Karst formation sinkholes in Florida.

This document defines karst and explains what karst sinkholes are and why they occur, describes their effects on buildings, and gives building and site inspection advice useful in identifying areas where there is an increased risk of sink holes at properties.

The presence of karst formations help predict where a sinkhole collapse may be ongoing or imminent. Recognizing indicators of potential sinkholes can reduce but not eliminate this risk. This limitation should be stated clearly by any home inspector in an area where sinkholes are known to occur or wherever one is suspected.

What is Karst? What is the Role of Karst in Florida or other Sink Hole Formation?

Article Contents

• Definition of karst - meaning of karst
• What are sinkholes?
• Inspecting a property for signs of sink holes
• Relationship of sinkholes to the aquaqifer and water
• 4 Types of sink holes, 3 of which are common in Florida
• Florida sinkhole research, history, references
• Florida sinkhole repair services

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Karst

In Florida, the underlying basis of sinkholes is the presence of

Karst: a porouslimestone layer below (often thin) topsoil. Karst is any land with sinkholes, springs, and streams that sink into subsurface caverns. [1]

Sinkholes are landforms created when the overburden subsides or collapses into fissures and cavities in underlying carbonate rocks.

Four types of sinkholes are found in Florida:

1. cover-collapse,
2. rockcollapse,
3. cover-subsidence
4. solution subsidence

For simplicity and based on their rate of formation, we have reduced the number discussed to two types of sinkholes: cover collapse sinkholes (rapid) and cover subsidence sinkholes (slow), hereafter referred to as “collapse” and “subsidence” sinkholes.

Collapse sinkholes form when the ceiling of an underground cavity can no longer support the overlying weight, resulting in an abrupt collapse of the overburden into the cavity, thereby forming a hole at land surface.

Subsidence sinkholes form as the overburden slowly migrates down into the fissures and cavities in the underlying rock. The result of a subsidence sinkhole is a depression in the land surface.

Geologic and hydrogeologic conditions exist below land surface that result in formation of sinkholes. - (Florida Sinkhole Report 2017)

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What is a Sinkhole?

A sinkhole is created surface materials collapse or are dissolved into an underground cavern or stream. Sinkholes may develop progressively as subtle, bowl-shaped depressions, or they may collapse suddenly into steeply sided, water-filled craters.

The shape of the sinkhole, and the speed that it forms, depend on the size of the subsurface cavity and the thickness of the overburden (sediments or organic matter that rest on the limestone bedrock). [2]

The term sinkhole is applied by engineers to the following geological features [3]

• Bedrock voids (most difficult to detect, but least likely of imminent collapse)
• Depressions in the top-of-bedrock
• Sloping voids in the soil column
• Zones of wet, soupy soils (mud filled voids in the soil column)
• Clay seams (mud filled voids in bedrock)
• Actual surface collapse features

...

Inspecting for Evidence of a Sinkhole

If a sinkhole is already visible near an inspected property or if signs of a sinkhole are observed this information should be cited by the inspector as a potential safety concern and significant expense requiring immediate professional action.

The bare minimum that a property owner needs to know about sinkholes or any other sudden subsidence of soils at a property is that these conditions might be very dangerous. Someone falling into a sink hole or into a collapsing septic tank could be seriously injured or even die.

If a suspicious hole, subsidence, or depression appears at a property the owner should rope off and prevent access to the area to prevent anyone from falling into the opening, and then should seek prompt assistance from a qualified expert, geotechnical engineer, septic contractor, excavator, or the like.

See SINKHOLES - IMMEDIATE SAFETY ACTIONS,

also see FOUNDATION CRACKS & DAMAGE GUIDE and CESSPOOL SAFETY WARNINGS.

Additional septic system safety warnings are

at SEPTIC & CESSPOOL SAFETY

For assistance in making repairs to sinkholes or sinkhole damage

see SINKHOLE DAMAGE REPAIRS.

...

Sinkholes and the Aquifer

Source: USGS - [Excerpting from References 1 and 2]

Characteristics of Sinkholes:

• originate beneath the surface
• groundwater moves through the limestone and erodes large voids, or cavities, in the bedrock
• When water fills a cavity, it supports the walls and ceiling
• the water table drops
• the limestone cavity is exposed to erosion
• the cavity collapses
• causing a sinkhole to develop, possibly suddenly

...

