Major technological advances have made measurements of coastal subsidence more sophisticated, but these advances have not always been matched by a thorough examination of what is actually being measured. Here we draw attention to the widespread confusion about key concepts in the coastal subsidence literature, much of which revolves around the interplay between sediment accretion, vertical land motion and surface-elevation change. We attempt to reconcile this by drawing on well-established concepts from the tectonics community. A consensus on these issues by means of a common language can help bridge the gap between disparate disciplines (ranging from geophysics to ecology) that are critical in the quest for meaningful projections of future relative sea-level rise.

The Central Graben is a Mesozoic sedimentary basin that is significantly influenced by rift and salt tectonics. Its southern part is located in the German and Dutch sectors of the North Sea. Even though studies exist on the tectonic and stratigraphic development of the Danish and Dutch Central Graben, the German Central Graben as an important link is less investigated. We aim to fill this gap and to investigate the sedimentary development from the Latest Triassic to the Early Cretaceous, the relative influence of salt and rift tectonics on subsidence and how our results fit into the existing studies of the Danish and Dutch Central Graben. Knowledge of the development of the graben and its sedimentation is critical for any possible economic use like hydrocarbon exploitation or carbon capture and storage. Therefore, we mapped nine laterally traceable horizons on 2D and 3D reflection seismic data from the Lower Jurassic to the Lower Cretaceous within the German Central Graben and adjacent Danish Salt Dome Province as well as the northern Dutch Central Graben. These horizons include the base horizons of four tectonostratigraphic mega-sequences of the southern Central Graben adopted from the current Dutch tectonostratigraphic concept. Based on the mapping results, we constructed subsidence, thickness and erosion maps of the tectonostratigraphic mega-sequences and their subdivisions. The tectonostratigraphic mega-sequences were then correlated with well logs to determine the lithology. The results show that the structural and stratigraphic architecture of the German Central Graben was consecutively dominated by either subsidence controlled by rifting, salt tectonics or by thermal uplift and subsidence. We suggest that the German Central Graben is divided by a large strike-slip fault zone, the Mid Central Graben Transverse Zone, into a northern part that geologically rather belongs to the Danish and a southern part that rather belongs to the Dutch Central Graben. We discuss how this division and the tectonics influenced the regional lithology.

Ground surface dynamics is one of the processes influencing the future of the Wadden Sea area. Vertical land movement, both subsidence and heave, is a direct contributor to changes in the relative sea level. It is defined as the change of height of the Earth's surface with respect to a vertical datum. In the Netherlands, the Normaal Amsterdams Peil (NAP) is the official height datum, but its realisation via reference benchmarks is not time-dependent. Consequently, NAP benchmarks are not optimal for monitoring physical processes such as land subsidence. However, surface subsidence can be regarded as a differential signal: the vertical motion of one location relative to the vertical motion of another location. In this case, the actual geodetic height datum is superfluous.

In the present paper, we highlight the processes that cause subsidence, with specific focus on the Wadden Sea area. The focus will be toward anthropogenic causes of subsidence, and how to understand them; how to measure and monitor and use these measurements for better characterisation and forecasting; with some details on the activities in the Wadden Sea that are relevant in this respect. This naturally leads to the identification of knowledge gaps and to the formulation of notions for future research.

Not long after discovery of the Groningen field, gas-production-induced compaction and consequent land subsidence was recognised to be a potential threat to groundwater management in the province of Groningen, in addition to the fact that parts of the province lie below sea level. More recently, NAM's seismological model also pointed to a correlation between reservoir compaction and the observed induced seismicity above the field. In addition to the already existing requirement for accurate subsidence predictions, this demanded a more accurate description of the expected spatial and temporal development of compaction.

