Subbottom Profiling Investigation of Sinkhole Lake Structure in Bay and Washington Counties, Florida

Abstract

are often circular in plan with a striking blue color owing to low nutrient levels and pure white sugarsand bottoms, and their internally drained basins are the homes of many endangered or threatened floral and faunal species, including bald eagles, gopher tortoises, smoothbark St. John's wort, and several species of carnivorous sundews. The resulting SBP profiles showed that a) the lakes form through the coalescence of numerous small sinkhole features, b) the sinkhole features penetrate the uppermost FAS, disrupting the overlying sediments, and c) multiple stages of sinkhole development and sediment movement are exhibited in the subbottom strata.

Part 2: Spatial-Temporal Occurrences of Sinkholes as a Complex Geohazard in Florida, USA

“…In fact, Florida is known for its sinkholes, and many appear as filled lakes in the contemporary landscape. An investigation of the sandhill lakes in Bay and Washington Counties, Florida, for instance, has conveyed the formation of (circular) lakes from the coalescence of sinkholes [26]. Using geophysical imaging, it was possible to discern newly formed recent sinkholes located along the lake shore in a "string of pearls" formation.…”