Study of the deformation mechanism of the Gaoliying ground fissure.

The Gaoliying ground fissure in Beijing has caused building cracking and road damage, and has seriously influenced city construction. Based on investigations and trenching, the influences of the fault and the variation of groundwater levels on the formation mechanism of the Gaoliying ground fissure were investigated by using FLAC3D. The results indicated that (1) the surface location of Gaoliying fissure is controlled by the underlying normal fault activity, and over pumping further exacerbates development of the ground fissure; (2) when the groundwater level declines, obvious differential settlement occurs at both sides of the ground fissure, in which greater settlement occurs in the vicinity of the hanging wall, the greater the distance from the hanging wall, the smaller the ground subsidence, however smaller ground subsidence occurs in the vicinity of the footwall, the greater the distance from the footwall, the greater the ground subsidence; (3) the vertical velocity of the ground fissure triggered by the fault activity and groundwater decline ranges from 15.5 to 18.3mma^-1, which is basically in line with the monitoring data. The fault activity contributes about 28-39 %, and the groundwater contributes about 61-72% to the deformation of the ground fissure, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]