GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 897

Formation of 

Solution-Subsidence 

Sinkholes Above Salt Beds
Formation of 

Solution-Subsidence 

Sinkholes Above Salt Beds

By John R. Ege

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 897

1984
United States Department of the Interior 

WILLIAM P. CLARK, Secretary

Geological Survey

Dallas L. Peck, Director

Free on application to the Branch of Distribution, Eastern Region, U.S. Geological Survey, 604 South Pickett Street, Alexandria, VA 22304
CONTENTS

Page

Introduction .......................................... 1

Subsidence over saline rocks ................................. 1

Natural subsidence ...................................... 2

Man-induced subsidence .................................... 5

Conclusions ........................................... 10

References cited ........................................ 10

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

FIGURE 1. Major salt basins of North America ....................................... 2

2. Progress of subsurface subsidence induced by the block-caving mining method. .............. 2

3. Photograph of the Meade Salt Well, Meade County, Kans. ......................... 3

4. Generalized section through Meade Basin showing postulated ground-water circulation and formation of

	solution-subsidence features ......................................... 4

5. Aerial photograph of sinkhole at a local solution-mining plant site, Hutchinson, Kans. .......... 5

6. Cross section of sinkhole, Hutchinson, Kans. .................................. 6

7. Aerial photograph of the sinkholes formed at Grosse He, Mich. ....................... 7

8. Typical core log from Grosse He brine field .................................. 8

9. Progress of sinkhole formation resulting from collapse of void formed in the Sylvania Sandstone .... 9

in
FORMATION OF SOLUTION-SUBSIDENCE SINKHOLES

ABOVE SALT BEDS

By John R. Ege

INTRODUCTION

More than one-third of the United States is underlain by marine evaporites (fig. 1), all of which 

have varying degrees of solubility in permeating 

fresh water or unsaturated brine (Johnson and 

Gonzales, 1978; Landes, 1963b; Smith and others, 

1973, p. 197-216). Research supported by the U.S. 

Geological Survey has investigated mechanisms of 

subsidence over soluble rocks, in particular salt 

deposits (Ege, 1979; Savage, 1981). The research 

is directed toward a better understanding of the 

geologic environment and processes of subsidence, 

and toward formulating measures to avoid or mitigate the effects of ground collapse resulting from 

dissolution of underlying soluble rocks. This report 

discusses various mechanisms of surface subsidence above underground openings formed in salt 

terranes. Both natural and man-induced (artificial) 

processes are considered.

SUBSIDENCE OVER SALINE ROCKS

Subsidence is a sinking of the ground surface 

(Alien, 1969; Landes, 1963b; Obert and Duvall, 

1967, p 554-581; Rellensmann, 1957, p. 35-49; 

Sowers, 1976, p. 2-8; and Stefanko, 1973, v. 1, 

p. 13-2 to 13-9). Many sedimentary basins, worldwide, contain great thicknesses of bedded salt in 

which extraction of the soluble minerals, whether 

by natural or man-induced processes, can result 

in localized land-surface subsidence. The contact 

of a salt bed with flowing water or unsaturated 

brine produces cavities in the salt through the 

leaching of soluble minerals. Density layering (saturation decreasing upward) of the brine tends to 

concentrate solutioning along the roof of the void, 

often resulting in a "V"-shaped cavity. If, for example, continued, uncontrolled dissolving of the 

soluble minerals in a salt cavity increases the 

width of the roof arch to the point of failure, then 

either downwarping of the overlying beds can take 

place, resulting in surface subsidence, or collapse 

of the undermined roof can occur, leading to upward stoping of the overburden rock. If space is 

available underground to accept falling rock and 

the stoping process breaches the surface, the resulting ground failure can produce a sinkhole.

