Dolines: Figure 2. Solution dolines develop in the uppermost weathered zone of the karst rock, termed the epikarst or subcutaneous zone. Drainage within that zone is achieved by leakage of water down fissures such as joints and faults. Major fissures capture most of the flow and therefore are the foci of solvent attack on the bedrock. This results in more rock being removed in solution from these locations than elsewhere, and this gradually gains topographic expression as enclosed depressions as the overall surface is lowered by chemical denudation (from Williams, 1983).

doi:10.4324/9780203483855-146

Chapter

Dolines: Figure 2. Solution dolines develop in the uppermost weathered zone of the karst rock, termed the epikarst or subcutaneous zone. Drainage within that zone is achieved by leakage of water down fissures such as joints and faults. Major fissures capture most of the flow and therefore are the foci of solvent attack on the bedrock. This results in more rock being removed in solution from these locations than elsewhere, and this gradually gains topographic expression as enclosed depressions as the overall surface is lowered by chemical denudation (from Williams, 1983).

Chapter

Dolines: Figure 2. Solution dolines develop in the uppermost weathered zone of the karst rock, termed the epikarst or subcutaneous zone. Drainage within that zone is achieved by leakage of water down fissures such as joints and faults. Major fissures capture most of the flow and therefore are the foci of solvent attack on the bedrock. This results in more rock being removed in solution from these locations than elsewhere, and this gradually gains topographic expression as enclosed depressions as the overall surface is lowered by chemical denudation (from Williams, 1983).

ABSTRACT

There are few examples of dolines that have survived severe glaciation, although large solution dolines at High Mark near Malham, England, clearly formed before the last glaciation and contain drift deposits in which many small suffosion dolines have developed. In contrast, there are numerous cases of dolines formed prior to the last glaciation and located beyond the ice limits that have been strongly subjected to processes other than dissolution. In many cases they have been partly filled by scree and others have been covered, or even completely buried, by loess. Post-glacial conditions have resulted in some of these materials being removed and in the re-expression and continued development of the underlying doline form. This is the case in the Sinkhole Plain of Kentucky, where many dolines were buried by fine clastic sediments. It follows, therefore, that solution dolines, like valleys in a fluvial landscape, can have long and complex histories over time periods when climates have changed and when the importance of dissolution compared to other geomorphic processes has waxed and waned (see also buried dolines below).