Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

Environmental and Engineering Geoscience

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (3) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by MANSOOR, N. M. Articles by MISRA, A. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

A GIS-Based Assessment of Liquefaction Potential of the City of Aqaba, Jordan

¹ Department of Earth and Environmental Science, 195 University Avenue, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07102
² Department of Geosciences, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 5100 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO 64110
³ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 5100 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO 64110

The city of Aqaba, Jordan, located along the northern shore of the Gulf of Aqaba, is built over the seismically active Dead Sea Transform plate boundary fault system. The subsurface stratigraphic sequence underlying the city is composed of alluvial fan deposits containing varying amounts of clay, silt, sand, and gravel interbedded within the coastal areas with aeolian and beach sand. Groundwater levels along the coastal areas are very shallow. The groundwater levels increase to the north and northeast to depths greater than 17 m about 5 km from the shore. The liquefaction potential of the city of Aqaba soils was analyzed using the Simplified Procedure of Youd and Idriss and the modified Chinese criteria of Wang. Maps of the liquefaction susceptibility of areas in the city of Aqaba were displayed using the Geographic Information System (GIS). Application of the modified Chinese criteria indicates that the cohesive subsurface layers are predominantly nonliquefiable. The types of sediments most susceptible to liquefaction are saturated silt and sand deposits. Two classification schemes were developed in this liquefaction analysis. Our results indicate that the coastal areas of Aqaba have a high potential to liquefy, whereas the eastern parts of the city lie predominantly within a nonliquefaction zone. The critical facilities were overlaid with the liquefaction hazard map of the city and show that only the hotel and the commercial districts lie within a zone of high susceptibility to liquefaction. The areas that have historically experienced liquefaction were found to exist within the high susceptibility zone as well, supporting the findings of this study.

Key Words: Liquefication • GIS • Aqaba, Jordan • Earthquake • Dead Sea Transform