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Geology of Urban Watersheds
Published in Daniel T. Rogers, Urban Watersheds, 2020
Groundwater erosion can eventually lead to a type of landform called karst topography. Karst topography is a landscape created by groundwater slowly dissolving sedimentary rock such as limestone (Davies and Legrand 2015). The resulting landforms from this type of erosion include sinkholes and caves. A sinkhole is a rounded depression of the ground and typically forms when a cave in the subsurface collapses. A cave is a natural feature beneath the surface formed by groundwater dissolving away the rock. At many locations throughout the United States, extensive cave systems have formed. Figure 2.21 shows the most common features of a karst area, and Figure 2.22 shows areas of the United States with sedimentary type deposits prone to karst feature formation.
3D digital mapping of cave spaces in Slovakia by terrestrial laser scanning
Published in Soňa Molčíková, Viera Hurčíková, Vladislava Zelizňaková, Peter Blišťan, Advances and Trends in Geodesy, Cartography and Geoinformatics, 2018
K. Bartos, K. Pukanska, S. Rakay, J. Sabova, P. Bella
A cave can be defined as a natural underground cavity space, which can be formed by dissolving, or weathering of base rock in karst areas, as a gas cavity in volcanic rocks, or as an abrasive cave on coasts. However, the formation of caves represents a summary of complex processes, with climatic conditions and rock subsoil playing a crucial role (Hofierka et al., 2016). Several genetic types of caves are a demonstration of considerable geodiversity of natural values in the area of Slovak Republic. They are a remarkable example of the development of underground karst phenomena (some of them also internationally). The natural value of caves is also related to the character of their filling, especially rare calcite and aragonite sinter forms. Moreover, caves have always attracted a man by its mystique. Some of them were populated or used as sacrificial places or shelters in the past. Several caves in Slovakia are among the most important archaeological sites (Domica Cave, Ardovska Cave, and others) (Bella, 2005).
Caves as a geologic hazard: A quantitative analysis from San Salvador Island, Bahamas
Published in Barry F. Beck, Felicity M. Pearson, Karst Geohazards, 2018
William L. Wilson, John E. Mylroie, James L. Carew
Caves represent a potential ground stability hazard to surface structures or engineering works. Thinly-roofed caves, developed in the weakly-cemented late Pleistocene limestone of the Bahama islands, pose a risk for collapse. Such potentially dangerous shallow dissolution caves are abundant throughout the Bahama islands (Carew and Mylroie, 1994a; Mylroie and Carew, 1995). On San Salvador Island, caves have been intensively studied (Vogel and others, 1990; Schwabe and others, 1993; Pace and others, 1993). The available data are sufficient for a quantitative analysis of cave density and cumulative size distribution to be performed with a higher degree of reliability than elsewhere in the Bahamas.
The bearing capacity analysis of limestone strata roof containing a shallow-buried cylinder Karst cave
Published in Mechanics of Advanced Materials and Structures, 2022
Peng Xie, Haijia Wen, Shaokun Ma, Zurun Yue, Liangyong Li, Junfeng Liu, Runbin Li, Jie Cui
Generally, carbonate rocks are dissolved by faintly acidic waters [9–11]; Karst caves may provide a transport channel or storage space for overlying rock and soil mass and cause the change of spatial stress distribution. In order to investigate the effect on spatial stress distribution, caused by buried Karst caves, a lot of research work was performed. Goodier [12] presented that there is a concentration around void or defect. In order to achieve quantitative expression of stress distribution, Howland et al. [13] simplified the problem into a thin plate containing circular holes, and the inverse method was used to solve the problem. Taking into account the variety of Karst caves and the complexity of loading conditions, Rao et al. [14] analyzed the stresses of surrounding rock containing a tubular-filled elliptical Karst cave, and the general analytic formula for the component of stress was solved. Li et al. [15] established the plane mechanical models with different stress boundary conditions in each direction, and the exact general solution was obtained. Xu et al. [16–18] performed a novel method and vision measurement system to monitor the component of stress. Shi et al. [19] summarized the stress distribution around a rectangular cavity. Considering the spatial geometric characteristics of Karst caves, Liao et al. [20] provided the extreme value of a critical point on the wall of an elliptical spherical cavity under triaxial stress. Furthermore, to ensure the stability of the strata roof containing a cave, the bear capacity of strata roof was explored under different conditions. Liu et al. [21] deduced stress distribution around cave on the basis of elastic theory, and the stability of rock foundation was analyzed. Yang et al. [22] solved the lower bound solution of bearing capacity of Karst roof ultimate using lower bound analysis method. Liu et al. [23] solved the object function of ultimate bearing capacity by mathematical optimization. Lei et al. [24] proposed two methods for the determination of the ultimate bearing capacity of cave roofs.