The stoping process (fig. 2) can be visualized 

by examining the block-caving method used in 

mining operations where roof failure is deliberately induced by removing support through increasing the width of a mined opening in an ore 

body (Obert and Duvall, 1967, p. 554-581). At 

mine level, ore is withdrawn creating a space into 

which the overlying broken ore and rock can subside. A void is thus formed where the moving ore 

and rock separate from solid rock. Additional rock 

can now fall into the newly formed void and, at 

some critical width, the caving process will sustain 

itself and continue until the opening is filled with 

broken rock. The cave, in this manner, will migrate toward the surface at a rate determined 

largely by the rate at which the ore is removed. 

If the cave breaches the surface, a sinkhole will 

form.

Another mechanism, subsurface mechanical erosion of sedimentary beds overlying salt, may be 

an important component of the subsidence process. Mechanical transport of sediment by ground 

water from overlying granular beds into deeper 

salt cavities may form voids in the overlying sediments that are then subject to collapse. Subsidence also can be induced by artificial processes 

such as solution mining of salt or potash, oil- and
EXPLANATION^ \MEXIC 

Salt basin

0 500 1000 KILOMETERS 

0 500 MILES

FIGURE 1. Major salt basins of North America. (Modified 

from Johnson and Gonzales, 1978; Landes, 1963a.)

water-well drilling through salt beds, and construction activities above saline rocks.

NATURAL SUBSIDENCE

In natural subsidence, cavities form in salt by 

the dissolving action of fresh ground water or unsaturated brine that flows through enclosing 

permeable beds and along faults or other discontinuities in surrounding rocks, or by the leaching 

of caves exposed in salt beds adjacent to lakes 

and streams. Subsidence features ranging in area 

between 100 and 1,000 m2 have resulted from natural solutioning. Many examples occur throughout 

the world of natural dissolving of evaporite rocks 

and resultant subsidence structures.

In North America, salt deposits of the Middle 

Devonian Prairie Formation, extending from 

North Dakota and Montana through Saskatchewan 

and Alberta to the Northwest Territories, contain 

structural lows that were formed through removal 

of salt by subsurface leaching while the salt bed

rock-_ _ -_

"Mine opening1

A

me openingB

-Mine opening

c

Mine opening 

D

FIGURE 2. Progress of subsurface subsidence induced by the 

block-caving mining method. Ore is mined, forming a void. 

A, Caving begins, removing support under roof until, B, 

width of span exceeds capability of roof rock to stand. C, 

Continuous removal of ore enlarges void into which additional rock can fall. D, If roof support is not reestablished 

by void being sufficiently filled with falling rock, then broken 

zone can progress upward until it breaches the surface. 

(Modified from Obert and Duvall, 1967 (used with permission 

of the publisher).)

was buried under hundreds of meters of sediment. 

Dissolving has been taking place from Late Devonian to the present (DeMille and others, 1964). 

Gendzwill (1978) noted that in southern Saskatchewan, the Prairie Formation is underlain by reeflike carbonate mounds. Ground water moving 

through these mounds during Devonian time removed some of the overlying salt deposits, causing 

subsidence of the younger beds of as much as 30 

m.

A structural depression, the "Saskatoon low," 

south of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, formed by collapse resulting from removal of salt from the
FIGURE 3. The Meade Salt Well, a sinkhole formed from dissolution of underlying salt beds, Meade County, Kans. 

(Johnson, 1901). Note man standing at base of sinkhole for scale.

Prairie Formation. This depression began forming 

during the Late Cretaceous, and removal of salt 

continued until at least late Pleistocene time. The 

continuity of the collapse mechanism suggests that 

the dissolution of salt has been a continuing process and may be going on at present, raising the 

possibility of forming collapse features at some future time (Christiansen, 1967). In the same area, 

Christiansen (1971) reported that a large waterfilled depression, Crater Lake, is a surface expression of a collapse formed by ground-water removal 

of Prairie Formation salt. The depression is 244 

m in diameter, 6 m deep, and comprises two main 

concentric fault zones. The inner zone was 

downfaulted periodically in Late CretaceousTertiary-early Pleistocene time and the outer zone 

was downfaulted during the last (13,600 B.P.) deglaciation of the area.

