INVESTIGATING SINKHOLE HAZARDS AND GROUNDWATER AND SURFACE WATER CONTAMINATIONS IN THE SOUTHEASTERN APPALACHIAN KARST REGION

Sinkholes are wide spread in the southeastern Appalachian region especially in active karst areas in eastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia. Many streams in this region were listed as impaired water bodies due to contaminations and siltation. Land use surveying, field mapping, GIS, remote sensing, water quality monitoring, and water shed modeling were applied to identify sinkhole hazards and potential sources of surface water and groundwater contaminations in this region. Dye tracing was applied in areas where active surface water and groundwater interactions exist. Extensive studies in the Dry Creek - Rock House Cave – Salt Peter Cave - Buffalo Creek area in Cater County, northeastern Tennessee revealed dendritic conduit flow patterns during different flow conditions. Groundwater flow velocity is approximately 200-300 m/day during normal flow seasons and 100 m/day during low flow seasons in the Rock House Cave area. However, once dyes got into the karst conduit, they would be transferred very rapidly (> 1 km/day) to the outlet, Cave Spring Cave. The rapid conduit flow velocity was also consistent with dye tracing test during high flow seasons.