Four Basic Kinds of Sinkholes, all beginning with a solution cavity

1. Collapse sinkholes - roof of an underground channel suddenly collapses, forming a steep-sided cavity
2. Solution sinkholes - surface depressions, not complete collapse
3. Subsidence sinkholes - loose, overlying sand slides into solution cavity - the cover over a sinkhole subsides or sinks
4. Cover-collapse sinkholes - thick layer of sand over clay over limestone collapses when the limestone dissolves. [5]
   
   Limestone dissolves, clay keeps the sand from collapsing-in, then suddenly fails, leading to sudden and very violent collapse: the most dangerous. An example of collapse sinkholes is the collapse of underground mines which can lead to a fracture and collapse of the ground surface above.

Three of these sinkhole types occur in Florida: collapse, solution, and subsidence [6]

Source: USGS

Other Sinkhole Types & Indicators Include

5. Lakes appearing over a sinkhole
6. Urban development contributes to some sinkholes

...

Collapse sinkholes

• This is the most common type of sinkhole in Florida
• Watch out: These sinkholes can happen suddenly
• Collapse sinkholes occur where the overburden is thick soil and heavy clay
• Collapse sinkholes form deep, steeply-sided holes
• Collapse sinkholes are frequently triggered by fluctuations in the water-table.
  
  As water levels fluctuate, the roof of the cavity is stressed and weakened.
  
  When the water-table drops too far, the cavity walls are unsupported and the ceiling becomes too weak to hold the heavy overburden. Eventually, the ceiling collapses and a sinkhole is formed. If the water-table rises, the collapse sinkhole can fill with water, and overflow like a spring.
  
  An off-set sinkhole will have an upstream and downstream conduit as water flows into the sink and siphons underground. If the water-table drops below the sinkhole, it will remain dry and accumulate sediments and vegetation.

...

Solution Sinkholes

• Solution sinkholes occur where the overburden is thin or absent
• A solution sinkhole forms slowly and continuously - quite different from the cover collapse sinkhole discussed above.
• At solution sinkholes the surface of the limestone bedrock is broken down by erosion from wind and surface water
• Solution sinkholes form a bowl-shaped depression, or solution sinkhole
• Solution sinkholes are the result of chemical and physical processes erode the rock (such as Karst)

...

Subsidence sinkholes

Source: USGS

• Subsidence sinkholes occur where the overburden is thin
• Subsidence sinkholes form slowly
• At subsidence sinkholes, dissolving limestone is replaced by sand granules that fall into the depression and fill the holes
• Subsidence sinkholes form a concave depression
• Subsidence sinkholes may be only a few feet in diameter and depth (the development of the cavities in the limestone is retarded since they are filled with clay and sand) As the sediments fill the depression, they restrict the flow of water through the bottom and the hole begins to retain water.
• Where subsidence sinkholes form, as water accumulates, a lake is formed

...

Sinkholes and Lake Formation

Source: USGS

A circular lake indicates that the lake evolved from a collapse sinkhole. A shallow circular lake results from impermeable sediments washing into a subsidence sinkhole.

If a lake rests above groundwater level, it is above a confining bed.

...

Sinkholes and Urban Development

Sinkhole formation is aggravated and accelerated by urbanization.

Development increases water usage, alters drainage pathways, overloads the ground surface, and redistributes soil.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the number of human-induced sinkholes have doubled since 1930, insurance claims for damages as a result of sinkholes has increased 1200% from 1987 to 1991, costing nearly $100 million.

To avoid the destruction of property and the contamination of groundwater, it is important to monitor potential sinkhole formation.

