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Subaqueous plopstone deposits: a unique product of sinkhole development in eogenetic carbonates

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Abstract

Modern cover-collapse sinkhole development in the Brooksville Ridge of west-central Florida uncovered paleokarst solution features filled with Miocene Peace River Formation sediments. Sedimentary structures in this paleokarst fill included a 70 cm-thick package of sub-rounded and moderately well-sorted quartz sandstone, and indurated with poikilotopic calcite cement—confirmed using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The morphology of the sediment package includes mm-scale compositional banding inside cm-scale ‘plops’, akin to types of commercial aquarium stone. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectra (XEDS), and portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) measurements reveal that metal oxides create the compositional banding and that the grains are frosted with kaolinite–montmorillonite clay. The shape of this ‘plopstone’ deposit, the compositional banding, and structures associated with soft-sediment deformation indicate Stokes Law throughfall in a near-stagnant sub-aqueous setting, with ‘plops’ held together by the cohesion of clay—like kinetic sand. Following deposition, density separation occurred during extensional strain, and cementation progressed slowly in calcite-saturated waters. Collectively, this ‘plopstone’ represents a likely product of sand raveling common during the development of cover-subsidence sinkholes.

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Data availability statement

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are included as tables in this paper or available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. The location from which samples were collected is not open to the public, and has largely degraded; however, collection materials are also available from the corresponding author for further investigation.

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Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Robert Brooks and Tom Turner for introducing the first author to the field location and the unique deposits therein. Gratitude to the Ball State University Department of Geological Sciences and Applied Anthropology Laboratories for access to the XRD and pXRF, respectively. Similarly, appreciation to the Miami University of Ohio Center for Advanced Microscopy and Imaging for access to the SEM. Photomicrographs were collected with the help of colleagues at the Indiana Geological and Water Survey.

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Author notes

  1. Brittany A. Cymes

    Present address: Naval Research Laboratory, Arlington, VA, USA

  2. Lee Florea

    Present address: Washington Geological Survey, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Olympia, WA, 98501, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana Geological and Water Survey, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Lee Florea

  2. Department of Geology and Environmental Earth Science, Miami University, Oxford, OH, USA

    Brittany A. Cymes

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  1. Lee Florea
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Contributions

Conceptualization: LJF; investigation: LJF; methodology: LJF and BAC; formal analysis: LJF and BAC; funding acquisition: N/A; project administration: N/A; resources: LJF and BAC; supervision: N/A; validation: LJF and BAC; visualization: LJF and BAC; writing–original draft: LJF and BAC; writing—review and editing: LJF.

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Correspondence to Lee Florea.

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Florea, L., Cymes, B.A. Subaqueous plopstone deposits: a unique product of sinkhole development in eogenetic carbonates. Carbonates Evaporites 37, 35 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13146-022-00773-6

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