined the covered karst bedrock, identifying three depocenters; leveling data presented a downward displacement comparable with PSI results; 3D GPR, applied here for the first time in the study and characterization of sinkholes, defined shallow sinking features. Combining all the obtained results with accurate field observations, we identified and mapped the highest vulnerable zone.