Bodemdaling in Nederland is een actueel en complex probleem in stad en poldergebieden, waarvoor toenemend aandacht bestaat. Oude oplossingen werken niet meer goed. Er wordt geïnvesteerd in het vlakdekkend meten en modelleren van de bodemdaling, en nieuwe omgangsvormen zullen worden ontwikkeld, zodat beslissingen over maatregelscenario’s zijn gebaseerd op feitelijke kennis.

• prof. mr. dr. Frank Groothuijse
• dr. ir. Dries Hegger
• dr. ir. M.M. (Mariet) Hefting
• prof. mr. Marleen van Rijswick
• prof. dr. Peter Driessen
• dr. Kim Cohen
• prof. dr. Esther Stouthamer
• Ruth de Klerk
• dr. Oscar van Vliet
• Duygu Tolunay
• Kim de Wit MSc
• Bente Lexmond MSc
• Pepijn van Elderen MSc

• Gilles Erkens (Deltares)
• Bernardien Tiehatten (LOSS)
• Prof. Ramon Hanssen (TU Delft)
• J.G. Rots (TU Delft)
• K.G. Gavin (TU Delft)
• Prof. Ekko van Ierland (WUR)
• Prof. Hans-Peter Weikard (WUR)
• Jan Willem van Groenigen (WUR)
• Jan JH van den Akker (WUR)
• Dr. Mandy Korff (TUD
• Deltares)
• Dr. Peter Fokker (TNO Geological Survey of the Netherlands)

This is a pilot project of the UU research focus area Future Deltas. We study subsidence due to peat compaction and oxidation in built-up areas in three villages in the central part of the Rhine-Meuse delta, The Netherlands. Built-up areas are typically avoided because sealed surfaces and restricted property access hamper investigation the subsurface. These areas are however heavily impacted by land subsidence, and therefore, with an increasing number of people living on peaty soils, understanding processes leading to subsidence is critical. 

We made cross sections based on logged borehole data to reveal the lithological composition of the Holocene sequence underlying the villages. At selected sites, representing different land uses and subsurface composition, cores were extracted to determine current compaction conditions of peat layers, based on high-resolution bulk density measurements. Oxidation conditions of selected peat samples were determined based on respiration measurements. Derived information on compaction and oxidation conditions, along with data from previous studies, allowed to assess the relative contribution of both processes under different settings regarding loading and groundwater level. In addition, we assessed the potential for future land subsidence at our study sites under different development scenarios. Ultimately, insights derived from this study can be used for developing sustainable management strategies for inhabited organo-clastic coastal zones worldwide.

• prof. dr. Esther Stouthamer
• dr. ir. M.M. (Mariet) Hefting

This project aims to enhance the capabilities of individuals and organisations to develop sustainable strategies for dealing with groundwater extraction, land subsidence and salt water intrusion in the increasingly urbanising Mekong Delta (Vietnam). We will enlarge the knowledge base of stakeholders (including policy makers, water managers and scientists) and work with them to develop and implement innovative tools and technologies in practice and policy. A new integrated delta model will be developed, linking surface water, groundwater and geo-mechanical models, to analyse the interrelated character of groundwater extraction, subsidence levels and salt water intrusion. Together with stakeholders the new and comprehensive model will be constructed and applied to quantify the effects of water management strategies in the Mekong Delta. Stakeholders will analyse and develop adequate strategies by simulating and demonstrating the effects of development scenarios and policy recommendations, such as expressed in the Mekong Delta Plan (2013).

• dr. ir. Gualbert Oude Essink
• prof. dr. Piet Hoekstra
• prof. dr. Esther Stouthamer
• dr. Maarten van der Vegt
• dr. Carel Dieperink

Delta Evolutie is de naam die we sinds 2005 gebruiken voor het gebundelde Utrechtse geomorfologische en kwartairgeologische onderzoek naar Laaglandgebieden in het Department Fysische Geografie, in samenwerking met andere instituten. Het is ook het label van een onderzoekssamenwerkingsverband dat het departement in 2008 is aangegaan met Deltares en TNO Geologische Dienst Nederland op dezelfde Utrechtse campus.

[ herformulering/actualisatie van de beschrijving is gaande - zie voorlopig de engelse beschrijving ]

• dr. Kim Cohen
• prof. dr. Esther Stouthamer
• prof. dr. Hans Middelkoop
• dr. Wim Hoek
• prof. dr. Maarten Kleinhans
• drs. Marjolein Gouw-Bouman
• dr. Ad van der Spek
• dr. Marcel van der Perk
• dr. Bas Knaake
• J.I.M. (Jelle) Moree MSc

• Deltares
• TNO Geologische Dienst Nederland
• Rijksdienst Cultureel Erfgoed
• VU Amsterdam