Parker (1967) reported that Middle Devonian 

and Permian salt beds underlying North Dakota, 

Montana, and Wyoming, vary in thickness from 

a little more than 1 to 200 m. He attributed the 

salt thickness changes to postdepositional salt removal that was dissolved by ground water that 

ascended through local and regional fractures from 

aquifers below the salt beds.

Landes (1945) described limestone and dolomite 

breccias of the Mackinac Breccia, located in the 

Mackinac Straits region of Michigan, as forming 

from collapse of cavities dissolved out of salt beds 

of the Salina Formation (Silurian). Stratigraphic 

evidence shows that some of the blocks fell as 

much as 200 m, indicating the presence of huge 

caverns. Collapse took place during Silurian and 

Devonian times, creating breccia thicknesses as 

great as 1,000 m.

The ground surface in Meade County, located 

in the southwest corner of Kansas, has numerous 

hollows and sinks, some of which can be attributed 

to solution collapse of overlying strata into cavities 

dissolved from Permian salt beds. A large sink, 

named the Meade Salt Well, formed suddenly in 

March 1879. Johnson (1901, p. 702-712) quoted an 

article taken from the May 15, 1879, issue of a 

local newspaper that described how a water-filled 

sinkhole suddenly formed along a well-traveled
SINKHOLES

SALT 

SPRINGS,1

EAST

METERS

-750

-650

-550

-450

EXPLANATION

Quaternary

Tertiary

Permian

Permeable sand beds

Salt beds

D/U

Anhydrite

Salt/anhydrite removed

Path of ground 

water flow

Fault planeD, downthrown side; 

U, upthrown side

FIGURE 4. Generalized section through Meade Basin showing postulated ground-water circulation down fault planes and laterally 

along permeable beds where adjacent salt beds are dissolved causing formation of solution-subsidence features. (Modified 

from Frye and Schoff, 1942.)

cattle trail, leading from northern Texas to Dodge 

City, Kans. (fig. 3). The sink measured 52 m in 

diameter and the water level was 4.3 m below land 

surface. Soundings indicated water depths ranging 

between 8.5 and 23 m. Frye and Schoff (1942), 

in postulating the origin of the Meade County solution sinkholes, showed that faults cut Permian 

strata containing salt beds and overlying PliocenePleistocene sediments that contain fresh water 

under hydrostatic pressure (fig. 4). The local 

structure allows fresh artesian water to circulate 

down the fault zones into permeable Permian 

rocks at depth. The ground water, flowing down 

gradient through the permeable layers in contact 

with the salt beds, dissolves openings in the salt 

into which overlying strata collapse. Evidence of 

the dissolution appears as salt springs emerging 

at lower altitudes to the east of the sinkholes.

A more recent collapse described by Bass (1931) 

and Landes (1931) took place in Hamilton County, 

Kans., just east of the Colorado-Kansas line. A 

sinkhole measuring about 30 m wide and 12 to 15 

m deep formed on December 18, 1929. The cause 

was believed to be collapse of a cavern dissolved 

from salt or gypsum.

San Simon swale, a large southeastward-trending depression in Lea County, southeastern New 

Mexico, covers an area of about 260 km2. The lowest part of the swale contains a collapse feature, 

the San Simon sink, that is about 30 m deep and 

approximately 1.3 km2 in area. Within the sink 

is a secondary collapse feature about 6.8 to 8.6 

m deep. Thick Permian salt beds underlie the 

southern Lea County area, and surface features 

such as the San Simon swale were formed by the 

removal of salt by solution and collapse of the
FIGURE 5. Aerial photograph of sinkhole at a local solution-mining plant site, Hutchinson, Kans., in 1974 (Walters, 1977 

(reproduced with permission of the publisher)). Sinkhole is about 100 m in diameter.

overlying beds. It seems that the swale was initially formed by a large collapse in the vicinity 

of the present San Simon sink. On the basis of 

the numerous ring fractures around San Simon 

sink, it is apparent that the sink has had a long 

history of successive collapse events. Subsidence 

took place as recently as 1922, with the development of a fissure along the west side of the sink 

(Nicholson and Clebsch, 1961, p. 13-17, 46-47; 

Bachman and Johnson, 1973, p. 25-34).

