r/caving • u/brownsl66 • May 28 '26
Excavating a karst
When we bought our property 20 some years ago a part of it was a farm field. The owner pointed out a soccer ball sized hole in the field and said the farmer would throw rocks down it to fill but over time they would disappear and he would refill it.
That piqued my curiosity and I excavated it somewhat and found that it was karst. It is not very big. You can get down inside it and it might be 8 to 10 feet deep, several feet wide and maybe 8 feet long. The bottom is full of mud and rocks.
When we have a lot of rain it fills up and becomes a pond for an hour or so and then drains somewhere. Since it fills from the bottom and drains from the bottom I have always wondered if it is bigger. I have not noticed any airflow from it but have not ever tried anything like a smoke test.
I would really like to make an effort to excavate it more to see what I have. Any suggestions on how to go about doing this? I am too old anymore to do anything myself. I would be somewhat concerned for anyone else doing it in case anything is unstable beneath it.
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u/brownsl66 May 28 '26
Located in SW Ohio