Zeitschrift für Geologie und Geophysik
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Part 2: Spatial-Temporal Occurrences of Sinkholes as a Complex Geohazard in Florida, USA

Thornbush MJ

Solutional sinkholes pose a serious threat in karst regions. Few studies have actually addressed the mechanisms of their formation in any great detail (for solutional and collapse sinkholes) to enable an understanding of the sinkhole hazard in a scenario of global change. A brief case study is developed for Florida, USA as a state plagued by most of the contemporary challenges of sinkhole formation. This paper addresses work that has already made a contribution to an understanding of sinkhole formation and development and makes its own contribution by detailing a case study for Seffner, Florida, where Jeffrey Bush was engulfed by a collapse sinkhole in 2014 that was subsequently reactivated in 2015. The findings from this case study reveal a high incidence of sinkhole occurrence when temperatures are low and precipitation is also low in winter months (especially January). This suggests that temperature (rather than precipitation) may be the principal driving climatic factor, along with associated human impacts.