Since the start of production in 1963, multiple levelling campaigns have gathered a unique set of deformation measurements used to calibrate geomechanical models. In this paper we present a methodology to model compaction and subsidence, combining results from rock mechanics experiments and surface deformation measurements. Besides the optical spirit-levelling data, InSAR data are also used for inversion to compaction and calibration of compaction models. Residual analysis, i.e. analysis of the difference between measurement and model output, provides confidence in the model results used for subsidence forecasting and as input to seismological models.

Prediction of gas-production-induced subsidence and seismicity is much more difficult and uncertain than generally recognised in the past. It is now widely accepted that uncertainties in predicted subsidence and seismicity are large prior to and during the initial stages of production. At later stages, predictions remain highly uncertain for periods more than three to five years into the future. This requires a different regulatory framework to ensure that associated risks remain within accepted boundaries. Previously, single-scenario operator predictions were checked against field measurements. When subsidence or seismicity started to deviate beyond claimed uncertainties, the operator was asked to provide prediction updates. The practice was long considered acceptable, as structural damage to buildings and infrastructure or personal risk to people was not expected. This all changed following the 2012 Huizinge seismic event, necessitating better identification, assessment and ranking of risks, the use of scenarios, probabilistic forecasting and a much intensified field monitoring and control loop. It requires that the regulator becomes actively involved in assuring the integrated control loop of risk identification, predictions, monitoring, updating, mitigation measures and the closing of knowledge gaps, to ensure that subsidence (rate) and induced seismicity remain within acceptable limits. And it requires that this increased involvement of the regulator is supported in the mining law and by appropriate conditions in the Production Plan assent.

The Groningen gas field has shown considerable compaction and subsidence since starting production in the early 1960s. The behaviour is understood from the geomechanical response of the reservoir pressure depletion. By integrating surface movement measurements and modelling, the model parameters can be constrained and understanding of the subsurface behaviour can be improved. Such a procedure has been employed to formulate new compaction and subsidence forecasts. The results are put into the context of an extensive review of the work performed in this field, both in Groningen and beyond. The review is used to formulate a way forward designed to integrate all knowledge in a stochastic manner.

A combination of geological and anthropogenic processes have rendered theU.S. Gulf Coast in general – and the Mississippi Delta in particular –extremely sensitive to coastal hazard. Thus, the Katrina disaster was not aquestion of ‘if’ but of ‘when’. This contribution outlines thegeo-environmental context of the Mississippi Delta that evolved during the20th century and set the stage for Hurricane Katrina’s devastation. Thisincludes a brief discussion of the processes responsible for coastal erosionand wetland loss, the proposed measures to combat these problems, and thepolicy decisions (or, rather, the lack thereof) made so far. A connection ismade with the 1953 storm surge that devastated the southwestern Netherlandsand had a profound impact on Dutch science and engineering by providing theimpetus for the widely known and highly praised Delta Plan, as well as forunprecedented studies of Holocene sea-level change. Whether a similar routewill be followed for the Gulf Coast is primarily dependent on the amount ofpolitical will. Results are presented of recent studies of crustal movementsin the Mississippi Delta that show surprising long-term stability of thePleistocene basement, evidence that could prove critical for decision makerswith regard to the rebuilding process. Finally, the neglect of theprecarious situation along the Gulf Coast by the federal government isviewed as a possible metaphor for current U.S. policies with respect toscience in general, and to global warming in particular.

Sediments deposited from the Permian–Triassic boundary (~252 Ma) until the end-Smithian (Early Triassic; c. 250.7 Ma) in the Sonoma Foreland Basin show marked thickness variations between its southern (up to c. 250 m thick) and northern (up to c. 550 m thick) parts. This basin formed as a flexural response to the emplacement of the Golconda Allochthon during the Sonoma orogeny. Using a high-resolution backstripping approach, a numerical model and sediment thickness to obtain a quantitative subsidence analysis, we discuss the controlling factor(s) responsible for spatial variations in thickness. We show that sedimentary overload is not sufficient to explain the significant discrepancy observed in the sedimentary record of the basin. We argue that the inherited rheological properties of the basement terranes and spatial heterogeneity of the allochthon are of paramount importance in controlling the subsidence and thickness spatial distribution across the Sonoma Foreland Basin.

