KARST SINKHOLES FORMATION AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION: CLUES FROM THE SOUTHERN APENNINES (ITALY)

Abstract

Sinkholes that affect both carbonate rocks and alluvial plain deposits are widely distributed in the southern Apennines. Karst sinkholes, in particular, are generally clustered within High Sinkhole Concentration Area (HSCA). A geological and geomorphological study of some, selected HSCA, has been carried out, aimed at constraining hypotheses on both factors that control sinkhole spatial distribution and causative mechanisms of karst collapses. Based on independent evidence on the active tectonic framework and deep fluid rising in the HSCA, karst sinkhole phenomena appear related the hypogenic karst controlled by the rise of acidic fluids along active faults.