The fall of the Dead Sea level since the 1960s has provoked the formation of over 6000 sinkholes, a major hazard to local economy and infrastructure. In this context, we study the evolution of subsidence phenomena at three area scales at the Dead Sea’s eastern shore from 1967–2017. Our results yield the most detailed insights to date into the spatio-temporal development of sinkholes and larger depressions (uvalas) in an evaporite karst setting and emphasize a link to the falling Dead Sea level.

A 2-D numerical modelling approach to simulate the mechanical formation of sinkhole cluster inside large-scale karstic depressions is presented. Different multiple cavity growth scenarios at depth are compared regarding the mechanical process and collapse style. The outcomes of the models are compared to results from remote sensing and geophysics for an active sinkhole area in the Dead Sea region.

This work attempts to create a semi-automated algorithm (called SPARTA) to calculate height, width and slope of surface breaks produced by earthquakes on faults. We developed the Python algorithm using synthetic catalogues, which can include noise features such as vegetation, hills and ditches, which mimic natural environments. We then apply the algorithm to four fault scarps in southern Malawi, at the southern end of the East African Rift system, to understand their earthquake potential.

The purpose of our research is to understand the mechanisms that determine the mobility of granular flows of rock fragments. Since rock avalanches and pyroclastic flows are too dangerous to be studied at close range, we use numerical simulations and laboratory experiments. We focus on the fundamentals upon which new numerical models will be built to predict the behaviors of natural flows. These fundamentals include the effects of grain size, flow volume and channel width.

From the geomorphology of a palaeodelta complex of Lake Turkana (Kenya), we explore the end of the Holocene African Humid Period (AHP) that corresponded to a major change in climate of Africa and that had important environmental impacts. Here, we propose that the transition from a wet to a dry period at the end of the AHP is stepwise, discussing a potential control by short-term variations in solar activity. Understanding this climate event is crucial to facing future climate changes.

This study shows the need for a symbiotic relationship between government and research groups for efficient management of geologic data in urban environments. Through its implementation, both the city administration and private companies benefit from the feedback of geologic knowledge acquired during this process, thereby substantially reducing the cost of construction projects and facilitating the development of aquifer management plans.

Different stages of soil removal, transfer, preparation and placement in laboratory plots cause significant changes in soil structure and, subsequently, the results of runoff, sediment concentration and soil loss. The increasing rates of runoff coefficient, sediment concentration and soil loss due to the study soil preparation method for laboratory soil erosion plots were 179, 183 and 1050 % (2.79, 2.83 and 11.50 times), respectively.

Technology is moving ahead very fast, and so researchers have new possibilities for their research. We tried to demonstrate benefits of using remote-sensing technology (Phantom 1 drone) such as its accuracy in the terrain, easy access to hardly accessible areas, and the possibility to collect data even during unfavourable weather conditions. The high mountainous environment provided us great conditions for testing the drone as a device for very easy and accurate mapping of natural phenomena.

Select appropriate strategies according to all effective criteria in combating desertification process can be so useful in controlling and rehabilitation of degraded lands, and avoid degradation in vulnerable fields. This study provides systematic and optimal strategies of combating desertification by group decision-making model. To this end, in the framework of Multi Attribute Decision Making (MADM) and by using Delphi model (Delphi), the preferences of indexes were obtained.

For accurately reflecting the eco-hydrological process of the dual structure of the surface and subsurface, we propose a new method for the extraction of small watersheds in karst regions. In this study, we think that the minimum karst watershed has an exit at the corrosion–erosion datum, and the further karst sub-watershed division may cause an eco-hydrological fault. The watersheds delineated by our method accurately reflect the hydrological process in the Sancha River.