The Holocene Rhine-Meuse delta is formed under the influence of sea-level rise, tectonics, and variations in discharge and sediment supply. This paper aims to determine the relative importance of these external controls to improve our understanding of the evolution of the Rhine-Meuse fluvio-deltaic system. To do this, the geological and lithological composition of the fluvio-deltaic wedge has to be known in detail, both in space and time. This study presents five cross-valley sections in the Holocene Rhine-Meuse delta, based on almost 2000 shallow borings. Over 130 14C dates provide detailed time control and are used to draw time lines in the sections. Distinct spatio-temporal trends in the composition of the Holocene fluvio-deltaic wedge were found. In the upstream delta, the Holocene succession is characterised by stacked channel belts encased in clastic flood basin deposits through which several palaeo-A-horizon levels are traceable. In a downstream direction, the fluvio-deltaic wedge thickens from 3 to 7 m. The Holocene succession in the downstream cross sections formed from <8000 cal yr BP onwards and is characterised by single channel belts encased in organic flood basin deposits. The main part of the organic beds accumulated between 6000 and 3000 cal yr BP. After 3000 cal yr BP, clastic deposition dominated throughout the delta, indicating an increase in the area of clastic sedimentation. The Holocene fluvio-deltaic wedge is subdivided into three segments based on the relative importance of eustatic sea-level rise, subsidence, and upstream controls (discharge and sediment supply). Before 5000 cal yr BP, eustatic sea-level rise controlled the build-up of the wedge. After eustatic sea-level rise ceased, subsidence was dominant from 5000 to 3000 cal yr BP. From 3000 cal yr BP onwards, increased sediment supply and discharge from the hinterland controlled the formation of the fluvio-deltaic wedge. A significant part of the present-day Rhine-Meuse fluvio-deltaic wedge aggraded after eustatic sea-level rise ceased. We therefore conclude that external controls other than eustatic sea-level rise were also of major importance for the formation of the fluvio-deltaic wedge. Because this is probably true for other aggrading fluvial systems at continental margins as well, all external controls should be addressed to when interpreting (ancient) fluvio-deltaic successions.

Eight continuous corings in the west-central Netherlands show a 15 to 25 m thick stacked sequence of sandy to gravelly channel-belt deposits of the Rhine-Meuse system. This succession of fluvial sediments was deposited under net subsiding conditions in the southern part of the North Sea Basin and documents the response of the Rhine-Meuse river system to climate and sea-level change and to the glaciation history. On the basis of grain size characteristics, sedimentological structures, nature and extent of bounding surfaces and palaeo-ecological data, the sequence was subdivided into five fluvial units, an estuarine and an aeolian unit. Optical dating of 34 quartz samples showed that the units have intra Saalian to Weichselian ages (Marine Isotope Stages 8 to 2). Coarse-grained fluvial sediments primarily deposited under cold climatic conditions, with low vegetation cover and continuous permafrost. Finer-grained sediments generally deposited during more temperate climatic conditions with continuous vegetation cover and/or periods of sea-level highstand. Most of the sedimentary units are bounded by unconformities that represent erosion during periods of climate instability, sea-level fall and/or glacio-isostatic uplift.

The discovery in 1959 of natural gas in a well drilled by the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM) near Hoogezand, Gemeente Slochteren, a town in the Province of Groningen, led to the development and establishment of major natural gas production in the Netherlands. This important industrial development could not have started and the necessary investments would not have been made by the industry, if not in accordance with the then applicable Napoleonic Mining Law of 1810 a concession had been applied for and granted allowing to exploit this discovery. From this point of view, admittedly a lawyer’s view, the award of the concession, which was named Groningen, should be considered to be the actual starting point for the aforesaid development.

