Cave and karst research

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by Mark Abolins, Ph.D., Mark.Abolins@mtsu.edu, http://capone.mtsu.edu/mabolins/ .

Sinkhole flooding

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Much of my recent research focuses on sinkhole flooding, and involves collaboration with Emeritus Geosciences Professor Albert Ogden. This kind of flooding can happen miles from any river or stream. Sinkholes are nature’s drain. When more water flows into the drain than the drain can accommodate, the sink backs up, flooding the surrounding area. This happens in parts of Rutherford County, TN (Fig. 1), elsewhere in Tennessee, and in other parts of the world.

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Fig. 1. False-color February 2020 satellite image of sinkhole flooding in Rutherford County, TN.

 

Caves

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I am continuing to work with MTSU students to better-understand Snail Shell and Nanna Caves (Figs. 2 and 3) in southwestern Rutherford County, TN. 

Map depicting the Nashville Dome and Tennessee faults.

Fig. 2.  Location of Snail Shell and Nanna Caves (Evaluation site) in relation to the Nashville Dome and Tennessee faults.

Dr. Abolins (left) and undergraduate Mark Olivera (right) inside Snail Shell Cave, Rutherford County, Tennessee.

Fig. 3.  Dr. Abolins (left) and undergraduate Mark Olivera (right) inside Snail Shell Cave, Rutherford County, Tennessee.  Photo by Josh Upham.

 

Bent Rock and Caves

by Mark Abolins, Ph.D.

This 3D visualization (Fig. 4) depicts folds (bent rock layers) in the vicinity of Snail Shell and Nanna Caves.  The colorful surface is the bottom of the Lebanon Limestone rock formation.  The rocks are almost flat, so I vertically exaggerated the folds by 100X to make them visible.

The rocks folded many millions of years ago when the Appalachian Mountains rose.  Places where the rocks folded upward are called anticlines (if the uplift is elongate) or domes (if the uplift is more circular), and places where the rocks folded down are called synclines (if elongate) or basins (if more nearly circular).  As shown in Fig. 3, Snail Shell and Nanna Caves formed in a place where the rocks folded upward.

Fig. 4.  The folded base of the Lebanon Limestone in the vicinity of Snail Shell and Nanna Caves.  The folds have been vertically exaggerated by 100X and the caves have been moved down by 120 m to make them visible.