MAN-INDUCED SUBSIDENCE

Subsidence related to man's activities affecting 

evaporite rocks is usually a result of some form 

of mining or drilling operation or construction activity. Conventional mining of bedded salt and 

potash deposits is similar to coal mining, and the 

subsidence mechanisms of these mining methods 

are likewise similar (Obert and Duvall, 1967, p. 

555). Solution extraction of salt and other soluble 

evaporites is a specialized mining technique that 

can produce subsidence (Querio, 1977; Marsden

and Lucas, 1973). Drilling through aquifers and 

salt beds in search of oil, gas, and water has occasionally resulted in induced salt dissolution and 

subsequent subsidence (Fader, 1975). Construction of highways, dams, and reservoirs over saline 

or gypsiferous rock has resulted in infiltration and 

consequent subsidence, water loss, and dam failures (Burgat and Taylor, 1972; Sill and Baker, 

1945).

Walters (1977) discussed land subsidence occurring in central Kansas that was associated with 

conventional and solution salt mining and oil and 

gas operations. He described 13 subsidence areas, 

5 induced by mining of salt and 8 resulting from 

oil and gas activities. One illustrative case involved a ground collapse that took place in October 1974, at a brine field in Hutchinson, Kans., 

as a result of solution mining. South of the local 

solution-mining plant, a sinkhole some 90 m in diameter formed over a period of 3 days and left 

railroad tracks suspended in air (fig. 5). Locally, 

salt is extracted from the approximately 105-m-
50 METERS

0 200 FEET

FIGURE 6. Cross section of sinkhole, Hutchinson, Kans., 

based on postcollapse borings (not shown). (Modified from 

Walters, 1977, p. 79-82.)

thick Hutchinson Salt Member of the Permian 

Wellington Formation, which occurs at a depth of 

120 m below ground surface. Overlying the salt 

is Permian shale capped by unconsolidated Pleistocene sands and gravels and loesslike soil. Salt has 

been produced at this location since 1888, and the 

locations of many of the earlier wells are not recorded. The older solution methods often allowed 

uncontrolled dissolving of salt with the result that 

the extent of many of the solution cavities in the 

area is not known. This sinkhole formed in an active brine field, which included both operating and 

abandoned wells and cavities of unknown geometries.

Postsubsidence drilling of the collapse area as 

part of a Solution Mining Research Institute 

(SMRI) investigation indicated that an elongate 

northeast-southwest cavity lay beneath the sinkhole. The subsurface cavity also paralleled a northeast-southwest-trending line of producing wells 

that were hydraulically connected (fig. 6). The 

long dimension of the cavity may be more than 

400 m (Walters, 1977), which apparently exceeded

the span capabilities of the overlying rock layers. 

This, in turn, caused roof-rock failure that progressed by sequential collapse of the overlying 

beds until the surface was breached.

Several examples of land subsidence associated 

with oil and gas operations in central Kansas are 

described by Walters (1977, p. 31-75). Underground crude oil in central Kansas is associated 

with gas- and water-driven brine-aquifer reservoirs. The oil is separated from the brine that then 

is disposed of underground in brine disposal wells 

that penetrate a permeable dolomite of the Arbuckle Group, which is able to receive and store 

the waste liquid. In a few instances, particularly 

in salt disposal wells, improperly sealed casing or 

casing that has been corroded and breached has 

allowed unsaturated saltwater to come in contact 

with salt strata overlying the dolomite, and dissolve voids in the salt beds. Input of unsaturated 

brine extending over many years has, in these 

cases, permitted upward caving .of the salt layers, 

culminating in surface collapse.

