Collapse dolines and deflector faults as indicators of karst flow corridors.

• Main Author: Sustersic France
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of South Florida Libraries 2002-01-01
• Series: International Journal of Speleology
• Subjects: collapse dolines; cave breakdown
• Online Access: http://www.ijs.speleo.it/pdf/13.108.31_Sustersic.pdf
• ISSN: 0392-6672; 1827-806X

The paper concerns collapse dolines, which appear to be one of the best-defined surface karst phenomena. Despite this appearance, one may find quite different views in the literature, and some of the aspects of their morphogenesis have been overlooked completely. Among these aspects the most obvious is the question of the ongoing development of the closed depression. Five of the most common collapse doline types found in Slovenia are considered in terms of general systems theory, leading to a conclusion that cave roof collapse remains the crucial event in a collapse doline’s development. However, the collapse event itself may be relatively subdued in terms of the volume of free fallen mass involved. Some types of collapse dolines appear along particular types of faults that function as a kind of screen; these faults are termed deflector faults. They are marked by collapsing within the caves, and by “active” collapse dolines on the surface. Existence of deflector faults is an indicator of flow corridors in the close neighbourhood.