Numerical model simulation of the subsidence induced by solution mining cavities

The exploitation of the salt mine with solution mining method is a well-known technique developed for several years all over the world. The environmental concerns relating the development of the caverns and especially to the re-use of the cavity exhausted for storage or waste disposal purposes, need a deep examination on the behavior of the salt cavities. One of the most evident expressions of the salt behavior is related to the enhanced viscous deformation (creep) which gives rise to the convergence of the salt caverns and the subsequent evidence of the subsidence phenomenon. A computer simulation on this matter was carried out to analyze the subsidence induced from solution mining salt cavities. To test and verify the hypothesis on this matter, the geomechanical, stratigraphy and production data of Belvedere Spinello Brinefield (Crotone, Italy) was used.