Legacy sediment stored in sinkholes: a case study of three urban watersheds in Tennessee, United States of America

Abstract

As closed topographic depressions, sinkholes effectively divide karst regions into a series of subwatersheds, where swallets within each sinkhole define the downstream end of each subwatershed. Water and sediment are temporarily stored in sinkholes before continuing to underground streams. While pathways and travel times of water in karst terrain are commonly found using tracing techniques, such techniques do not provide information about the movement and travel time of sediment through these systems. This paper reviews the literature regarding sediment storage within sinkholes and presents a case study, the objective of which is to estimate the magnitude and timing of sediment deposition within three sinkholes in an urbanized area in Tennessee, United States of America. Sedimentation rates in sinkholes were estimated based on age determination of cultural artifacts (buried trash and coal fragments) and by 14C dating. For the three study sinkholes, minimum deposition rates (maximum residence times) were 15 cm yr −1(6 yrs), 1.5 cm yr −1(81 yrs), and 0.2 cm yr−1(640 yrs). The analysis revealed that sinkholes undergo fill and flush cycles at different timescales caused by changes in upland sediment supply and morphologic changes at swallet openings. Sinkholes that lack swallet openings, or with swallets that have become blocked by debris, are effectively disconnected from master streams with regard to sediment. Sediment stored in sinkholes may be released downstream when swallet conditions change.