Published: 1987
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Work in the respective areas included assessment of conditions related to sinkhole development. Information collected and assessed involved geology, hydrogeology, land use, lineaments and linear trends, identification of karst features and zones, and inventory of historical sinkhole development and type. Karstification of the candidate, Rhea County, and Morristown study areas, in comparison to other karst areas in Tennessee, can be classified informally as youthful, submature, and mature, respectively. Historical sinkhole development in the more karstified areas is attributed to the greater degree of structural deformation by faulting and fracturing, subsequent solutioning of bedrock, thinness of residuum, and degree of development by man. Sinkhole triggering mechanisms identified are progressive solution of bedrock, water-level fluctuations, piping, and loading. 68 refs., 18 figs., 11 tabs.