Faculty member to present research to the Geological Society ofAmerica

Valdosta State University's assistant professor of Geosciences, Can Denizman, will present the findings of his cave and sinkhole research at the 116th annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, November 7-10, 2004. The meeting will be held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado, in which 6200 geoscientists are expected to attend.

The research being conducted in Florida has been based on surficial and subsurface karst features, landforms formed by the dissolution of limestone, primarily because cave and sinkhole data have not been easily accessible especially in digital format. In order to provide a centralized repository for cave data in Florida, the Florida Geological Survey initiated the Cave Database project in 2001 headed by Denizman. Location, conduit trend, conduit dimension, conduit depth, water quality, and flow direction include some of the data fields that will be researched.

?Having constructed a database for the sinkholes located along the Suwannee River, I started working on subsurface karst in 2001, and compiled a cave database using Geographic Information Systems,? said Denizman.

The presentation will explain the database structure, show results of conduit trend analyses, the extent of subsurface karst development in Florida, and detailed statistical summary of each cave passage such as length, width, and depth.

For further information, please contact Can Denizman at (229) 249-2745.