On April 24,. 1959, rapid subsidence occurred 

around a depleted oil well located in Barton 

County, Kans., which was in the process of abandonment after long-term use as a saltwater disposal well. Continuing subsidence over a 12-hour 

period formed a water-filled circular sink nearly 

90 m in diameter with the water level 15 to 18 

m below the ground surface, after which major 

vertical movement ceased. Walters (1977) postulated that during initial drilling of an oil well in 

1938, fresh-water drilling fluid dissolved salt to a 

diameter of 137 cm in a 35-m section that never 

had cement emplaced around the casing. The top 

of the salt section was at a depth of 297 m. In 

1946, the boring was converted from an oil well 

to a saltwater disposal well. Brine was disposed 

through tubing by gravity flow into dolomite of 

the Arbuckle Group some 920 m below the surface. In, 1949, the tubing was removed and brine 

was disposed directly down the casing. Inspection 

showed that corrosion of casing resulted in leaks, 

permitting unsaturated brine to move across the 

salt face, then downward into the dolomite 

aquifer. A huge cavern, larger than 90 m in diameter, was dissolved in the salt. Successive roof falls 

of the cavity caused progressive migration of the 

void upward, resulting in surface subsidence. The 

well was abandoned in Janurary 1959. On April 

24, 1959, the upper rock layer failed, and the void 

breached the surface, creating the 90-m sink.

6
FIGURE 7. Aerial view of the sinkholes formed at Grosse He, Mich., on the BASF Wyandotte Corporation property (Landes 

and Piper, 1972 (reproducted with permission of the publisher)). Width of channel between mainland and Grosse He is 

approximately 265 m.

On April 27, 1976, 27 years after cessation of 

solution mining, a large sinkhole formed in the city 

of Grand Saline, Tex. Grand Saline is a salt-producing region where salt was mined from the 

Grand Saline dome by solution methods between 

1924 and 1949. Failure occurred in two stages. 

First, a hole 4 to 6 m in diameter and more than 

15 m deep formed on Tremont Street. Second, the 

hole widened rapidly as rim material moved down 

the hole by slabbing and toppling failure. A similar 

collapse took place in 1948 just east of the present 

sink (Dunrud and Nevins, 1981).

Subsidence and sink formation resulting from 

brining operations in the Windsor-Detroit area include the 1954 sink at the Canadian Salt Company 

brine field near Windsor, Ontario (Terzaghi, 1970), 

and the 1971 sinks at the BASF Wyandotte Corporation brine field on Grosse He, Mich. (Landes and 

Piper, 1972) (fig. 7). Early investigations into both 

occurrences hypothesized that the mechanism of 

sink formation consisted of the gradual sloping of 

poorly supported brine-gallery roof rock to the

near surface followed by surface collapse. A later 

study proposed a mechanism of sink formation on 

the basis of the geometry of a cylindrical chimney 

that formed by stoping of roof rock. The geometric 

factors consisted of the height of a cavity in salt 

at depth, the thickness of overlying rock, and the 

bulking ratio of the rubble formed during stoping 

(Nieto-Pescetto and Hendron, 1977).

Persons with extensive experience in solution 

mining in the Windsor-Detroit area have expressed doubt that the stoping mechanism could 

fully explain the formation of these sinks. 

Exploratory drilling at the site just before collapse 

indicated that no open cavity large enough to account for the sinkholes that were formed at the 

surface existed in the salt bed 335 m below the 

surface. It was then suggested that the shallow 

Sylvania Sandstone (fig. 8) might be responsible 

for the sinks by a secondary undermining 

mechanism because of its reputation as a "caving" 

formation when drilled or mined through.