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Florida Sinkholes Research

• Arthur, J.D., Baker, A.E., Cichon, J.R., Wood, A.R., and Rudin, A., 2005, Florida Aquifer Vulnerability Assessment (FAVA): Contamination potential of Florida’s principal aquifer systems: Florida Geological Survey Bulletin 67, 148 p.f
• Beck, Barry F. "Sinkhole development in south Georgia and Florida, USA, and the founding of the Florida Sinkhole Research Institute." In Third International Symposium on Land Subsidence, vol. 609. 1984.
• FL THE FAVORABILITY OF FLORIDA’S GEOLOGY TO SINKHOLE FORMATION, Appendix H: SINKHOLE REPORT [PDF] (2018) Florida State Hazard Mitigation Plan, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Geological Survey 3000 Commonwealth Boulevard, Suite 1, Tallahassee, Florida 32303 The Florida Division of Emergency Management, Mitigation Section retrived 2022/08/14, original source: https://www.floridadisaster.org/contentassets/c6a7ead876b1439caad3b38f7122d334/appendix-h_sinkhole-report.pdf
  
  Excerpts:
  The Florida Division of Emergency Management (DEM) contracted the Florida Geological Survey (FGS) to map the favorability of the State’s geology to sinkhole formation in response a large outbreak of sinkholes across the State following Tropical Storm Debby in late June 2012.
  
  The project’s results are intended to bolster the State Hazard Mitigation Plan’s section on sinkhole hazards allowing for improved mitigation strategies. The three-and-a-half-year project was funded by the Federal Emergency Management Administration’ s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (75%) and the State of Florida (25%).
  
  Sinkholes are a geological hazard that places property and lives at risk. Kuniansky et al (2015) estimate the direct cost of damage associated with sinkhole collapses in the United States averages more than $300 million per year.
  
  In Florida, five people are known to have lost their lives due to sinkhole collapse. As Florida’s population increases, the potential for individuals to be negatively impacted by a sinkhole increases.
  
  Florida is underlain by several thousand feet of carbonate rock, limestone and dolostone, with a variably thick mixture of sands, clays, shells, and other near surface carbonate rock units, called overburden. Those several thousand feet of carbonate rocks are host to one of the world’s most productive aquifers, the Floridan aquifer system.
  
  Erosional processes, physical and chemical, have acted upon these carbonate rocks as water flows through them creating fissures and cavities within the rock. Those erosional processes have created
  
  Florida’s karst topography, which is characterized by the presence of sinkholes, swallets, caves (wet and dry), submerged conduits, springs, and disappearing / reappearing streams.
• Ford, D.C., and Williams, P., 2007, Karst Hydrogeology and geomorphology: Wiley, Chichester, 562 p.
• Plummer, L. N., Eurybiades Busenberg, J. B. McConnell, Stefan Drenkard, Peter Schlosser, and R. L. Michel. "Flow of river water into a Karstic limestone aquifer. 1. Tracing the young fraction in groundwater mixtures in the Upper Floridan Aquifer near Valdosta, Georgia." Applied Geochemistry 13, no. 8 (1998): 995-1015.
• Poucher, S., and Copeland, R., 2006, Speleological and Karst Glossary of Florida and the Caribbean:
  University Press of Florida, 192 p
• Torak, Lynn J. Assessment of karst features underlying Lake Seminole, southwestern Georgia and northwestern Florida, using orthorectified photographs of preimpoundment conditions and hydrographic maps. Georgia Institute of Technology, 2003.
• Whitman D., G. T. (1999). Spatial Interrelationships Between Lake Elevations, Water Tables, and Sinkhole Occurence in Central Florida: A GIS Approach. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing , 1169-1178.
• See additional page end REFERENCES & CITATIONS

...

Sinkhole Repair Services in Florida

Watch out:  Readers trying to diagnose and deal with sudden soil subsidence or yard collapses should

see SINKHOLES - IMMEDIATE SAFETY ACTIONS.

Companies identify themselves as sinkhole damage repair experts in Floria are listed

at SINKHOLE DAMAGE REPAIRS or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

 

Daniel Friedman - Florida Suncoast ASHI Educational Seminar - 1 May 2004, updated 2007, 2008, 2014, 2017, 2919, 2022, 2025

Portions of this text are extracted, quoted, or paraphrased from references provided; a key resource author was Sarah Cervone at Reference-1. The text document is InspectAPedia.com/vision/Sinkholes_Subsidences.php - © 2022 - 2004 Daniel Friedman All Rights Reserved

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Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

Reader Question: Were some sinkholes made from the glaciers? Especially in Florida?

Were some sinkholes made from the glaciers? Especially in Florida? - J.K., Florida

Rely: Probably not

We have not found a direct association between glaciers and sinkholes, especially in Florida, though in other geographic zones one can state a potential relationship between groundwater movement, rivers, and sinkholes.

