Curvature analysis as a tool for subsidence-related risk zones identification in the city of Tuzla (BiH)

Shallow Miocene salt deposits located below the city of Tuzla (BiH) have been exploited during the last 60 years by means of wells extracting salt-saturated groundwater brines. The massive extraction activities have led to severe subsidence accommodated by collapse and strain localization. Surface topography and geomorphology have been influenced and modified by several faults and fractures. A series of sequential topographical survey data collected during the last 50 years have been used to obtain the total subsidence envelope surface. In order to analyze the salt dissolution-related morphological development of the Tuzla topography and to identify the location of faults and fractures in the deformed area, we applied curvature analysis to the subsidence surface by means of two different analytical methods: the directional, two-dimensional curvature and the analytic Gaussian curvature. The comparison of the curvature maps with those of surface fractures visible in the area shows a good spatial agreement between the directional curvature and fracture intensity, whereas the subsurface normal faults are more evident in the Gaussian curvature maps.