Gypsum collapse hazards and importance of hazard mapping

Abstract

Collapse in gypsum terrains is a serious geological hazard and can damage engineering structures, settlement areas, natural lakes, and allow infiltration of contaminants into the groundwater. Presentation of engineering geological data in the form of a hazard map is a useful tool in urban planning. To avoid the problems and thus save property and money, detailed geoscientific data should be collected and used in urban planing. Interpretation of future collapse occurrence requires an understanding of conditions and processes controlling collapse events. To predict collapse, it is necessary to assume that collapse occurrence is determined by collapse-related factors, and that future collapses are likely to occur under the same conditions as past collapses. In this study, collapse hazard was reviewed and a method was presented for collapse susceptibility mapping in gypsum terrain in of Sivas basin (Turkey) using a statistical method (conditional probability).