So a short answer is that while one could make a speculative argument that water flowing through and removing fines of glacial till in alluvial valleys could play a part in certain sinkhole formations, a predominance of karst-based sinkholes argues against a role of glaciers in sinkholes, at least in north central Florida.

A more detailed look at the relationship between glaciers and sink holes:

Different types of sinkholes: first let's recap how sinkholes form. A contemporary or active sinkhole is formed typically in karst systems as groundwater dissolves minerals creating openings that then subside or collapse.

Cech[1] comments on glaciated terrain and the role of glaciers in deposited sedimentary layers of glacial material and in some cases material that contained groundwater. Paraphrasing:

During glacial activity, (the most recent deglaciation began 15,000 years ago) underlying terrain was scraped, carved, cut as the glacier ice sheet base pushed ice and rocks along , depositing ice and rocks as the ice retreated.

This material is glacial till, [Cech p. 112] comprised of boulders, gravel, sand, and silt. During melting some of these smaller particles were further moved by the glacial outwash.

Cech, also himself referring to Charles Lyell [1797-1875] notes that there is a relationship between the valleys or glacial till-filled valleys (in some cases hundreds of feet thick) and later groundwater movement. As he puts it

Rivers that flow through an alluvial valley are often hydraulically linked to groundwater. This physical connection creates opportunities for surface water in a river to recharge groundwater or for groundwater to replenish flows in a river as baseflow. The direction of water movement between groundwater and surface water is dependent on gradients, climactic conditions, and water volume ... - Thomas V. Cech [1]

So there is a potential relation between rivers and groundwater in some locales that may be traced back to glacial activity.

But to move from there to a closer tie between an active sinkhole and the glaciers seems to me a bit more difficult. If we exclude sinkholes associated with collapses due to mining or similar subsidences, and focus first on the most common sinkhole formation: karst topography plus water, the mechanism that results in a sinkhole is the dissolution of limestone below ground.

Cech and others explain that low pH rainwater entering the groundwater system dissolves (reacts with) the carbonate limestone, opening conduits through the aquifer. When enough limestone has been removed the surface collapses.

Thus the two most common sinkholes (especially in north central Florida) are caused by either solution (tending to be slow in formation) or collapse sinkholes (tending to be sudden) through karst formations, not the sudden subsidence of a cavern left by glacial activity.

We'd expect sinkhole activity to increase when there is a period of less rain, leading to drops in water tables and the leaving of voids that may collapse, and we'd also expect sinkhole activity to increase when there is a period of prolonged heavy rainfall, causing rising water tables and causing further dissolution of the underlying limestone formations.

Sinkoles may also be increased due to local drilling of wells into the existing underground water cavities in the karst, or by pumping groundwater from nearby, or by diverting drainage to areas where karst cavities already exist.

More interesting sink hole types from Cech [1] p. 109] are

• siphon sinkholes that occur in a riverbed when a sinkhole opens in the riverbed causing drainage of a portion of the river's volume
• swallow sinkholes that happen when a sinkhole of sufficient size opens in a river bed and is able to capture all or most of the river water volume- the river "goes dry" suddenly
• karst sinkholes open within a cave or conduit: water flowing in the conduit removes the overburden soils "... revealing a view into the aquifer. It is a combination of a spring and a sink in the same feature."

Conclusions about the Role of Glaciers in Florida Sinkhole Formations

From these descriptions one might infer that some sinkholes could occur in a valley that was previously filled by glacial till if river water or ground water are able to remove sufficient volume of fine soil particles, clay, or silt, even in an area where karst might not be present.

But in Florida where you'd have trouble finding an alluvial valley, sinkholes associated with karst formations are principally due to the chemistry of karst, plus rainwater, not glacial activity. Karst is limestone, formed in "beach ridges" for example near the border of northern Florida and southern Georgia "at elevations between 42 and 49 meters above mean sea level" - the product of sea life. Opdyke et als point out that

Marine fossils of Pleistocene age are known to occur in beach ridges near the border of northern Florida and southern Georgia at elevations of between 42 and 49 m above mean sea level. No evidence exists for a massive melt-off of glacial ice, which would be required to raise sea level to these elevations.