On 1 July 1961 NAM submitted its application for a concession based on its Slochteren discovery and with this submission the negotiations started between the Netherlands government on the one side and NAM and its two shareholders, viz. Shell and Exxon, on the other side, on the terms and conditions to be incorporated in the applied for concession. On the government’s side attention was focused on two aspects: how to integrate the natural gas discovered into the economy of the country and how to involve the State in the production and disposal thereof. From the outset the government intended, that the State’s interests should be represented by the Staatsmijnen in Limburg (State Mines) in order to give this coal mining enterprise a future outside and independent from its ailing coal mining business in the Province of Limburg. To this end the government arranged for State Mines to enter into a maatschap (partnership) with NAM. In this partnership State Mines would get a 40% participating interest, leaving 60% for NAM. The concession would be granted to NAM, but the latter would be obliged to produce the natural gas reserves contained within the concession for the account and responsibility of the partnership. The partnership would be managed by State Mines with a 50% voting right and by NAM’s two shareholders each with a 25% voting right.

In the deed of concession, which was granted on 30 May 1963, it is stipulated, that any natural gas not needed by the concessionaire for its own operations should be sold to a corporation to be designated by the Minister and the articles of association of which would require the latter’s approval. This corporation, named the NV Nederlandse Gasunie (the Gasunie), was established on 6 April 1963. Its shareholders were (and still are) State Mines (now Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN)) with a 40% shareholding interest, the two shareholders of NAM, each with a 25% interest, and the State itself with a 10% interest. The Gasunie is allowed to realise from its business of buying, transporting and selling natural gas an after tax profit of NGL 80 million per year. Any surplus revenues are transferred to NAM (the transfer sum) in payment of the gas delivered by NAM.

The concession area comprises about 2,970 square km, covering the territory of the Province of Groningen and the territorial waters adjacent to the Province. The concession area includes part of the Waddenzee, an area in respect of which special environmental/zoning rules and regulations are in force. As a matter of fact any exploitation of the gas reserves situated in that area is ruled out, at least for the foreseeable future.

The concession area also includes an area described as the Common Area in the Supplementary Eems I Dollard Agreement of 14 May 1962. Under the terms of this Agreement natural gas produced from the gas reserves situated in the Common Area had to be shared with German concessionaires. NAM was appointed the operator for implementing the provisions of the Agreement.

A certain varying amount of subsidence is experienced throughout the concession area. In this matter the partnership agreed to compensate, up to a certain financial limit, third parties which incurred costs or suffered damage in connection with said subsidence.

The fluvial history of the northern Lower Rhine Embayment shows interplay of three main river systems: Rhine, Meuse and smaller rivers draining the central and northern part of Belgium.

The Pliocene and Early Pleistocene (pre-)Rhine and Meuse river systems had their conjunction in the southern part of the Roer Valley Graben between Aachen and Jülich. Despite slight differences in the heavy-mineral assemblages the lithological composition of the Pliocene deposits of the three river systems shows close resemblance and therefore they cannot be mapped separately. However, due to a marked change of the petrographical composition the Upper Pliocene and Lower Pleistocene deposits of the Rhine are easily recognised and as a result Rhine and Meuse deposits can be mapped separately upstream of their confluence.

The Lower Pleistocene deposits of Rhine, Meuse and the Belgian rivers show a clear interrelationship. They are bounded by two regional well-mapable unconformities and are preserved in from west to east changing lithostratigraphical sequences. Revision of the lithostratigraphical schemes in Germany and the Netherlands and the better defined lithostratigraphical position of Meuse deposits in Germany now strongly constrain the correlation of the various fluvial deposits. As a result existing reconstructions of the fluvial deposition and tectonic history of the southern Roer Valley Graben can be evaluated and re-adjusted.

It is concluded that the main course of the Meuse was aligned through the so-called East Meuse valley during the larger part of the Early Pleistocene. Available pollen data do not conflict with this conclusion. At the same time the Rhine ceased to enter the southern part of the Roer Valley Graben. Instead, the Meuse accumulated here a series of deposits derived from the East-Meuse valley. Simultaneously, the Belgian rivers filled available accommodation space in the Roer Valley Graben of the southern Netherlands. The conclusions are based primarily on the revised lithostratigraphical framework. In general they simplify the picture of fluvial and tectonic behaviour of the area.

