Spatiotemporal evolution and strategies for breaking the land subsidence and ground fissures disaster chain within the context of rapid urbanization

As the urbanization process accelerates， the risk of geological disasters in urban areas becomes increasingly complex. Xi’an city， a notable example of rapid urbanization in China， has faced significant challenges from land subsidence and ground fissures. In this study， advanced satellite remote sensing technology was applied to quantitatively investigate the spatiotemporal changes in land subsidence and ground fissures disasters triggered by urbanization from 1992 to 2022. These findings indicate that urbanization initially exacerbated land subsidence and ground fissures， particularly in areas of intense human activity in the southwestern part of Xi’an city， and these effects gradually decreased from 2002. Moreover， a clear associated relationship and the disaster chain effect between land subsidence and ground fissures were revealed from the perspective of Earth’s multi-sphere interactions. Specifically， ground fissures typically develop in areas of significant differential subsidence and have a noticeable impact on the shape and distribution of subsidence centers. Since 2002， the implementation of proactive water resource policies has effectively broken the disaster chain in Xi’an city， thereby mitigating the adverse effects of urbanization. In this study， the importance of considering urbanization in the research of land subsidence and ground fissures is emphasized， providing a new perspective for the prevention and control of these hazards in major urban areas.