Land Subsidence in the Netherlands

Land subsidence in coastal areas poses a major hazard, as it increases flood risk and damages vital infrastructure, buildings and cultural heritage. It also results in prolonged periods of soils being too wet for arable use, and affects the environment by groundwater salinization. Land subsidence due to peat decomposition also leads to greenhouse gas emissions.

Different processes acting at different depths in the subsurface contribute to land subsidence. The Netherlands is largely naturally subsiding through tectonics and isostasy, with human-induced subsidence processes by for instance groundwater management and mining superimposed on that.

Often, human-induced subsidence rates are at least an order of magnitude higher than natural subsidence rates.

Subsidence rates are highly variable in time and space, depending on various factors including subsurface composition, present and historical human activities and meteorological conditions.

In the low-lying coastal zones of the Netherlands, the effects of land subsidence are becoming increasingly important, especially because of climate change, the energy transition, and urbanization. For instance, changing land use and water systems, or the use of subsurface renewable energy sources, may create new subsidence hot spots. Therefore, understanding subsidence processes, predicting future rates at different scales and time intervals, and understanding their impact is crucial.

This special issue aims to bring together various disciplines working on land subsidence in the Netherlands, to provide an overview of the wide variety of research conducted in this field. Land subsidence is intertwined with our past, present, and future, both in natural systems and our socio-economical world, making it a multi-disciplinary topic.

We invite professionals from all disciplines working on land subsidence in the Netherlands to contribute to this special issue. We welcome the following papers:

• Research articles: new research focusing on relevant topics within the field of land subsidence in the Netherlands
• Literature reviews: literature overview to come to new insights in land subsidence in the Netherlands
• Position papers: new research initiatives, opinions, lessons learned using new techniques etc.
• Technical reports: short reports on current projects, advancements in industry and policy, case studies and data sets.

Guest editors:

Sanneke van Asselen (Deltares) - Sanneke.vanAsselen@deltares.nl

Kay Koster (TNO – Geological Survey of the Netherlands) - kay.koster@tno.nl

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