Subsidence of the land surface in the Tulare‐Wasco (Delano) and Los Banos‐Kettleman City area, San Joaquin Valley, California

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union
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Abstract

Releveling of bench marks in 1953 and 1954 by the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey indicates that subsidence of the land surface has now exceeded ten feet in two areas of the San Joaquin Valley. In the Tulare‐Wasco (or Delano) area of Tulare County, subsidence which was as much as rive feet in 1940 now has about doubled. The maximum rate of subsidence in recent years has been about 0.8 foot a year. In the Los Banos‐Kettleman City area of western Fresno County, major subsidence extends from Ora Loma on the north beyond Huron on the south, a distance of 70 miles or more. The maximum rate there approaches one foot a year. Plots of subsidence against decline in artesian pressure suggest that pressure decline is a major cause of the subsidence. Compaction of the soil after irrigation is known to have caused substantial local subsidence in the Los Banos‐Kettleman City area, and tectonic adjustment and other causes also may have contributed to the subsidence.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Subsidence of the land surface in the Tulare‐Wasco (Delano) and Los Banos‐Kettleman City area, San Joaquin Valley, California
Series title Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union
DOI 10.1029/TR037i003p00287
Volume 37
Issue 3
Year Published 1956
Language English
Publisher American Geophysical Union
Description 10 p.
First page 287
Last page 296
Country United States
State California
Other Geospatial Tulare‐Wasco (Delano) and Los Banos‐Kettleman City area, San Joaquin Valley, California
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