A study initiated to examine the possible role
DEPTH

M FT 0-O

Moo

r-200

r-300

100H

h400

p-500

r-600

200H

300H

400H

h700

hsoo

r-900

WYANDOTTE CORE HOLE NO. 2; 

NORTHERN GROSSE ILE 

LOG DESCRIPTION

/ / / / /

/ / 7^/7

/ / / T

/ / / /

/ / / /

/ 7 T "7"

iiiiiiiinirmnnii / / / /m

Industrial waste

Glacial drift (moraine) 

clay and boulders

Detroit River Dolomite

Sylvania Sandstone

Bois Blanc Formation

Bass Islands Dolomite

-1300

 TD 1326

I 1000 r~/ / / /-j

-1100

-1200 g

/A-2 Dolomite

Salina 

Formation

EXPLANATION

Dolomitic shale

Salt

Unit in 

Salina Formation

FIGURE 8. Typical core log from Grosse He brine field. (Modified from Landes and Piper, 1972.)

8
Ground surface Ground surface

Clay

Detroit River Dolomite

Clay

Detroit River 

Dolomite Failure surface

-Void Sylvania 

Sandstone

Joints, fissures, 

cracks, and open 

spaces in 

underlying rock

Bass Islands., 

Dolomite/ BRINE CAVITY

Joints, fissures, 

cracks, and 

open spaces in 

underlying rock

B

Ground surface Ground surface

Clay

V WM«|»MJ»«"«""»""'

V \ Detroit River 

-Oi \Dolomite

Clay and

Detroit River

Dolomite

Joints, fissures, 

cracks, and 

open spaces in 

underlying rock

Clay and

Detroit River

Dolomite

Joints, fissures, 

cracks, and 

open spaces in 

underlying rock

FIGURE 9. Progress of sinkhole formation resulting from collapse of void formed in the Sylvania Sandstone. A, Initial sagging 

 of Sylvania Sandstone occurs in response to sagging of lower dolomites into salt cavity. Separation takes place along 

a weak zone in sandstone. Loose sand grains are transported as a sand-water slurry (arrows) down through cracks in 

underlying rock. B, Increased sagging of Sylvania Sandstone intensifies crushing of the weak zone in the sandstone. Sand 

slurry migrates downward (arrows) into joints and voids in lower rock units, increasing size of opening in sandstone. 

Incipient failure of roof of cavity occurs within Sylvania Sandstone. Dashed lines show projected failure surface. C, Failure 

occurs in overlying highly jointed and fractured dolomite. Sinkhole forms when void breaches ground surface, allowing 

unconsolidated clay to flow (arrows) into voids below. D, Sinkhole enlarges laterally and decreases in depth through slabbing 

and settling of material from walls of sink. Sinkhole is now subjected to weathering processes. (Modified from Stump 

and others, 1982.)
of the Sylvania Sandstone in sinkhole formation 

concluded that the Sylvania Sandstone can lose its 

cohesion under high horizontal stresses (Stump 

and others, 1982). These stresses could be the result of deformation that accompanies general subsidence and (or) of past geologic processes. A 

mechanism advanced by the investigators proposed normal downwarping of beds overlying a 

rubble-filled salt cavity that induces high horizontal stresses, disintegration of the Sylvania Sandstone, mixing of sand grains with ground water 

to form a slurry, and flow of the sand slurry 

through openings in the disturbed rock to voids 

in the underlying dolomite and salt. A cavity, if 

formed in the shallower Sylvania Sandstone by 

this process, could then collapse, resulting in rapid 

stoping through the remaining 90 m of rock to the 

surface and formation of a sinkhole (fig. 9).

CONCLUSIONS

Ground failure over voids formed in salt terranes has occurred many times in the past as a 

result of natural or man-induced processes. If 

overlying beds merely flex downward into a rubble-filled cavity, then the effect at the surface may 

be a shallow-bowl- or trough-shaped depression. 

