The floods caused by Hurricane Harvey were quite significant. In fact, they were so heavy they caused Houston to sink about 2 centimeters, according to a California geophysicist.
Chris Milliner, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, explained on Twitter how the city of Houston sank under the flood waters caused by the storm.
“GPS data show #Harveyflood was so large it flexed Earth’s crust, pushing #Houston down by ~ 2 cm!” Milliner said.
The drop, however, is not alarming nor unusual.
“This should be a temporary drop,” Milliner said on Twitter. “Once floodwaters recede, we should expect a similar, but opposite elastic response of the crust, i.e., uplift. Similar to if you were to jump on-and-off your mattress.”
He described the occurrence, called "local elastic subsidence," as fairly common in areas that undergo significant seasonal changes in water or ice.
Milliner used observations recorded by the Nevada Geodetic Laboratory and the University of Nevada, Reno's statistics department to draw conclusions, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Some people, however, were doubtful that his conclusions were accurate, questioning how "rainy water" could be so heavy. Milliner clarified, explaining that the floodwater, not rain, caused the sinkage. “1 cubic meter of water = 1 ton, you could fit that in your car, and would double its weight,” he said. He also noted that some measurements were taken from stations located on bedrock for those who thought maybe only the surface soil compressed.
Source: nydailynews.com
