Karst landform development along the Cumberland Plateau escarpment of Tennessee

Abstract

The western escarpment has a narrow band of karstic topography; sinking streams, karst valleys, large springs and caves are abundant in this region. To investigate the role of groundwater as a geomorphic agent in karst landform development along the Cumberland Plateau escarpment, different areas were selected for intensive study. The most extensive area lies in the southern Appalachian Plateaus Province, the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee. The origin of the western escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau, therefore, appears to be associated with the removal of the Pennsylvanian caprock from the Nashville Dome, a structural high along the Cincinnati Arch. The strata along the retreating Cumberland Plateau escarpment are rarely horizontal. The Pennsylvanian strata that cap the entire Cumberland Plateau increase in thickness from the southwest to northeast. Investigation of the Cumberland Plateau escarpment in the Lost Creek Cove area revealed an extremely complex subsurface drainage system.