On the other hand, if the roof of a void collapses 

and sufficient space is available in the cavity to 

store rock debris, then continuous upward stoping 

through overlying rocks can breach the surface 

and form a sinkhole. Ground failure can occur 

above salt beds as the result of roof collapse of 

a cavity formed in salt by dissolution and removal 

of soluble minerals by ground water. Ground failure may also occur as the result of roof collapse 

of a cavity formed in granular sediments overlying 

salt beds by subsurface mechanical erosion and removal of sediment grains by ground water (piping). *

REFERENCES CITED

Alien, A. S., 1969, Geologic settings of subsidence, in Reviews 

in engineering geology, v. 2: Geological Society of 

America, p. 305-342.

Bachman, G. 0., and Johnson, R. B., 1973, Stability of salt 

in the Permian Salt Basin of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, 

and New Mexico, with a section on dissolved salts in surface water, by F. A. Swenson: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 73-14, 62 p.

Bass, N. W., 1931, Recent subsidence in Hamilton County, 

Kansas: American Association of Petroleum Geologists 

Bulletin, v. 15, no. 2, p. 201-205.

Burgat, V. A., and Taylor, W. K., 1972, Highway subsidence 

caused by salt solutioning tabs.]: Association of Engineering Geologists Annual Meeting, Kansas City, Missouri, 

Program and Abstracts, no. 15, p. 20.

Christiansen, E. A., 1967, Collapse structures near Saskatoon, 

Saskatchewan, Canada: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 4, p. 757-767.

 1971, Geology of the Crater Lake collapse structure in 

southeastern Saskatchewan: Canadian Journal of Earth 

Sciences, v. 8, no. 12, p. 1505-1513.

DeMille, G., Shouldice, J. R., and Nelson, H. W., 1964, Collapse structures related to evaporites of the Prairie Formation, Saskatchewan: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 75, p. 307-316.

Dunrud, C. R., and Nevins, B. B., 1981, Solution mining and 

subsidence in evaporite rocks in the United States: U.S. 

Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Map I1298, scale 1:5,000,000.

Ege, J. R., 1979, Selected bibliography on ground subsidence 

caused by dissolution and removal of salt and other soluble 

evaporites: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 79- 

1133, 26 p.

Fader, S. W., 1975, Land subsidence caused by dissolution 

of salt near four oil and gas wells in central Kansas: U.S. 

Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations WRI27-75; available only from U.S. Department of Commerce, 

National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 

22161, as Report PB-250 979/AS, 33 p.

Frye, J. C., and Schoff, S. L., 1942, Deep-seated solution in 

the Meade Basin and vicinity, Kansas and Oklahoma: 

American Geophysical Union Transactions, v. 23, pt. 1, 

p. 35-39.

Gendzwill, D. L., 1978, Winnipegosis mounds and Prairie 

Evaporite Formation of Saskatchewan seismic study: 

American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 

62, no. 1, p. 73-86.

Johnson, K. S., and Gonzales, Serge, 1978, Salt deposits in 

the United States and regional geologic characteristics important for storage of radioactive waste: U.S. Department 

of Energy, Office of Waste Isolation, Y/OWI/SUB-7414/1, 

188 p.

Johnson, W. D., 1901, The high plains and their utilization: 

U.S. Geological Survey 21st Annual Report, p. 601-741.

Landes, K. K., 1931, Recent subsidence, Hamilton County, 

Kansas: American Association of Petroleum Geologists 

Bulletin, v. 15, no. 6, p. 708.

 1945, Mackinac breccia, in Geology of the Mackinac 

Straits region: Michigan Geological Survey Publication 44, 

p. 123-154. '

 1963a, Origin of salt deposits, in Bersticker, A. C., ed., 

First symposium on salt, Cleveland, 1962, Proceedings: 

Northern Ohio Geological Society, p. 3-9. 

