Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Hydrogeologic Investigation Of A Covered Karst Terrain, Joseph Peter Honings

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Increasing demand for water for agricultural use within the Dougherty Plain of the Southeastern United States has depleted surface water bodies. In karstic landscapes, such as the Dougherty Plain in southwest Georgia where the linkages between surface and ground waters are close, there is a need to understand the physical characteristics of the subsurface that allow these close linkages. Having a better understanding of the subsurface characteristics will aid numerical modeling efforts that underpin policy decisions and economic analyses. Two common features on this karstic landscape are draws and geographically isolated wetlands. Using LiDAR, aerial imagery, and ground-penetrating radar, this …

Geospatial Applications Of Cave Resource Data To Better Understand Epikarst And Unsaturated Zone Groundwater Flow Path Development, Sierra M. Heimel, Benjamin W. Tobin

Faculty, Staff, and Affiliated Publications--KGS

The unsaturated zone is a critical component of karstic groundwater systems and is shown to provide substantial storage capacities. Understanding the spatial patterns and controls on flow path activation is often a challenge. Previous research focused on remotely sensed data or inferential analyses to quantify these patterns. Here, we use two cave systems—one in Arizona, USA and a second in Kentucky, USA—to show the value of the cave survey and inventory data in the direct observation of speleogenesis and unsaturated zone processes. Using geospatial statistical analyses, we show that passage size varies with distance from some faults, indicating that these …

Dye Tracing And The Effects Of Infrastructure In Hidden River Cave, Horse Cave, Ky, Alexa G. Franks

Master's Theses

Hidden River Cave is a stream cave system found in Horse Cave, KY with continuous water flow of its two branches, Wheet River and East River. The infrastructure of the city of Hose Cave, KY was originally designed to utilize natural sinkholes for drainage of all wastewaters. The city uses many of these, now modified, sinkholes for wastewater disposal and storm water drainage. Historically, Hidden River Cave has been severely impacted by unmonitored dumping of contamination. To better understand and identify specific flow paths from sinkholes and infrastructure into Hidden River Cave, this study documented various sinkholes and other infrastructure, …

Surficial Geologic Map Of The Flaherty 7.5-Minute Quadrangle, Kentucky, Ann Hislop, Matthew Massey, Maxwell L. Hammond Iii, Antonia E. Bottoms, Michele Mchugh, Emily Morris

Contract Reports--KGS

The Flaherty 7.5-minute quadrangle is located southwest of Louisville and northwest of Elizabethtown along the boundary between Hardin and Meade Counties. The quadrangle includes mostly the Pennyroyal region of the Mississippian Plateau and also smaller areas of the Mammoth Cave plateau and the highly dissected Dripping Springs escarpment in the western half of the map area (McDowell, 1986). Topography is mostly characterized by pervasive sinkhole development in a lower elevation and low-relief plain, and high-relief plateaus, ridges, and knobs of the Dripping Springs escarpment scattered along the west side of the quadrangle. Swadley (1963) mapped the bedrock geology of the …

Investigation Into Karst Of Southwest Missouri Using Electrical Resistivity, Donald Zachary Wormington

MSU Graduate Theses

Nixa, Missouri is located on the southwestern edge of the Ozark Dome which has a karst geomorphological environment. Near surface geophysical methods can be used in determining the location and nature of karst features such as caves and sinkholes. Electrical resistivity methods have been shown to be among the most useful methods in deciphering sinkholes and caves. To investigate a known cave and related sinkholes and faults within Mississippian carbonates south of Nixa, Missouri, a series of two-dimensional electrical resistivity profiles were collected using the dipole-dipole and Schlumberger arrays. Terrain data was collected to include in modeling. The data were …

Chemical Characterization Of Clastic Cave Sediments And Insights Into Particle Transport And Storage In Karst Aquifers, Jill L. Riddell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Abstract

Chemical characterization of clastic cave sediments and insights into particle transport and storage in karst aquifers

Jill L. Riddell

Cave sediments can be divided into two groups: precipitates and clastics. Precipitates are speleothems, or lithologic or mineral features that are chemically precipitated in the cave environment. Clastic cave sediments are frequently described by depositional facies, sorting, and particle size (Bosch and White, 2004). Robust analytical chemical analyses of these sediments to quantify their physical and chemical components is rarely performed although some chemical characterization of mineralogy and paleomagnetism has become prevalent in recent years (Chess et al., 2010; Sasowsky …