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Florida
is a karst (limestone) platform with abundant sinkholes, springs,
and caverns. Karstic erosion of the land surface is controlled
by chemical and mechanical processes occurring in the upper portion
of the limestone where the most intense dissolution occurs (Beck,
1988). In Florida, surface features characteristic of karst
include dolines (sinkholes), solution pipes, broad flat-bottomed
prairies and closed circular depressions that either drain underground
or fill with water to form lakes.
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The term
“sinkhole,” or doline, implies a form, a function,
and a basic mechanism of origin (Waltham,
1989). The form is a closed basin having no surface drainage
outlet. The function is to transmit surface water underground
to an aquifer or discharge ground water to the surface as a
spring. Sinkhole origin is initiated by solution of the underlying
host rock. Sinkholes form primarily on terrain of limestone
or dolomite, or where either of these rocks occur near from
the surface. They can, however, form over any rock that is soluble.
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