-1963b, Effects of solution of bedrock salt in the Earth's

crust, in Bersticker, A. C., ed., First symposium on salt, 

Cleveland, 1962, Proceedings: Northern Ohio Geological 

Society, p. 64-73.

Landes, K. K., and Piper, T. B., 1972, Effect upon environment of brine cavity subsidence at Grosse He, Michigan 

1971: Solution Mining Research Institute open-file report, 

812 Muriel Street, Woodstock, Illinois 60098, 52 p.

Marsden, R. W., and Lucas, J. R., coordinating eds., 1973, 

Specialized underground extraction systems, in Cummins,

10
A. B., and Given, I. A., eds., SME mining engineering 

handbook: Society of Mining Engineers of American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, 

v. 2, p. 21-1 to 21-118.

Nicholson, Alexander, Jr., and Clebsch, Alfred, Jr., 1961, 

Geology and ground-water conditions in southern Lea 

County, New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and 

Mineral Resources Report 6, 123 p.

Nieto-Pescetto, A. S. and Hendron, A. J., Jr., 1977, Study 

of sinkholes related to salt production in the area of Detroit, Michigan: Solution Mining Research Institue openfile report, 812 Muriel Street, Woodstock, Illinois 60098, 

49 p.

Obert, Leonard, and Duvall, W. I., 1967, Rock mechanics and 

the design of structures in rocks: New York, John Wiley 

& Sons, 650 p.

Parker, J. H., 1967, Salt solution and subsidence structures, 

Wyoming, North Dakota, and Montana: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 51, no. 10, p. 

1929-1947.

Querio, C. W., 1977, Current practices in solution mining of 

salt, in Martinez, J. D., and Thorns, R. L., eds., Symposium on salt dome utilization and environmental considerations, Baton Rounge, 1976, Proceedings: Institute for 

Environmental Studies, Louisiana State University, p. 3- 

41.

Rellensmann, Otto, 1957, Rock mechanics in regard to static 

loading caused by mining excavation, in Behavior of materials of the Earth's crust, Second Annual Symposium on 

Rock Mechanics: Colorado School of Mines Quarterly, v. 

52, no. 3, p. 35-49.

Savage, W. Z., 1981, Prediction of vertical displacements in 

a subsiding elastic layer: Geophysical Research Letters, 

v. 8, no. 5, p. 195-198.

Sill, R. T., and Baker, D. M., 1945, Prevention of seepage 

in foundations for dams: American Geophysical Union 

Transactions, v. 26, no 2, p. 169-273.

Smith, G. I., Jones, C. L., Culbertson, W. C., Ericksen, G. 

E., and Dyni, J. R., 1973, Evaporites and brines, in 

Brobst, D. A., and Pratt, W. P., eds., United States mineral resources: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 

820, p. 197-216.

Sowers, G. F., 1976, Mechanisms of subsidence due to underground openings in Subsidence over mines and caverns, 

moisture and frost actions, and classification: Washington, 

D.C., Transportation Research Board Record 612, p. 2-8.

Stefanko, Robert, 1973, Roof and ground control subsidence 

and ground movement, in Cummings, A. B., and Given, 

. I. A., eds., SME mining engineering handbook: Society 

of Mining Engineers of American Institute of Mining, 

Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, v. 1, p. 13-2 to 

13-9.

Stump, Daniel, Nieto, A. S., and Ege, J. R., 1982, An alternative hypothesis for sink development above salt cavities 

in the Detroit area: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 82-297, 61 p.

Terzaghi, R. D., 1970, Brine field subsidence at Windsor, Ontario, in Rau, J. L., and Dellwig, L. F., eds., Third symposium on salt, Cleveland, 1969, Proceedings: Northern 

Ohio Geological Society, v. 2, p. 298-307.

Walters, R. F., 1977, Land subsidence in central Kansas related to salt dissolution: Kansas Geological Survey Bulletin 

214, 82 p.

11

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1984 776-041/4033 REGION NO. 8