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C l o s e d De p re s s i o n s

obstacle, a hydro-structure similar to the drawdown dolines

develops, yielding a focused dissolution both above and
below the bottleneck. Above, the fractures of the rock are
enlarged to ssures; below, small shafts develop. This type
of doline differs from the drawdown doline because of the
more marked lithological and structural control and because
of an early evolution of the hydro-structure, which is
not necessarily dependent on the epikarst. The models
illustrated in Fig. 2 do not consider the role of surface
deposits or lling materials. These components are important, because the water is absorbed by soil, surface materials,
and lling sediments before it reaches the ssures in soluble
rock. The llings may host small aquifers nested above the
epikarst and act as pads that slowly release water downward,
thus influencing with their physical character both the flow
velocity at the coverrock interface and the water regime of
the epikarst and the main karst springs.

Others Processes in Doline Evolution

FIGURE 3 A line of funnel shaped dolines in the Monti Lessini along the
bottom of a dry valley (Venetian Prealps, Italy). These inception dolines
develop just above a lithology change.

feedback resulting from the interrelations between the

hydrological and the solute processes acting inside the outer
layers of a fractured soluble rock.
Gams (2000) calls the dissolution process at the central
part of a doline accelerated corrosion. The hydrostructure
corresponding to this central part is comparable to the
funnel-shaped depression created by a pumping well in the
water table of a phreatic aquifer. The outer rock layer, which
is characterized by high secondary porosity, is shallower in
the peripheral areas and thicker in the central parts of the
dolines. It hosts a hanging aquifer, which is nearly saturated
during wet climate periods and nearly empty during dry
periods. The existence of the epikarst with the characteristics
of a water reservoir was recognized through the study of the
hydrological regime of karst springs.
The inception dolines develop from the interception by
the epikarst of a hydrogeological structure formed inside
the rock and previously triggered by a change in hydraulic
conductivity of the rocky mass. A change of lithology or the
presence of an impermeable layer, such as clay or chert, may
cause the formation of a hanging aquifer. If connections
such as fractured zones exist and allow water to overcome an

Even if the major process of doline formation is dissolution

through a differential mass wasting of the rock, the following
processes also play roles in the shaping of the depression:
soil forming processes and other weathering processes, slope
processes, overland flow processes, the capacity of the closed
depression to trap different types of sediments, and the
processes of evacuation of lling materials The soil acts as a
lter and as an insulating layer with respect to the outer
environment. Soil releases solutions rich in humic acids and
air with a high content of carbon dioxide. It also yields
fracture-lling material.
Frost shattering of the rock is a very important weathering
process. In the llings of most mid-latitude dolines, a
variable amount of angular rock debris is produced through
this mechanism. During the cold phases of the Pleistocene,
some dolines were completely lled with rock debris. Slope
processes influenced by the gravitational force, such as creep
and solifluction, are responsible for soil thinning, for the
formation of a debris cover along the slopes, and for its
thickening in the bottom areas. The overland flow processes
are responsible for erosion, the washing of soils and loose
material, and for the deposition of colluvial sediments in
the bottom area of the depression. Once formed, a closed
depression acts as a trap for different types of materials that
are carried by wind, rain, etc.
In the mid-latitude karst, the doline lling contains
variable amounts of loess-like deposits that were transported
by the wind during cold Pleistocene phases, volcanic ashes,
sands, and silt deposited by rain, etc. The ne-grained
material is commonly deposited on the entire karst surface
and then accumulates by overland flow into the central part
of the depression. Many authors consider the lling material
to be a residue of limestone dissolution. Even if in some karst
areas this may be true, most of the mid-latitude doline llings
consist of allochthonous materials, with the exception of