Hydrology of three sinkhole basins in southwestern Seminole County, Florida

Abstract

The southwestern part of Seminole County-in east-central Florida-is characterized by sinkholes formed by the subsidence of surficial deposits into solution cavities in the underlying limestone deposits. The area includes three sinkhole basins created by such subsidence: Cranes Roost. Palm Springs, and Grace Lake. Cranes Roost basin (drainage area, 5.02 square miles) contains a closed drainage system of lakes and swamps-including Lakes Adelaide, Florida. and Mobile-that terminates at Cranes Roost sink. It also contains Lake Orienta and two unnamed sinks which do not overflow into Cranes Roost sink. Palm Springs basin (drainage area, 1.77 square miles) includes Lake Marion, Eleventh Hole Pond, and several small unconnected sinks. Grace Lake basin (drainage area, 1.64 square miles) includes Island Lake which overflows into Grace Lake.

Vertical leakage and vertically averaged vertical conductance for Karst Lakes in Florida

“…Also, the potentiometric surface may briefly rise above the water level in Cranes Roost sink, which is near Lake Orienta in east central Florida. This may occur at the end of a dry period when the potentiometric surface rises faster than the lake level in response to rainfall, thereby causing water to move upward from the upper Floridan aquifer into Cranes Roost [Anderson and Hughes, 1975].…”

“…m yr -• and an estimated head difference between the lake and the upper Floridan aquifer of 1.22 m during 1962-1969 [Hughes, 1974], Kv/b is 0.300 yr -•.At Grace Lake and Lake Orienta, which are in east central Florida, vertical leakage was estimated byAnderson and Hughes [1975] for January-May, 1971 on the basis of changes in lake levels and comparison with the stage in another, nearby lake that served as a control. The vertical leakage averaged 1.83 m yr-• for Grace Lake and 0.366 m yr-• for Lake Orienta.At Grace Lake during January-May 1971, the lake level was approximately 6.10 m above the hydraulic head in the upper Floridan aquifer in the vicinity of the lake [Anderson andHughes, 1975]. Based on this head difference and the vertical leakage of 1.83 m yr -•, Kv/b is 0.300 yr -•.…”

Ground-water hydrology of the Dade City area, Pasco County, Florida, with emphasis on the hydrologic effects of pumping from the Floridan aquifer

“…This obscures the effect that pumping by the citrus processing plant might have had on the regional Floridan aquifer flow system but it also results in the interesting implication that increased Floridan aquifer discharge in the form of springflow could, in turn cause the natural lowering of potentiometric levels over a spring's entire drainage area. The phenomenon of apparent increased springflow compared to rainfall was also observed by Anderson and Hughes (1975) in the flow of the Wekiva River near Sanford whose base flow of about 200 ft 3 /s is derived almost entirely from springflow. There, the rainfall-springflow relation changed in about 1960.…”

Effects of highway runoff on the quality of water and bed sediments of two wetlands in central Florida

“…According to Anderson and Hughes (1975), there is only minor vertical seepage through the bottom of Island Lake. There is lateral seepage from the surficial aquifer system into the wetland, but not enough seepage occurs to cause continuous discharge from the wetland.…”