As part of the activities of the Collaborative Research Centre ‘SFB 350’, measurements of geodetic and geodynamic changes in the area of the Lower Rhine Embayment and the Rhenish Shield are being performed at different scales in space and time. Continuous borehole tilt measurements and repeated microgravimetric surveys yield information on the local stability of the ground and changes in horizontal gravity gradients that are both dominated by seasonal fluctuations. Results of more than seven years of regular GPS campaigns are discussed in terms of vertical and horizontal point motions. The most prominent motions are man-induced effects occurring in or near the browncoal mining areas, where groundwater withdrawal produces subsidence of up to 2.2 cm/y in the area under investigation. Horizontal and vertical motions at other GPS points are smaller by one order of magnitude and in most cases are only marginally detectable. The eastward motion of two points in the Bergisches Land and the westward motion of two points in the Eifel near the Belgian border may be interpreted as a result of the ongoing extension of the Cenozoic rift system in the western part of the Eurasian plate.

To assess the course and status of recovery of rocky intertidal zonation after massive subsidence caused by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, from 2011 to 2013 we censused the vertical distribution of 10 dominant macrobenthic species (six sessile and four mobile species) in the mid-shore zone of 23 sites along the Sanriku coastline, 150–160 km north-northwest of the earthquake epicentre, and compared the vertical distributions of each species with their vertical distributions in the pre-earthquake period. The dynamics of rocky intertidal zonation varied substantially among species. Among sessile species, one barnacle dramatically increased in abundance and expanded its vertical range in 2011, but then decreased and completely disappeared from all plots by 2013. Zonations of other sessile species shifted downward following the subsidence in 2011. With some species, there was no clear change in abundance immediately after the earthquake, but they then began to increase and move upward after a few years; with other species, abundance continuously decreased. There was no clear change in the vertical distribution of any of the mobile species immediately after the earthquake. Abundance of two mobile species was unchanged, but abundance of the others decreased from 2012 and had not recovered as of 2013.

Sedimentary basins are structures that formed either by subsidence of an area relative to its surroundings, or by uplift of the surroundings. The basin is defined by its sedimentary fill, and the vertical kinematics of the fill are reflected by stratal wedging, unconformities and, or, faulting. The following basin mechanisms are distinguished: locally (a) stretch, (b) thrust and piggy-back, (c) local uplift, and regionally (d) stretch-and-cool, (e) load-and-flex and (f) cratonic uplift.

Basin patterns are reviewed for the three main Phanerozoic episodes for which molasse-like features of sedimentation or tectonics are claimed. Sediment accumulation rates are used as an index of the vigour of basinal activity.

Within the area of the Caledonian orogen, Devonian basinal activity was locally very rigorous, some of it being late orogenic and some post-orogenic, and mostly apparently of ‘stretch-type’. The orogenic area stood high, relative to sea level, throughout Devonian times, but outside the orogenic area, the basins were less vigorous and marine.

Within the area of the Hercynian orogen, and outside it, Permian basins were generally not so active, apparently reflecting a different style of orogenesis. However, the whole area was standing high, relative to sea level. The Triassic basins, though post-orogenic, were rather more vigorous, although a marine transgression records the general lowering of the continental surface. Major evaporites accumulated in these settings.

In Cenozoic times, the narrow orogenic belts formed the most active basins, and these were of load-and-flex type, reflecting the importance of thrust-sheet movement, itself perhaps a result of the presence of Triassic evaporites. Other non-orogenic basins reflect both ‘stretch’ and ‘stretch-and-cool’ mechanisms. Only the Spanish basins appear to have been standing high, relative to sea level, perhaps in response to cratonic uplift.