Florida, therefore, must have been uplifted epeirogenically during the Pleistocene. Measurement of dissolved solids in Florida's springs demonstrates that the karst area is losing a minimum of 1.2 x 106 m3/yr of limestone through spring flow, the equivalent of 1 m of surficial limestone every 38,000 yr.

This loss has led to an isostatic uplift of the north-central part of the Florida peninsula of at least 36 m during Pleistocene and Holocene time, which agrees with observed elevations of marine terraces. - Opdyke et als [2]

 

Reader Question: Are sinkholes still active in Florida?

Are sinkholes an ongoing problem in Florida or just old history? - Anon 3/3/13

Reply: Sinkhole formation is an ongoning phenomenon in Florida and in many other areas of the world: 2013 Seffet Florida sinkhole fatality report

Anon, while an individual sinkhole may stabilize and stop "sinking", the formation of new, often terribly sudden sinkholes are a continuing event in many areas of the world. On February 28, 2013, a sudden sinkhole opening in Seffner, Florida resulted in a death and nearly the death of a second person.

A sudden sinkhole formation caused the bedroom portion of a home to fall into the earth, burying Jeff Bush who was in the home at that time.

Other occupants of the home escaped injury, but as the New York Times reported in early March of 2013, the home and areas around it were marked off by engineers out of concern that ther "fluid mass" of earth in the area might at any moment engulf the rest of the structure.

The Times reported experts on the scene describing the Seffner Florida sinkhole as a particularly dangerous formation that in its first 24-hours had increased in size to 20 feet deep and 30 feet wide and was still expanding.

"Sinkholes are so common in Florida that the state requires home insurers to provide coverage against the danger" the Times reorted, continuing to describe a 400-foot Florida sinkhole that developed in 1981 and noting that more than 500 sinkholes have been reported in Hillsboro County - the location of the Seffner Florida 2013 sinkhole catastrophe.. [3]

What we have not found (and continue to research) about the 2013 Seffert Florida sinkhole is whether or not there were early warning signs

(SINKHOLE DETECTION, WARNING SIGNS)

that might have saved Mr. Bush.

 

Reader Question: sinkhole risk inspection procedures

(Apr 23, 2012) A. Mazzara said:
Can my home be inspected for sink hole danger entirely from the outside, or must I give my house keys to the inspector? My goal is to add a sink hole rider on my homeowners policy/

Reply:

A. Mazzara,

The answer is yes, no, it depends.

If you live in an area where sinkhole dangers involve large collapses and are due to soil or geological conditions that are widespread, a geotechnical engineer can take soil borings to see what the conditions are near the home, will have information about nearby collapses, and can inspect the site for some of the obvious signs of sinkhole activity we describe in these articles, such as leaning fenceposts.

An outside inspection of the house itself, presuming you have an accessible basement or crawl space, would not permit a complete inspection of the foundation and basement slab where more localized signs of settlement or shifting soils might be detected.

So it also depends on your insurance company and their policies. If I were the insurer, I would not write a policy without first inspecting the building for signs of pre-existing movement.

Such movement might show up as cracks or walls out of plumb, and might in fact have nothing to do with sinkhole activity. Both you and the insurer can benefit by avoiding a future argument about when cracks appeared and what caused them if the inspector has a thorough base-line inspection report from the start of the policy.

So I'd welcome the inspector indoors and in fact if s/he doesn't want to look inside I'd worry that the inspection was not very thorough.

...

Continue reading at SINKHOLES on LEDA CLAY FORMATIONS or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Sinkhole & Subsidence Articles

• SEPTIC & CESSPOOL SAFETY
• SINKHOLES & SUBSIDENCES - home
  • DEFINITION of SINKHOLES
  • GHOST LAKES & SINKHOLES
  • SINKHOLE DAMAGE REPAIRS
  • SINKHOLE DETECTION, WARNING SIGNS
  • SINKHOLES - IMMEDIATE SAFETY ACTIONS
  • SINKHOLES COURSE - X-Ray Vision?
  • SINKHOLES on KARST FORMATIONS
  • SINKHOLES on LEDA CLAY FORMATIONS
  • SINKHOLE RESEARCH & REFERENCES
• SINKING BUILDINGS

Suggested citation for this web page

SINKHOLES on KARST FORMATIONS in FLORIDA at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

Or see this

INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to SINKHOLES

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In addition to any citations in the article above, a full list is available on request.

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