The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Harris‐Galveston Subsidence District, City of Houston, and the Fort Bend Subsidence District, produced a dataset through 2022 of compaction values in the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers in the greater Houston area, Texas.
This dataset contains compaction values associated with subsurface sediments (mostly in the fine-grained silt and clay layers because little compaction occurs in sand layers) in the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers that were recorded continuously using analog technology at 14 extensometers at 12 locations (a pair of extensometers are installed at different depths at 2 of the 12 locations). Of the 14 extensometers, 13 were activated between 1973 and 1980 in either Harris or Galveston Counties, whereas the 14th extensometer was activated in Fort Bend County in 2017. The cumulative compaction data for each extensometer are collected about 12 times per year during site visits. Cumulative compaction data collected at each extensometer are provided, starting with the data from the year the extensometer was installed through 2022. The amount of compaction measured between site visits is determined by subtracting the previously recorded cumulative compaction value from the ending cumulative compaction value.
