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Amighpey M, Ghoraiyan F, Molayi A. Investigating the Subsidence of the Ground Surface in Kavos Dome Tower, Golestan Province. KCR 2023; 6 (3) :29-37
URL: http://journal.richt.ir/kcr/article-1-92-en.html

Antiquities and cultural heritage are the birth certificates of any country. Since the ancient works define any land's age, history, and civilization, it is necessary to protect cultural historical works by combining science and art. Iran is one of the first in the world to have ancient monuments and historical and cultural buildings and has the oldest culture and civilization. Climate changes around the world and their consequences in the form of continuous droughts, water shortages, and seasonal floods have cast a shadow on the country's cultural heritage in the past few years. One of the consequences of
climate change has been water scarcity and pressure on underground water resources. The lack of management of underground water resources and their indiscriminate extraction has caused widespread subsidence in the world and Iran. On the one hand, subsidence is considered an environmental threat that destroys the aquifer and soil, and on the other hand, it destroys the buildings and structures located in the place. Many subsidence has spread to urban areas and caused destruction and damage to ancient monuments. Geodetic data and methods such as radar interferometry, GPS data, accurate leveling
observations, and gravimeters are used to diagnose and monitor the areas affected by the risk of subsidence. Radar interferometry with wide coverage and high spatial resolution, along with GPS with high temporal resolution, as well as accurate leveling observations and high-precision gravimeters, can be a suitable source for changing the shape of the earth's surface in the region. GonbadKavos Tower, the tallest brick tower in the world, is one of the most important ancient monuments of Iran in Golestan province. Considering the importance of protecting ancient and historical monuments, it is important to investigate the amount of subsidence of the Gorgan Plain in the area of this tower to evaluate its effect on the shape of the tower.
To investigate the area and extent of subsidence of Gorgan Plain, the integration of geodetic observations in the region, including radar interferometry, leveling, and GPS was used. To investigate the subsidence range of this province, 53 sensor radar images were obtained from the Sentinel-1 satellite from the European Space Center between July 2017 and June 2019. The results show that due to the lack of management of the process of extracting  underground water sources in the Gorgan Plain, unfortunately, this plain has experienced extensive land surface subsidence with a maximum rate of 22 cm per year. One of the sensitive structures located in the subsidence area of the Gorgan Plain is the Gonbad Kavos Tower. The rate of subsidence in the area of this tower is 6 cm per year. Also, the changes in the subsidence rate in the area of the tower and its surroundings are significant. To preserve and maintain this tower, the need to use methods of strengthening the structure in this historical work is something that should be taken into consideration.
On the other hand, it is suggested to manage the use of underground water resources in the Gorgan Plain, modify the cultivation pattern to prohibit the cultivation of water-rich crops in agriculture, and artificially feed the aquifer to stop subsidence in the Gorgan region. It is also suggested to use micro geodesy observations and calculations to investigate and monitor the shape change of this historical tower.